"Aren't you doing something?" Melanie asked as she glanced around him. "Are you here with someone else?"
"I'm here with a few friends, but they wouldn't mind if I teach a beautiful woman how to skate," he said, and Melanie snorted.
"What about an ugly woman?" Melanie asked.
Gerald's brown eyes sparkled with amusement. "There's no such thing as an ugly woman."
When Melanie didn't respond, his smile brightened as he pushed his hands deep in his pockets. "The offer still stands."
Before Melanie could tell him no, she felt a presence looming behind her. When she turned around, she was startled seeing Noah behind her.
"She's good," Noah said. He was still on the ice, and the only thing separating them was the board. "I'll teach her."
Gerald blinked, surprised to see Noah there before his gaze hardened. Realizing this wasn't going to result in something good, and that though, Gerald seemed like a nice guy, it was a possibility that he wasn't as nice as he was presenting himself to be. And she also knew that Noah wouldn't back down from how she had seen him on the ice. Melanie stood, holding the board behind herself, and Noah moved behind her, holding her waist to keep her upright. The feel of Noah's strong presence behind her made her feel things that she shouldn't feel right now. His big hands gripping her waist, and his strong chest behind her back made her feel incredibly warm.
"Thanks for your offer, but my friend will be teaching me," Melanie said.
Gerald continued to hold eye contact with Noah.
Noah bent his head and whispered in her ear, "Let's go." She shivered, flowers blooming in her stomach. Melanie felt like she was cast under a spell, and the only thing she could do was nod. Gerald became a blurred vision before her as Noah guided her out onto the ice. In her stupor, Melanie didn’t even realize she was on the ice with Noah’s hands firmly on her waist or that he had turned her around, so she was facing him. But once she did, terror immediately took over her with the fear of falling.
"Relax. You're going to make yourself fall panicking like that," Noah told her. Melanie held Noah's shoulder with a vice-like grip as they stood off to the side of the skating rink so they wouldn’t get in the way of other people.
"Where is Abigail?" she asked, looking around until her eyes landed on her friend, who was skating with a very handsome man. Abigail was all smiles, clinging to him as he showed her how to skate. Though, Melanie had to admit her friend seemed to be on the dramatic side with the way she kept clinging to the guy like an octopus, though the guy seemed to enjoy being needed. Melanie chuckled in disbelief. Her friend was truly something else.
Noah laughed too. "When she saw him, she said she needed to look single, and I wasn't helping her image."
"So, is that the only reason you came to get me?" Melanie asked.
Noah bit his lip as he looked down. "She told me after I decided to get you."
Melanie found herself looking down as well, unable to look at him. She wanted to say something cool or nonchalant. She wanted to keep their conversation as neutral as possible so it wouldn't spill into something she didn't want to touch. But Melanie found that she couldn't hold her tongue.
"Why did you help Abigail first?" Melanie asked, and she hated how weak she sounded. But once the dam burst, more questions started to flood out. "Why did you hug her and not me? What did you tell Jemma about me? Why is nothing the same between us anymore?"
Once all of her questions were out, Melanie cursed under her breath. Why had she said all of those things? Melanie tried to figure out what she was going to say to get herself out of this situation. But no words came to mind. She wished she could run, but there was no escape on the ice. All she could do was stand in front of Noah, holding onto him as she waited for him to respond.
"Let's skate," Noah said, finally breaking their silence, and Melanie arched a brow until suddenly Noah twirled her around till her back was pressed against his chest. Melanie felt breathless with Noah's body cloaking her own. When she felt him move forward, her eyes widened. This wasn't what he had done with Abigail.
"What are you doing— oh my gosh!" Melanie exclaimed as Noah pushed her forward.
"Move your feet, Mel," Noah told her, and though Melanie was overwhelmed by everything, the warmth of Noah contrasting with the cold air rising from the ice, the way his body was pressed against her as he guided her, yet still, she followed his word and moved. For a while like that, they skated, and Melanie couldn't believe that she was actually skating.
"You better not let me go," Melanie warned him, afraid that this would end like the first time someone rode a bike, where someone pushed you and let go. She definitely did not wake up this morning planning to fall on her ass and embarrass herself in front of everyone.
"If it were up to me, I would never let you go," Noah said, and Melanie bit her lip, feeling blood rush to her cheeks.
"I took Abigail first because she was the one to ask me to do this, and I thought it would be unfair of me," Noah told her as he continued to guide her around the rink slowly, and with him holding her, it felt like she was floating on ice. "But honestly, I thought if I took you out here first, I would end up spending my whole day with you, and I didn't want to be an asshole to your best friend and ignore her."
Melanie hated that she felt relief in her chest when he told her that, but she couldn't help it. It felt like the balloon of worries that had blown up inside of her was slowly deflating as Noah answered the questions to her worries.
"I hugged her and not you because I'm trying to control myself. You said you wanted us to remain as friends, and I want to respect that. But a hug with you is different from a hug with her. I can barely control myself just being near you. How will I be able to control myself if I touch you?
"What I told Jemma isn’t important, but if you want to know, I told her the woman I liked was coming, but I was nervous because I didn’t know how to be around you now. Jemma was just surprised that there was a girl out there who I couldn’t charm. By the way, she's just a friend."
"No need to tell me," Melanie huffed, embarrassed. Had her jealousy been that obvious? "It's not like I cared."
Noah chuckled, and she could feel the rumble of his chest.
