I tried pressing her for more information, but she evaded the question every time, so I decided to just go with it.
What would their reaction be if they knew just how much time I’d been spending with Gracie?
Nothing good, probably, especially Cole.
He’d lose his mind if he knew what I’d been doing, though at this point I know there’s no going back.
Besides, wouldn’t he rather Gracie be with me, a guy he trusts and knows won’t break her heart, than some random asshole who he knows nothing about?
It’s pretty clear which one would be the better choice.
All thoughts of Cole leave my mind as Gracie steps out of her building and bounds over to the car with a wide smile on her face.
“Hey there, little one,” I say as she gets in and closes the door behind her. I side eye her as she puts on her seat belt. “Where are we going?”
She grins and inputs a destination into the navigation system. I don’t recognize it but at this point I’m along for the ride, so I just shrug and start driving. Gracie connects her phone and starts playing music and I listen intently as she starts to sing along.
We haven’t talked about what happened a couple of days ago in her dorm, and I’m not sure if she’s just decided to completely forget all about dry humping me on her sofa or if the conversation will come later. For now, I’m just happy to go along with whatever she wants and see where the day takes us.
I’m still living in a mild bubble of disbelief that it actually happened and yeah, she may have basically kicked me out of the door right after it, but I’m calling it progress.
Thirty minutes later, we pull up outside of a public ice rink in the next town over and I turn to Gracie with a brow raised.
She shrugs. “We used to skate all the time when we were younger, especially in the winter. I thought it might be fun, is this okay?”
Is it okay that she basically planned a date for us? Fuck yeah, it is.
A slow smile spreads across my face. “More than.”
It’s true that we used to skate a lot when we were younger. I used to be on the hockey team with Logan during freshman and sophomore year of high school before I eventually decided to move onto something else, but the four of us would always help him practice and some of my best memories are of Gracie skating with us.
“When was the last time you were on the ice?” I ask as we head towards the reception area.
She huffs. “It’s been years since I’ve skated, so let’s hope I still remember how.”
It’s not as busy as I thought it would be for a Saturday during general admission, but there’s still a fair few people on the ice. My skates are laced up before Gracie has even gotten one on, so I kneel in front of her to give her a hand.
“I could have done it,” she grumbles and fuck, she’s cute.
“I know.”
Once they’re done, I stand and hold out my hand to help her up. She takes it and stands with a wobble. Once she seems to have her balance, I go to let her hand go but she squeezes it tightly and pulls on my arm.
“Comeon, Noah. I missed this,” she says, and I can’t take my eyes off of her as she pulls me along.
I head onto the ice first and get my bearings before turning back to Gracie, only to find her still standing outside the rink.
“You coming?”
She worries her bottom lip before slowly stepping on and I take her hands in mine before skating backwards a little.
“Good?”
She grins, and it lights up her entire face. “I’m good.”
She lets go of my hands and then she’s off, leaving me to trail after her. She’s unsure at first but quickly gains confidence, and I love seeing her like this—so goddamn free.
After a while, she starts to slow down, and we end up skating around the outside of the rink side by side.
