Now
I imagined this washow zero gravity felt.
Every pang of worry these past six months left my body, holding me suspended in the feeling of free fall. Stomach dropping. Limbs light. Brain lit up. Happy.
I wished we could hide on this date forever.
Nathan grabbed my hand as we left the rink downtown after hours of skating. He easily glided across the ice while I clung to him for dear life. It had been years since I’d ice-skated—not since I was last at this rink with him—and it hadn’t come back to me at all, which brought Nathan immense joy. He liked imitatingthe way I flailed my arms unsteadily. He laughed when I nearly face-planted trying to chase him, but I ended up safe in his arms.
I didn’t mind the last one.
“You’re doing pretty good with this whole date thing.” I swung our arms between us as we walked to the parking deck.
“It sounds like you doubted me?”
I let out an exaggerated gasp. “I would never.”
“It’s not over yet.”
“You don’t want to quit while you’re ahead?” My mouth hurt from grinning, an ache I never, ever wanted to go away.
“I’m pretty confident you’ll like where this night is headed, Bren.”
The nickname that had once felt like shattered glass on my skin now warmed me from the inside out.
My heart pounded harder every time Nathan snuck a glance my way during the drive to our next destination. Wild smiles broke across our faces whenever our gazes collided. We each knew neither of us could keep our eyes from the other for too long.
I knew this feeling, had felt it before with the boy next door. But never since, not like this.
There was something about first love that couldn’t be recreated. It was like reading a book for the first time, the anticipation of what would happen when the page turned. Equal parts joy and dread, because it could unfold in wonderful or devastating ways. People chased that high, the dopamine rush of falling in love.
I understood it, of course, but there was something different about what I was experiencing now, falling for Nathan Sharpe a second time. Like I knew how it would feel when I was too far gone, and though I couldn’t wait to get there, I wouldn’t rush it. I wanted to enjoy this journey.
“I think you oversold our next activity.” I flashed him a playful smile.
The Christmas tree I picked out waited in the garage. Nathan gripped the end of the tree that would require him to walk backward into the house, while I took the opposite end.
“You’re about to talk yourself out of it, Quinn.”
Nathan turned left, easing the tree into the family room. After I cleared the mudroom, he increased his pace. He glanced over his shoulder, tracking his proximity to the corner wall. “I’ll ease it into the stand and hold it while you secure the screws, okay?”
“Yessir,” I sang, to which Nathan sighed, full of pretend exasperation.
It took all of five minutes before our tree stood on its own, already improving the atmosphere in the empty house. But the good feeling bled from me when Nathan winced while getting to his feet. We weren’t on the baseball field now, but I was attuned to him just as closely. I didn’t want to ruin the night, but I couldn’t not ask.
“Are you all right?”
Nathan cocked an eyebrow. “Do you need me to show you howall rightI am, Brenna?”
“Is that what’s next?” My blood buzzed beneath my skin.
“So impatient,” he chided, tapping the tip of my nose with a finger as he passed me on his way out of the room.
I was unashamed of exactly how impatient I was to have him between my legs again, but I was embarrassed at how quickly he distracted me.
When he came back moments later, he plunked down a brown box with the wordsXmas decorationswritten on the side in his mom’s handwriting. No wince this time.
I battled my instincts. He continued doing physical therapy exercises every morning. If his shoulder was fine, he wouldn’tneed them, at least not that frequently. But he didn’t want to admit to injury. I couldn’t figure out why.
