“Of course, you are. I wouldn’t have brought you out otherwise.”
She scoffs, raising a perfectly manicured brow at me. “But aren’t you supposed to be training?”
I shrug my shoulders. “It’s only light work today. A couple of soft drills but mostly skating, which I figured I could do with my favourite Pilates instructor.”
Soft crimson colours her cheeks, as she looks away shyly. I take the moment to breathe her in. She’s softer than I initially expected, but still has the underlying fire that I’ve come to appreciate about her so much. And it finally strikes me that I might actually be falling for her.
Continuing to skate backwards, I pull her along with me toward the other end of the ice.
She hesitates and I can see the fear in her eyes. “Don’t worry baby, unlike you I won’t actually let you fall.”
I smirk at her.
That fire that I love so much lights in her eyes, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The reformer machine. Twice.” I raise a brow, awaiting her response.
She tries to hide her smile. “Oh my God, that was not my fault! You wouldn’t listen to basic instructions.”
I know that now that I’ve got her riled up, it will overtake that fear. “But you could have helped, you know with me being injured and all.”
The corner of her mouth twitches up and I know I’ve got her now. I’m so fucking screwed with this girl.
Sighing, she attempts to feign annoyance, though she looks happy to be here. “Alright. Let’s do this.”
“So, Princess, rule of thumb here, keep your knees bent. Track your knees over your toes. Really similar to Pilates. Keep your back nice and straight but stay relaxed through your neck and shoulders.”
I watch as she tries to find her position, though she looks extremely uncomfortable. But she’s trying and I couldn’t ask for more from her.
“Good, Scar. Really good.” I crouch down, adjusting her feet. “So, what you’re going to do is think about pushing off the inside edge of one blade, then alternate between your two feet. Each time transferring your weight. Focus on gliding across the ice rather than walking, okay?”
I slide back a little to allow her room to move, her arms chasing me in the distance between us. “Levi,” she whines, looking uneasy.
“You’ve got this, baby.” I wave her toward me encouraging her to try.
She shifts her weight to one foot pressing off, before moving to the other and I skate backward slowly, maintaining a bit of distance between us. “Keep going, Scar. Eyes up here. Don’t look down.”
As she skates, a grin starts showing on her face, her eyes lighting up. My heart skips a beat as I watch her. I don’t think she’s ever looked quite so beautiful as she does now. Her cheeks are flushed crimson from the cold air, her emerald eyessparkling, and her long, chestnut brown waves flowing down her back.
Oh, I am so gone for her.
“Happy to have you join us, Scarlett.” Coach says as he skates past us, a smirk on his face. He heads back to direct a few of the boys into the next drill.
A small smile pulls at my lips as I reach out, taking her hands in mine as I start to speed us up.
“So,” I say, tilting my head at her.
“So,” she mimics, beginning to gain a bit of confidence as she skates.
“Gigi would really love to spend some time with you. Girl shit, I think.”
Scarlett raises her eyebrows at me. “Girl shit, Levi? Really? Well, either way, I’d love to spend some more time with her.”
My smile widens. “Okay, great. Did… Did you want her phone number?”
“I already have it. I’ll message her after I finish here.”
“Oh, sure. Good.” I pull her in, starting to lean down to kiss her when she presses away from me.
