Her mouth pressed in a firm line. I could see the dread return to her eyes. Naomi took a deep breath and shook out her shoulders before saying, “Alright, fine. You shouldn’t be deprived of heaven because I can’t woman up.”
I steadied myself as she took a step forward. One hand in mine turned into two. She let out a small squeal and didn’t take her eyes off her feet once. I dared to tug her forward.
“Wait, wait,” she begged as she squeezed her eyes shut.
I stopped immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“I heard someone blaze past and almost hit us,” Naomi said in a rushed voice. She sounded like she was sprinting, she was breathing so fast.
“It’s fine. They weren’t going to hit us.” I glanced around. It would be difficult to avoid getting close to the other skaters when there were this many on the ice. You can’t tell kids to mind your personal bubble. I did the best I could to put my body between her and everyone else.
Her nails dug into my skin as we started moving again. She kept opening and closing her eyes like she couldn’t decide which she preferred.
“You’re doing good,” I offered.
“Liar,” she said with a nervous laugh. “You don’t have to pretend. I’m a big girl. Tell me what you actually think.”
“You really want to know?” I kept us going at a snail’s pace. Her breathing seemed to even with every inch we moved forward, but her grip stayed the same.
“Of course, or I wouldn’t have said anything.”
“I find it interesting that someone as so graceful is stiff as a board right now,” I confessed. “I’m curious if that’s how you feel off the ice, too. Maybe you’re good at hiding it?”
Her eyes flashed open, meeting mine. My chest tightened as I instantly regretted my words. I meant it more as a compliment, but as I played it back in my mind, it sounded mean.
I stopped us and moved, so I stood directly in front of her. “I… didn’t mean that to come off as rude.”
She blinked and stared. Shit. I’d done it again. Frustration boiled in my stomach as I tried to come up with some sort of remedy. It was times like these I wished I had some sort of psychic link with one of the guys. Any of them could smooth things over in a heartbeat.
“It wasn’t rude,” she said after several weighted minutes. “But it was very forward for a guy who I thought…”
I raised a brow. “You thought?”
“Didn’t care enough to pay attention.”
The tightening in my chest was back, but for a different reason. We were in rejection territory. She was onto how I felt about her. I needed to tread lightly if I ever hoped to stand a chance of getting a ‘yes’ when I finally asked her out.
“Maybe I was wrong about that,” she continued in a lower voice. Naomi studied me like she’d put on a pair of long-lost glasses. I stared back, not sure if she realized she wasn’t clutching my hands as hard. Her body was relaxed now that she had something else to think about.
“Would you describe yourself as shy?” she asked with a knowing smile. “Maybe even a little socially anxious?”
I frowned and let out a stiff, “No… not really.”
Naomi laughed. The noise made my stomach jump. I wanted to pull her closer. To get a taste of her laugh. She always squinted when she found something entertaining. And she could make almost anything entertaining for herself. She lived her life looking at the world through half-closed eyes. It was beautiful.
How did it feel to smile that much? To laugh at the drop of a hat? Such a wonderful skill.
“There’s nothing wrong with being shy,” she finally managed.
“Of course not.”
We were moving again. I don’t think she noticed, and I wanted to keep it that way, so I forced myself to talk.
“But I’m not shy,” I said with surety.
“You seem it.” She was still watching me with newfound intrigue. “You avoid conversations like you’re on a deadline for something.”
“I don’t enjoy small talk.”
