“Fine, race, first one around twice wins. Go!” He sped off while I was still processing.
“Hey, don’t cheat,” I called, racing after him.
“It’s not cheating if I’m better,” he said.
He was pretty fast, but he didn’t take the turns as quickly as I did, and he didn’t have the control to stay as close to the inside ofthe ring as possible, so I was able to catch up and beat him with seconds to spare.
“You cheated,” he said as we got to the end, both a bit out of breath.
“How did I cheat?” I asked. “You’re the one who took off so quickly.”
He pulled me close, so I was pressed against him. “Your butt looked so good, I couldn’t help but get behind you.”
His words were quiet so no one could hear, but they made me blush regardless.
“That’s a pretty bad excuse,” I said lightly.
“But it’s true.” He pressed into me, kissing me again. This time deeper. It wasn’t the full on make out we had in our hotel room, but it was just as sweet.
A scraping sound cut through our little bubble and I felt the cool splash of ice chips.
We turned to see Samuel standing there in hockey stop form. “Less kissing, more skating. Isn’t that what you said to Rachel and I last year, El?”
He turned and gave his brother a scowl. “You’ll pay for that,” he said.
“If you can catch me.” Samuel took off and Ellery followed right after him.
“They’re going to be boys at heart forever,” Clarice said as she came up next to me.
“I think so too,” I said with a laugh.
She and I skated together for a while, Rachel joining us after Samuel left her to race around with Ellery. Arthur and Tiffany came onto the ice at some point as well, skating together slowly and staying against the wall. Tiffany wore a black jacket today that was fairly baggy, but looked intentionally that way. Her bright pink hat matched Arthur’s gloves. Her hair was styledaround her face perfectly, and she looked less ill today. They really were cute together.
Once everyone got tired, we went to the rink lobby to have hot chocolate and cookies. Though we only had a few days left of vacation, I felt like I was going to miss it. It had been one of the best I’d ever had, and that had a lot to do with Ellery.
He sat next to me, and even though I wasn’t draped over him like Rachel was on Samuel, he kept his hand set on my thigh. His fingers tapped as they always did, but the steady rhythm against me kept me balanced.
“Ellery,” a feminine voice behind us said.
We turned and were met with a pretty brunette in a baby blue jacket, and white leggings that were very see-through. “How are you?”
Her eyes didn’t turn to me, or anyone else in the group. Just Ellery.
“Fine,” he said, looking a bit confused at why she was talking to him.
She seemed to take the hint. “It’s Kim. Remember we hung out a few winters ago.”
The way she said ‘hung out’ had my blood running a bit cold.
“Oh, sure,” he said. “How are you?”
“Fine, I was hoping to catch you at Rodgers.”
“We probably won’t go this trip,” he said. “But I hope you have a great time.”
“Well, why don’t you come tonight?” she asked. “It was so fun last time.”
“I don’t think we can. I have plans with June.”
