“So you admit that you want to try the doughnuts?” He wagged his brows, completely missing the point. I tipped my head back, staring at the roof.
I stayed silent a moment. Since the night we’d gotten takeout before the first live show, I had wanted to kiss her, and I was sure she wanted to kiss me, too. There was an intimacy to our practice sessions now—not in a physical way, but in how attuned we’d become to each other. It lived in the spaces between movements, in the way her hand lingered, in the way our eyes met and held just a beat too long. It felt…deliberate. And like something neither of us dared speak aloud.
Matilda did everything for everyone, so Iknewshe’d do the kiss, but I didn’t want her to do it under the guise of the show when she might have wanted it in real life. We could never have a relationship, so it would be unfair to ask that of her. It felt manipulative, and from what I’d gathered, she’d already been manipulated by too many people.
I didn’t want to join the list of people who’d abused her trust, especially after she had just given it over.
“I’m not doing it,” I said firmly.
Thankfully, Jack let itgo.
“Then you’d best smash this training session.”
When we enteredthe rink, laughter echoed through the cold air. Lily and Taylor were skating with Matilda. I’d already met Lily a few times, as she often hung around after the show to congratulate us. I hadn’t met Taylor before, but I recognized her from the pictures Matilda had shownme.
“Do it, do it, do it,” Taylor cheered, fixing the giant red scarf around her neck.
“OK, one last time.” Matilda glided around the outside of the rink, her movements fluid and controlled. Having built enough momentum, she pushed off the toe-pick of her blade while swinging her arms and shoulders into the rotation. She spiraled through the air at a breathtaking speed, her motion almost too fast to follow. She landed perfectly, skating backward on one foot. Without missing a beat, she repeated the same move again—nailing the landing with equal precision.
Matilda was disgustingly modest and rarely skated to her full potential in public.
“Woohoo,” Jack hollered, hands bracketed around his mouth. “That wassosick.”
I looked at him in disgust. “Who uses the word ‘sick’ anymore?”
Matilda spun around, looking toward the entrance where we stood. Her mouth spread into a wide grin, and she waved. Jack waved back and headed toward the girls.
“She was waving at me, dickhead,” I said.
As we approached, Taylor whispered a fewoh my gods into Lily’s arm before visibly shaking herself and pretending to examine her nails.
My lips twitched involuntarily.
“Hey, guys,” Jack started. “How’s it going?”
“Hey, Jack.” Taylor beamed at him for a second, her grin almost identical to Matilda’s when she smiled. She must have met him at one of the live shows. Her gaze flickered to me, eyes turning to saucers, but I offered her a smile and pretended not to notice.
“Taylor, this is Luca—I don’t think you’ve met him yet.” Jack glanced at me. “You’re lucky—you’ve obviously caught him on a good day, because generally he only smiles once a year.”
I rolled my head to Jack, giving him a “really?” look, before holding out my hand to Taylor. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
She took my hand and shook it. “Are you going out with my auntie?”
A cackle boomed from Jack as the tips of my ears started to burn. “He fu—fudging wishes.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. “We’re not, no. But she is a good friend. I love skating with her.”
Taylor’s smile faltered for a second, as if she was dissatisfied with my answer. Matilda had almost reached us, so I mentally willed this conversation to wrap up quickly.
Taylor’s face lit up as she turned her phone screen to me, revealing a notification. “Oh my god. Will you be in my BeReal, please?”
“Taylor,” Matilda jokingly scolded from where she stood on theice.
“Sure.” I had no idea what a BeReal was, but for some unknown reason, I wanted Taylor to like me. She gestured for me to crouch down at her height and took a photo of Matilda with her back camera, then a selfie of us with her front camera.
Kids were weird.
But it seemed to make her happy.
