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“Andi, I know this is crazy. I’m not sure it was even a month ago when we met. I know it’s supposed to take longer than that to develop feelings or decide how you feel about someone. But I’m done caring about that. I know how I feel. I thought I was being smart by keeping all that bottled up. It’s easier to lie to yourself and say it doesn’t hurt if nobody knows the truth but you, or something like that. So, I guess this is me making sure everybody knows the truth. This is me making sure it will hurt if you go, because it should.”
He takes a step closer to the edge of the stage, raising his muscular arm again to shield his eyes so he can try to see me better. “Andi Summers, I care about you so much I’ve been questioning my sanity. I want to be with you. I want to follow you to New York if you go after that job and I want to make you part of my life here if you don’t. I just want to be with you, no matter how it happens.”
He pauses and the echo of his voice through the microphone seems to go on for several seconds. Nobody makes a sound, then Carter lets loose a loud “Whoo!”
“Go kiss her!” Carter yells.
There’s scattered laughter and it feels like a thousand faces turned toward me.
I’m not sure I’ve breathed for a full minute. When I finally do, it comes in a shaky gasp. Did I really just hear all that? Or did I try to skate, hit my head on the ice, and now I’m hallucinating?
Caroline leans close to me, whispering over the growing noise. “What are you gonna do, Andi?”
My body moves. I’m not wearing skates, so I’m awkwardly slipping my way in tennis shoes onto the ice, excusing myself as I bump into people and push past them on my way toward the stage.
Jesse drops the microphone and gets down on the ice. He only has time to take one step on his skates before I crash into him, arms tight around his body. There’s a rush of clapping and excited conversation as soon as we meet in our hug.
“You really mean all that?” I ask. For some reason, I’m crying.
“All of it.”
“All right, all right,” Caroline says. She has recovered the microphone. “For all you tourists out there, sorry for the sideshow. Mia, hit the song!”
Maggie flashes a thumbs up and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” starts to play.
I laugh. “Oh my God. I love this song.”
Caroline is still holding the microphone. She points behind the stage to where I know the pyrotechnics are set up. I also know they aren’t supposed to go off until the end of the night, but I have a hunch that plan has changed.
“Who’s ready for some fireworks?” she shouts. “We were going to save them for later tonight, but fireworks are fireworks, right? Who cares if they are early!”
There’s a loud cheer and kids are hopping up and down on their skates all around us. A few of them wipe out, nearly taking parents with them as they crash to their butts, laughing.
“Hit it!” Caroline calls into the mic. She sets it back on the stand and Mia cranks up the song louder.
Jesse has me by the hand with his other hand on my waist. His eyes are all for me, even when the boom of the first firework goes off and whistles upwards. I look back at him, waiting for the pop of its detonation.
I hear the sound and see the red sparks reflecting in his eyes. Everyone around us “oohs” and “aahs’.
Even though I know he must have had to beg Caroline to move up the firework show for me, I can’t seem to take my eyes off him.
“Aren’t you going to watch?” he asks as we sway, hardly even matching the upbeat rhythm of the song. It’s like we’re dancing to a song only we can hear, perfectly in tune. I’m mostly just letting his momentum pull me from side to side on the flat bottoms of my sneakers, and it feels like I’m floating.
“Did you really do all this for me?” I ask.
“Maybe it was for both of us.” His perfect eyebrows draw together. “I’ve been afraid to admit to myself that I want this. Afraid admitting it would mean scaring you off the way I scared off Sarah. But then I realized holding all that in was going to mean losing you, too.”
“Somebody hurt you,” I say. “You were afraid it was going to happen again.”
He chuckles. “Yeah. But some people are worth the risk.”
I bite my lip. “You put your trust in me up there. Saying all of that in front of everyone… it made you vulnerable, and I want you to know you never have to be afraid to be vulnerable with me. You gave me a little piece of your heart, and I’m going to cherish it. Okay?”
“If you think that was only a little piece, I think I may have to go ask Caroline for that mic back. I was trying to give you the whole damn thing, Andi.”
I smile, laughing. “Really?”
He looks suddenly serious. “Really. I mean what I said. I don’t care if it’s crazy or too fast or if none of it makes sense. I’m tired of pretending the way I feel should follow any kind of rules. It is what it is, and I know how I feel. That’s why I’ll do whatever it takes to make this work. Following you to New York, traveling as much as I can to see you during the season. Anything.”
