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Mac stared down at me, running the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip. “I suppose we should probably get going, huh?”
I shrugged, a shallow breath escaping me. “It was your idea to go.”
“I’m regretting that right now,” he murmured as he pressed his thumb against my bottom teeth. “I’d rather take you to my place and have my way with you instead.”
“That sounds like a brilliant idea,” I agreed as I ran my tongue over the tip of his thumb. “But you already committed to the plans, Mac. We can’t cancel on them now.”
“You’re right,” he breathed, his eyes meeting mine as he dropped his mouth to mine and replaced his thumb with his lips as he kissed me softly. “Let’s go. The sooner we do this, the sooner I can get you naked underneath me.”
I pushed at his chest, laughing as he stared down at me. “Is that all you think about?”
“Among other things,” he said with a shrug as he grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. “But when it comes to you, you can’t fault me for that. I think it’s safe to say that I’m kind of obsessed with you, baby.”
“Don’t tell anyone else that,” I laughed again as we headed to the elevator. “People might think that you’re crazy.”
He pulled me closer to him until I was flush against his side with his arm draped over my shoulders. “I don’t give a shit about what anyone thinks, except for you.”
His words warmed my soul.
Damn him.
Sitting in the stands, Mac was to my left and Harper was to my right. She was sitting next to her boyfriend Nico, and Wes and Charlotte were on the other side of him. The two women were very welcoming and even though they were already friends, neither of them made me feel uncomfortable or like I was an outsider. They welcomed me with open arms. I was grateful. Meeting other women who were already friends as an adult was intimidating as hell.
Group in their boyfriends and the whole dynamic of them all being a friend group, and it had the potential to be super awkward. No one made it feel that way at all. The guys didn’t comment on the fact that Mac and I showed up together. On the way to the arena, he told me that Lincoln had bailed. He gave a bullshit excuse of not feeling well, but Mac claimed he thought that Lincoln didn’t want to be the seventh wheel.
I couldn’t say I blamed him because I would have felt the same exact way, even though Mac and I weren’t a couple.
We all stared out at the ice as the announcer introduced us all to the next skaters. It was Charlotte’s brother Leo and his partner, Aria. They moved to the center of the rink and got into their respective places before dropping their heads as they waited for the music to begin. The entire building was silent as a soft classical melody began to play through the speakers.
I straightened my spine, sitting up straighter in my seat as I watched the two of them. They both skated in opposite directions, but their movements were mirroring one another. There was something so enchanting and so captivating about the way they moved. They were skating in tandem together, caught in a perfect melody. There wasn’t a movement that was off-beat or out of sync.
Growing up, I had watched some of the figure skaters at the rink I played hockey, but I was never really interested in the sport. It required so much focus and technical skating. Plus the thought of jumping in the air and attempting to land on a blade was a bit intimidating.
Watching Leo and Aria was like witnessing something so magical, you could feel it prickling your skin. The goosebumps were covering my arms and the sound of the piano playing slid down my spine as I watched them. I couldn’t look away. They were both beautiful with their movements and the chemistry between them was palpable. The dynamic between them. The way they skated in unison.
Their performance told a story of its own. They pushed and pulled around the rink as they skated together. He lifted her above his head, and she was trusting him completely as they went through a series of movements. At one point, he was launching her into the air. My breath caught in my chest as she spun through the air before landing perfectly on the ice.
“Holy shit,” I breathed, not talking to anyone in particular. The rest of our group was still silent, everyone watching as the performance continued.
There was an emotional pull of it all, festering deep within my chest. This was something that was going to stick with me for a while. It may have been one of the most beautiful things I had ever watched. The music began to slow down and they slowly skated in circles with different movements until they were meeting one another again in the center.
He grabbed her elbow, spinning her to face him as he skated a few feet backward. Her feet moved with his, skating after him until he stopped, and she smoothly collided into him. He stared down at her for a moment as his arms slid around her back, dipping her backward as they both melted into one another and gracefully moved onto their knees on the ice together. They ended their performance wrapped up in one another.
After a moment of silence, a beat of emotion, everyone in the crowd was on their feet, clapping and cheering for Leo and Aria. It was such a breathtakingly beautiful experience. I looked over at Mac who was studying me with a ghost of a smile on his lips. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I clapped, still feeling the intense emotional pull from their performance.
“That was absolutely amazing,” I told him softly as I resisted the urge to kiss him in front of everyone.
He nodded and smiled. “It really was, wasn’t it?”
“After watching that, I feel like figure skaters don’t really get the credit they deserve.”
“Girl, if my brother hears you say that, he might try to put a ring on your finger."
Mac half growled as I turned around to look at Charlotte. “The hell he will.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Calm down, killer. It’s a joke.”
Mac mumbled something under his breath as we all sat back down. Leo and Aria were the last skaters of the night, and the judges were finishing up deciding on their results for all of the pairs. The tension was rolling off Mac in waves and I looked over at him, grabbing his hand.
