“Then today’s your lucky day.” Drake stands, balancing effortlessly on the thin blades. He holds out his hands. “I’m a very good teacher.”
I wobble as I stand, grabbing his forearms. “If I break something, I’m blaming you.”
“Fair. But if you think I’d ever let anything happen to you, you’re softheaded.”
“Hey!” I protest at the playful insult.
He guides me onto the ice slowly, his hands steady on my waist. My feet immediately try to slide in opposite directions away from each other and the rest of my body, and I clutch at him frantically.
“Relax,” he says, his voice close to my ear. “Small steps. Keep your weight centered.”
I try to follow his instructions, focusing on staying upright. It’s frustrating and fantastic all at once. Drake skates backward, pulling me along, his movements graceful and sure.
“That’s it,” he encourages as I find something resembling balance. “You’re a natural.”
“Lies,” I laugh, but I think I might be starting to get the hang of it.
Drake releases one of my hands, skating beside me now. “Look at you go.”
We make a slow turn around the pond, Drake guiding me the whole way. By our third lap, I’m feeling almost confident. Until my skate catches on something and I pitch forward with a yelp.
Drake catches me, his arms wrapping around my waist. He spins us, laughing. “See?”
I’m breathless, not from the fall but from the closeness of him, the strong arms around me and the warmth of his body against mine. “My hero.”
His eyes lock on mine. We’ve always had a connection, right from the moment we met, but with him so present, so real, it feels different.
“Rose,” he says, and I watch his full lips as he speaks my name. Lips that have explored every inch of my body.
I close my eyes, then open them and reach up, brushing snow from his hair. “This is nice. Being here with you. Like this.”
“Like what?” His arms tighten around me.
“Like you’re not going to disappear any second.”
His smile turns sad. “I wish I could promise I won’t. We don’t know how long this will last, or even how it’s really happening.”
“I know.” I lean into him. “But we have now, right?”
“We do.” He presses his forehead to mine. “And I’m not going anywhere. Not today.”
We stay wrapped in each other’s arms, then Drake pulls back, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Want to try something fun?”
Before I can answer, he’s skating backward, pulling me with him, faster and faster until we’re flying across the ice. The world blurs, and I laugh. When we finally slow, my cheeks hurt from smiling. Drake looks at me with such tenderness I have to look away.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing. I just like seeing you happy.”
We skate until our fingers and toes are numb, until the sun is high in the sky, and I’m hungry and cold. Finally, Drake leads me back to the bank.
We return the skates to their hiding place, and Drake takes my hand as we trudge back toward the academy.
“Thank you,” I say. “For this.”
He squeezes my hand. “Thank you, Rose. I never thought it would be possible to do something like that ever again.”
