In the middle of a frozen pond in a small community outside of Halifax, wearing a jacket that made her stand out amongst everyone on the ice, the lower half of her body clad in a pair of leggings that clung to the strong legs she stillhad despite her years off the ice, Jules was the most gorgeous woman Frankie had ever seen.
She couldn’t believe she had almost thrown this away. Couldn’t believe she’d almost given up on a friendship with her, on whatever was simmering beneath the surface and just waiting for the right time to come alive.
“Oh, is that how it works?” Frankie joked, dropping her centre of gravity and bending at her knees. She winked at Jules and grinned. “I’ll tell you if you can catch me!”
And with that, she took off speeding past Jules, her arms moving forward and back with each and every stride. She could hear someone cutting across the ice behind her and out of the corner of her eye as she rounded the edge of the pond, putting one skate over the other to follow the curve of the shore like she was rounding the boards of a hockey rink, she could see Jules gaining speed.
Her daily running, even if she hated it, and the consistent ice time she’d been getting from practices with the team had given her the up on Jules so when her own lungs began to burn a little, she decided to be fair, knowing it was a race she was always going to win.
She came to a sharp, abrupt stop, her skates sending shaved ice into the air and she looked around for Jules, expecting her to be right on her heels. Which…she was, but Jules hadn’t expected Frankie to stop without warning.
Her body slammed into Frankie’s and they tumbled to the ice in a heap of tangled limbs before they could stop it from happening, landing with an emphatic thud.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t expect you to stop…” Jules mumbled, her face smushed against Frankie’s shoulder. She untangled herself and placed her hands on the ice on either side of Frankie’s head, pushing herself up and putting a small bit of distance between them. “…so suddenly.”
With nowhere else to look other than into the blue eyes that had captivated her from the moment they met, Frankie’s breath caught in her throat. Jules was gazing down at her with such unexpected fondness, it made her feel like she was the only woman Jules had ever admired that way.
She risked a brief glance at a pair of lips that looked so soft it almost hurt to not be kissing them, before looking back at the blue eyes that she would drown in if she weren't careful.
Her pulse hammered and she didn’t miss the way Jules stuttered on her own inhale, like she was fighting a battle with her own feelings too.
It would be so easy to just lift her head a little, so easy to slide her hand up and use it to tug Jules down to meet her, to close the last few inches separating them.
And then it was happening. Jules closed her eyes and licked her lips, lowering her head as Frankie’s own eyes fluttered closed and they –
“HEADS UP!”
The spell broke and they pulled away from each other just in time to dodge a flying puck that was heading straight for them. It soared past, landing somewhere in the brush along the shore and before Frankie could even react, before she could blink, Jules was rolling off of her and hopping back up onto her skates.
“You uh, you brought some water, right?” She cleared her throat, seemingly out of breath. “I’m getting pretty thirsty,”
“Um, yeah, there’s some over...”
Jules was gone, skating towards the other side of the pond where they’d left their belongings on a bench before Frankie even finished her sentence, leaving her alone on the ice with a blooming bruise on her hip and the taste of almost on her lips, wondering what the hell had just happened.
Chapter 20
They didn’t address it on the drive back into Halifax, didn’t address it when Frankie parked her car or when they rode the elevator in silence as Jules held onto her skates by the blade covers, and they didn’t address it when Frankie walked Jules to her door.
Somehow it had been decided that what happened on the ice, or rather whatdidn’thappen, would be left in the cold by the weeds with the puck that shattered the moment.
Despite the awkwardness that started to creep in, when Jules thanked Frankie for a wonderful two days, she meant it. She’d taken what would have been a lonely, tear stained holiday and had given Jules something to look forward to, had given her a way to take her mind off of everything she was missing and had given them…a moment.
A very big, very profound moment.
Frankie had accomplished what she’d said that day in the cafe – that she would get Jules back on her skates and though it took a little convincing, she’d been successful in her pursuit.
And it felt incredible. The sensation of ice beneath her blades, the way her body moved with every glide and turn, was something so deeply a part of her. The sound of people playing stick and puck, the way it echoed around the open space where the pond sat tucked away from all the main roads, and not feeling any of the pressure that came with who they were, if Jules were honest, made it an incredibly special Christmas. And she had Frankie to thank for it.
Frankie, who had been so sweet and reassuring when Jules second guessed herself. Frankie, who confided in Jules in ways she hadn’t yet done and Frankie, whose admission of her sexuality had turned Jules into an absolute word vomiting fool.
So cool, Jules! Well done!
And there had been flirting. She hadn’t imagined it, had she? Frankie called her pretty in the car, she’d winked at her, she’d joked about being a lesbian, she’d held her handtwicefor god’s sake and when she smiled at Jules, there was more to the look in her eyes than that of simple camaraderie.
There was…wanting.
And Juleswanted.
