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“Yeah, surprisingly.”
“If it becomes too much, say the word and we can go. My mom will understand.”
“It’s not too much.” He shakes his head. “I’m having fun.”
“Yeah?” A smile spreads across my face, making my cheeks hurt.
“Yeah,” he repeats, staring up at me.
FORTY-SIX
QUINN
This week has been full of festivities. It’s a little overwhelming. On Christmas morning, there were presents for me under the tree. Not a hastily bought present in a drug store bag. But my name, in Laura’s handwriting, on an actual Christmas tag attached to pretty wrapping paper. They’ve gone out of their way to make me feel like I’m part of the family. It’s a different feeling than I’ve ever had before.
Christmas, really any holiday, back home is cold and distant. Sure, I come from a small town, but when you have parents who treat you the way mine treat me, it’s nothing I would miss if I never went back. Here, Laura is constantly feeding me and making sure I’m comfortable. And Mike is quiet but kind. Hank sleeps on my feet when we are in the living room watching movies for a family movie night. Bryson treats me like I’m his brother, too. And that isn’t even accounting for his extended family.
I don’t know what to do with being so accepted. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. For someone to tell me it’s all a misunderstanding, I’m not actually welcome here.
It’s our last full day. We leave tomorrow morning, which means going back to the real world. Back to campus and our dorm with the rules written in my notebook. I’m trying not to count how many hours we have left. And I’m failing.
Daniel finds me in the kitchen with a look that tells me he has already decided that we’re doing something and is only pretending it’s a question.
“Come skating with me.”
“I don’t skate.”
“I know.” He leans on the counter, close enough that I can smell his soap. “That’s why I’m asking. The pond behind the rec fields is cleared. Nobody’s there this late in the morning on a Wednesday. I can hold you up. You won’t even need to try.”
I huff a laugh. “That’s not how physics works.”
“Quinn.” He draws out my name, pleading without being pathetic about it. Charming really. Annoyingly charming. His mouth does the whole-face smile thing I’m now positive he inherited from his mom, because she does it, too. “Please. It’s our last day. I want to take you. You can fall on me as many times as you want. I’m built for it. I promise.”
I should say no. I’ll probably break a leg or something. Instead, my mouth forms the word okay against my will.
He blinks, then grins. “Okay?” His eyes are sparkling.
“You asked nicely.”
“I’m pretty sure that was begging,” he says.
I shrug. “Sorta the same.”
The pond is smaller than I expected. Trees surround the edge, mostly hiding it from the street. A bench with rusted legs is next to it. The ice is dull and scraped, not the clean sheet from movies. Daniel has two pairs of skates in the back of the Jeep. One of them is his old pair from high school, and they are still a little too big on me after three pairs of socks.
“If I break my ankle, I’m suing you,” I tell him.
“Yeah? And what do you think you’d earn in that? My hoodie?” He grins over at me, and I swallow. He noticed.
“I borrowed it. I wasn’t going to keep it.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
He steps onto the ice first, and it looks easy. Then he faces me and holds out both hands.
I make it three steps. My blades go in two different directions. I’m, scientifically, a baby deer on skates. Daniel laughs and doesn’t let me go. He skates backwards, slowly pulling me out onto the ice, keeping his eyes on my feet, and talking nonsense I can’t understand the whole time. Bend your knees. Don’t look at the ice. Look at me.
I can do the last. It’s easy to look at him. I think he gets prettier every day.
