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CurrerBfighting: Any time.
I was in danger of nixing the whole plan and abandoning my keyboard to go hunt Gabriel down and get a redo on our last lip-locking try. I shouldn’t have been encouraging him or myself like this. It didn’t make sense to let myself get so hopeful. Not when everything was still up in the air.
We’d made it to the final round. In four days, I’d be standing at the after-school club with my online profile name pinned to my shirt like a giant neon sign. Everyone would know it was me. And when they did, Gabriel would get the shock of a lifetime. I shouldn’t have been encouraging him.
Still, I couldn’t help myself. There was something about him. Something that didn’t let me call it quits.
Battlescar13: So, we gonna do this, or what?
My eyes searched over the game as the new map populated with the variables Gabriel had chosen for us. That same little spike of adrenaline coursed through my veins at the start of every game.
“Gabriel, you don’t know this, yet,” I said quietly to my screen as I locked and loaded my weapon. “But I’ve been playing you. And when you find out, you’re probably going to hate me.”
My eyes blurred over momentarily as a series of strong emotions hit me like a punch to the gut. It was guilt, regret, and frustration all rolled into one. But I couldn’t give into them. The first online enemies were upon us. And as Gabriel and I fell into our familiar pattern of battling together, I felt a wave of comfort wash over me.
There was no denying that we were good together. Online and off.
But I needed this win. I needed it bad.
If only life didn’t have to be so complicated.
Chapter Sixteen
I marched into the ice rink with my head held high and my heart thundering like a herd of horses. I’d had an entire day to think about what I wanted. To stare at that superhero drawing Gabriel had doodled for me and make up my mind.
I was strong. I was tough. I was the kind of girl who made the world a better place.
That meant staying true to my goals.
And preparing myself for the inevitable hour that Gabriel would finally hate me.
Which wasn’t easy when I spotted him already waiting for me on the ice. He’d changed out of his practice pads already and wore a pair of jeans with a black hoodie. An extra set of skates sat near the entryway to the rink. I’d bet anything they were a size eleven.
“I thought we’d go for round two,” Gabriel called, skating over toward me as I set my laptop and things on the bottom bench. He wore a charming lopsided grin that made my stomach flip flop in my abdomen. “Let’s call it a warm-up.”
“A warm-up for homework?” I planted my hands on my hips and smirked at him. His grin only grew wider.
Still, I couldn’t say no to a little more action on the ice. I’d left the Gryffindor cardigan at home today and gone back to my usual black t-shirt with a Fortnight logo printed on top. But this time, I’d matched it with a pair of my sister’s black, torn-up skinny jeans she’d left behind when she went to college this year. They were tighter than the straight cut jeans I usually wore. It made bending down to put on my skates a little more difficult than usual, but somehow I managed it. And when I straightened up to face him, I found Gabriel watching me intently, the grin slipping from his face.
“What’s wrong?” I immediately patted down my legs, hoping one of those artfully done tears hadn’t split into something that could do some real damage. No one needed to see my Power Rangers underwear in all of their glory.
“Nothing,” he said quickly with a cough. His eyes were now anywhere other than me and crimson blossomed on his cheeks.
He was really starting to freak me out. I took a second to check out my clothes. Everything was intact. No embarrassing stains or tears. No reason for Gabriel to be embarrassed.
And yet he was still red-faced.
“Okay...well if I sat in gum or something and I find out later that you didn’t tell me, I’m going to have to hurt you,” I said, walking slowly onto the ice.
A chuckle came from my left side and suddenly Gabriel took my arm, guiding me forward. “No gum. You just look...nice, actually.”
Nice? That was the second time in two days Gabriel had said I looked nice. I was starting to agree with Lexi that boys were more confusing than they cared to admit. What did nice mean? Wasn’t that the same kind of compliment a boy paid his grandma when he saw her at a Christmas Eve church service? I wanted to be beautiful. Gorgeous. Hot.
Not nice.
Still, I wasn’t in the position to be turning down compliments from guys. It wasn’t like there was a long line after Gabriel hoping to woo me with their poetic declarations of love. Not that I minded. I had a hard time thinking I’d feel the same about anyone who wasn’t Gabriel. The way my body was starting to respond to him every time he took my hand was volcanic. And as he weaved his fingers through mine, I got an extra spray of molten lava erupting in my belly.
We skated slowly in a wide circle around the ring, being careful to stay close to the edges to avoid another major collapse. But this time, I stayed on my feet. And by the time we headed back to the exit to begin on our project, I was feeling pretty good about my skating abilities.
