AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Your father asked you to wait.” I didn’t want Maggie to think she could manipulate me when her father was around.
When Sam was finished, he walked with ease to our sides. “Are you ready for this?”
“Not really. I could just—” I gestured toward the bench in front of the rink.
“Oh no.” Sam gripped my elbow and helped me waddle-walk to the gap in the fence where kids were stepping out with ease.
“Finally,” Maggie said as she clung to the wall and set one blade on the ice.
“Hold on,” Sam said as she put the second blade down. “Let me get you a whale.”
A kid pushed one toward Maggie, and Sam positioned it in front of her. Her eyes lit up as she confidently grabbed on to it and made her way down the ice.
“Now it’s your turn.”
I shook my head, my heart pounding in my ears. “You should probably follow Maggie. She’s going to need your help.”
Sam followed my hand to see Maggie making her way confidently down the ice. “She seems to be holding her own.”
My heart flip-flopped. I was counting on Maggie needing his sole focus this morning. This day was already going sideways.
His hand moved from my elbow, gliding down to my hand. Holding it, he backed onto the ice, guiding me toward him. Everything in my body perked up at his focus on me.
“You got it. Come on.” He was talking to me like I was a horse that might be spooked at any second. I liked it a little too much.
The first step onto the ice was terrifying. I was positive I was going to go down, but he kept a tight grip on my hand. Finally, I managed to stand upright with both blades on the ice. “I did it.”
His lips twitched in amusement. “We haven’t gone anywhere yet.”
“This seems like a victory,” I said, looking down at the ice, then at the inviting bench.
“I thought you skated before?” he asked, his tone filled with amusement.
“Yeah. A billion years ago,” I mumbled.
“It will come back to you.” His voice rumbled in my body, sending tingles across my skin despite the cold.
I grumbled under my breath as he pulled me forward. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
Those words had never been uttered to me before. They wrapped around my heart, providing a protective encasing.
I stupidly wished the words applied to something more than skating. I wished they were real. That he did promise to have me, protect me. Lift me up. The thought of someone by my side was almost too good to be true.
I told myself Elle and Gray tolerated me because I’d made myself indispensable to them. I suspected they’d never forgiven me for what I’d done. How could they when I’d come close to destroying their happiness?
The distracting thoughts had me wobbling on my blades, and I grabbed on to Sam’s arm with both hands. My heart was racing from the near fall, my breathing erratic.
“Where did your mind go?” Sam murmured to me.
I eased away from him. “Nowhere.”
“Focus on the sound of my voice and pushing off with your blade. Like this.” He let go of my hand to effortlessly glide on one blade, then the other. He quickly skated a few feet away from me before turning to see my progress. I hadn’t moved. I reached for the fence, but it was too far away.
Sam easily skated back to me as other skaters gave us a wide berth. He placed one hand on my back and the other on my elbow. “You’ve got this.”
His words buoyed me as I attempted to mimic his movements. When I took one step, then the next, I said, “I did it.”
“Keep going,” he said as Maggie flew by, with the whale in front of her. “Look at me,” she cried before skating away.
