AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once they’d donned their skates, Liam lurched into an awkward waddle onto the ice. Not that he’d ever doubted it, but the gap in skill between him and the girls proved itself within seconds. As he wobbled, gripping the wall for support, Anna smoothly slid onto the ice. Avril, the showoff, began skating backward, making figure eights while grinning at him.
“Forward march, sir!” Avril said. “Keep a steady core, then step, step, step! Double time!”
Standing next to him, Anna sighed at her friend. “She is right, even if she’s shouting things like a drill sergeant. Keep your core centered and steady, and it’ll return to you quickly enough.”
“Right. Thanks for the advice.”
“Hey, it wasmyadvice,” Avril complained.
He began skating along the rink slowly, beginning to rediscover some semblance of balance. Avril circled him like a hawk hunting a blind baby mouse, grinning the entire time. Anna huffed at her but remained beside him, skating smoothly but slowly, matching his pace.
“Sorry if I’m keeping you from skating how you want,” he said quietly enough that only Anna could hear. “And… sorry for coming along uninvited.”
“I appreciate the apology, butyoudon’t need to offer one,” Anna responded, glancing at Avril as she zoomed by. “I’ve seen the texts Avril sent from my phone, and she confessed everything else on the ride over. You aren’t culpable in any of this.”
Liam was reasonably certain that she hadnotconfessed “everything else” on the drive, and he was completely certain he was culpable in quite a bit.
“Still,” he said, “I don’t want to keep you if you want to skate your way. It’s fine, really.”
“I don’t mind teaching you but thank you for your consideration.” Liam glimpsed a momentary conflict within her expression, but it was an infinitesimal war. She smiled politely. “Let’s all do our best to have a good time. I hope you’ll enjoy ice skating as much as I do.”
Liam nodded, and then he did his best for the next half an hour of instruction he received. Anna revealed herself to be an excellent instructor, possessing as keen an eye for what he should fix as she supposedly did when it came to spotting romantic desires. She spoke clearly and effectively, helping him learn how to swizzle—what a word—fairly quickly. While he still wobbled occasionally, and he wasn’t good enough to stroke, which was the apparent way that professional skaters moved around the ice, he could at least journey around the rink without needing to catch his hands on his knees for balance every twenty feet.
“You’re a quick learner,” Anna said, smiling as she skated alongside him.
“But don’t let it go to your head,” Avril crowed, slicing across the rink like a penguin on its belly.
I wish shewouldend up on her belly somehow,Liam thought with a grumble.
“It’s all thanks to you,” he told Anna, deciding to get a bit of revenge against Avril. “I see why Tara’s so happy every time you show up.”
“Hey! Rude!”
Anna smiled, ignoring her friend’s outcry. “She likes Avril too, but she can’t let her know that. I’m afraid it’s far too late for her;everythinghas already gone to her head.”
“I got that sense,” Liam admitted, which kept Anna’s smile around for a little longer. “Is this a pretty regular sort of day, or is she just acting up?”
“This is a bit more extreme than she usually is, but it’s not too out of the ordinary for her.”
“Knock it off, you two!” Avril grumbled, glaring at them. “Anna, we’re best friends! You can’t go spilling details about me like this!”
“Is it then fair to assume that you kept quiet aboutmewhile I was unaware that you’d invited Liam over to our apartment with my phone?”
Avril sheepishly shrugged while skating backward away from them. He was sure the admonishment bounced right off her, but she let Anna dole it out without any complaint. It was probably her second helping, preceded by whatever tongue-lashing she’d received during the car ride. Aware of the ineffectiveness of her chiding, Anna sighed, which, coupled with how quickly she’d helped him get the hang of ice skating, imbued him with a new thought. He let it flow off his tongue.
“You’d probably make a good professor, Anna.”
Surprise pulsed within her expression, and color sprang into her cheeks. “No, I don’t think I’d be very good at that type of job.”
The hastiness of her reply, the discomfiture, and Avril’s subtle response proved an intriguing trifecta. While the affliction of embarrassment ran its course within Anna, her self-proclaimed best friend offered a new type of smile. It wasn’t flirtatious or teasing; it wasn’t even broad enough for her to show any teeth. A slender lift at the corner of her mouth—that was all it was.
What did it mean?
“Professor Roycedoeshave a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” Avril chimed, after which she keyed him into some of the reason why his simple statement had caused such an effect. “Hasn’t Tess been trying to get you to consider it, too?”
“Yes, but I’ve said the same to her,” Anna quickly said. “Teaching isn’t a good path for me.”
Avril shrugged, and Liam understood that a quick death to the topic was for the best. Fortunately for the two more introverted individuals of their trio, Avril smoothly slid their conversation along. Eventually, the shrewd redhead shifted the conversation toward him.
