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“You’re allowed because I say you are,” he said simply.
“Come on!” Braden said. “It’ll be fun. And if you fall on your butt, well, I promise not to laugh.”
“I can’t make that promise.” Logan’s lip twitched in a hint of a smile.
Feeling determined, I said, “I don’t intend to fall at all. And I promise to laugh whenyouhit the ice.”
I went back into the locker room and put the skates on. Most of the team were dressed or gone by this point.
“Don’t you have to do post-game interviews in the media room?” Braden asked.
“I told them I was busy tonight,” Logan replied.
When we all had our skates on, we walked out to the ice. The rink was empty except for a man driving the Zamboni machine. The skates had protective covers on the blades, which Logan removed from his before showing us how to do the same. Then he stepped onto the ice and began gliding across the rink effortlessly. He floated over to the Zamboni machine and handed the driver what must have been some cash, because he immediately turned off the vehicle and climbed down off of it. We had the entire rink to ourselves, if you ignored the janitors cleaning the stadium seats all around us.
Braden was next, each step clumsy and unstable. “Haveyouever skated before?” I asked him.
“A few times,” he replied while concentrating as hard as he could. He looked like he was one sneeze away from falling on his face.
I was extremely nervous as I followed them. I expected to immediately begin slipping and sliding around. But the skates fit my feet well, and I had a surprising amount of balance. As I began to move, I found the motions intuitive and easy.
“Hey! Look at me!” I said.
Logan stared at me in shock. “You’ve skated before.”
“Nope!” I replied while making a turn. “But I used to roller blade a bunch.”
“Doesn’t count,” Logan said.
“Sure it does. It’s totally the same kind of motion.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Oh yeah? Then how do you explainthis?”I picked up a little speed, then made a sharp turn. I was still a little shaky, but my confidence was growing with every stride.
“She’s way better than I expected,” Braden said. He was still taking little baby steps on the ice, walking more than skating.
“Did I ruin your plans?” I asked while skating alongside Logan. “Were you hoping I would be bad at this, so you would have to hold my hand?”
“No,” he replied, glaring at me. “Well. Maybe.”
I reached out and took his hand. “I can pretend to be a helpless damsel if it’ll make you feel better.”
His fingers tightened in mine, and he grinned. “I like a woman who can take care of herself.”
I grinned back at him, and the two of us skated around the rink for a while, hand-in-hand. It was freezing out here on the ice, but it was also peaceful.
I glanced over at Logan, who was as strong and stoic as a Roman statue as we glided across the ice together. I felt totally comfortable in his presence, even though we weren’t talking. It didn’t feel like weneededto speak, which was nothing like how I usually felt around guys. Especially guys who might be interested in me, and vice versa.
After ten minutes of skating, I said, “I bet I could totally play hockey. Do they have women’s leagues? Like, for amateurs?”
“They do, but it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
“Feels pretty easy to me.”
He gave me another half-playful glare. “Skating is only half the game. You have to do thatandhandle the puck.”
“Bring it on!” I said.
