Chapter 23 #2
I kept hold of her hands and started skating backward slowly, pulling her gently along with me. “The key is to keep your weight forward. If you lean back, you’ll fall on your butt.”
She nodded, concentrating hard on her feet. “Forward. Got it.”
“And relax your ankles a bit. You’re too stiff.”
“Easy for you to say,” she muttered. “You’ve been doing this since you were what, five?”
“Four, actually,” I said. “But everyone starts somewhere. Don’t be afraid to fall. It’s part of learning.”
She took a shaky breath. “I’ll try to remember that when I’m flat on my back.”
“If you fall, I’ll help you up,” I promised. “But let’s try to keep you vertical for now. Ready to try moving on your own?”
Abby nodded, determination setting her jaw. I slowly released one of her hands, keeping a firm grip on the other. “Push off with the side of your blade, like this,”—I demonstrated with my foot—”then glide and repeat with the other foot.”
She mimicked my movement, wobbling a bit but managing to propel herself forward. “I’m doing it!” she exclaimed, her face lighting up with pure joy.
My chest tightened at her expression. She looked so beautiful like this—cheeks flushed, eyes bright, her usual reserve forgotten in the excitement of learning something new. I wanted to see her look like that all the time.
“You’re a natural,” I said, and I meant it. For someone who’d never skated before, she was picking it up quickly. But I shouldn’t have been surprised. I suspected that Abby excelled at anything she set her mind to.
We made a slow circuit around the rink, Abby gaining confidence with each stride. She was still wobbly and relied heavily on my support, but she hadn’t fallen, and her smile hadn’t dimmed.
“This is amazing,” she said, looking around at the empty rink. “I can’t believe I waited this long to try it.”
“Better late than never,” I replied, enjoying the warmth of her hand in mine. “Want to try a full lap without stopping?”
She bit her lip, then nodded. “Let’s do it.”
We picked up the pace slightly, and I watched as Abby concentrated on her movements, her tongue peeking out between her lips in focus.
It was adorable, but I bit back my smile because I didn’t want her to be self-conscious, especially not when she was doing so well.
We were about halfway around when her skate caught on something, and she lurched forward with a startled cry.
I reacted instinctively, catching her around the waist and pulling her against me to keep her upright. She crashed into my chest, her hands grabbing my shoulders for balance. For a moment, we just stood there, breathing hard, our faces inches apart.
“You okay?” I asked, my voice coming out rougher than I intended.
She nodded, her eyes wide. “Thanks to you.”
I should have let her go then, made sure she was steady on her skates before continuing our lesson. But I couldn’t bring myself to release her. She felt too perfect in my arms with her warm body pressed against mine.
“Foster,” she said quietly, and something in her voice made my heart race.
“Yeah?”
“I think…I think I’d like to try again.”
For a second, I thought she meant skating, but then she reached up and wrapped her hand around the back of my head, pulling me closer to her, until our lips were almost brushing and my brain short-circuited. I swallowed hard, my gaze dropping to her lips.
“Are you sure?” I asked, giving her a chance to back away if I’d misread the situation.
Instead of answering, she rose up on her toe picks and pressed her lips to mine.
The kiss was gentle at first, tentative, as if she was testing the waters.
But then I responded, letting out a deep groan as I slid one hand up to cup the back of her neck.
She melted against me and her mouth softened under mine.
I kissed her slowly, savoring the moment I’d been thinking about for weeks.
She tasted like mint and something sweet, and when her fingers threaded through my hair, I pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. She made a small sound in the back of her throat that nearly undid me.
If I thought I’d been enamored with her before, it was nothing to how I felt now with her lips on mine. It felt like I’d spent my whole life lost at sea and she was my lighthouse guiding me home. We were a perfect fit and I never wanted it to end.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard. I rested my forehead against hers, unwilling to put any more distance between us than necessary.
“Wow,” I breathed, a smile tugging at my lips.
The moment the word left my mouth, Abby stiffened in my arms. Her hands dropped from my neck, and she took a step back, nearly losing her balance on the ice.
“Abby?” I reached for her, confused by the sudden change. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, but her voice was tight, and she wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I just… I think I need a break.”
“Sure. We can take a break, maybe have some hot chocolate, if you want.”
She let me help her off the ice, but as soon as we reached the bench, she dropped my hand and busied herself with unlacing her skates. The easy warmth between us had vanished, replaced by a tension I didn’t understand.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, sitting beside her. “If I misread the situation—”
“No, it’s not that,” she said quickly, still not looking at me. “The kiss was… it was nice.”
Nice? Nice was not what a guy wanted to hear when the kiss for him had been earth-shatteringly good.
But it felt like something else had happened after that kiss—something I was missing. Everything had been going so well, and then suddenly it wasn’t. “Please, Abby. Talk to me.”
She finally looked up, and the vulnerability in her eyes felt like a punch to the gut. “I-I don’t know if I should’ve done that. This wasn’t supposed to happen. You weren’t supposed to be so…fun and wonderful and attractive. You weren’t supposed to make me feel like this.”
“Like what?”
“Like butterflies have taken permanent residence in my stomach, and my heart is constantly racing, and…honestly, just confused.”
“Confused about what?”
She hesitated and then the words came out in a rush. “I haven’t been completely honest with you. There’s…there’s someone else. Another guy I’ve been talking to for a while…someone I thought maybe I had feelings for.”
Bear. She was talking about Bear.
It was time to tell her the full truth.
“I had something I needed to tell you tonight too, but I think it might be easier if I show you.”
She gave me a quizzical look and then followed my lead in taking off her skates. When we had our street shoes back on, I stretched out my hand. “Come with me.”