Chapter 6 #2
“No, no. I’m good. One sec, please.” In my rush to move on, I yanked too hard on the stubborn zipper, and the slide immediately stopped. A few more yanks only tightened the pull. I swallowed a groan but allowed myself a silent ten-second foot-stomping tantrum.
“Are you sur—” Travis said as he turned the knob and stepped inside. His eyes immediately zeroed in on my stuck zipper. “Gah, that zipper just wants to be stubborn.” Without hesitation, he locked the door behind him and dropped to his knees in a fluid movement.
Seeing him kneel like that sent a spark straight through me, sharp and sweet all at once.
For a big man, he was graceful. I suppose it was from all those years on the ice, but I could appreciate it on so many fronts. But the best front was that he was on his knees right in front of me. His mouth inches away from my cock.
“Here, let me try to fix it again.” Travis interrupted my wayward thoughts.
My body betrayed me with him so close. His breath blew against me as he worked to free the fabric from the zipper’s clutches.
My cock stirred even though I was desperately focused on thinking about the most unsexy things.
My high school chemistry teacher…taxes…climate change…
the president…were all tried, and failed, to trick my body into forgetting who was kneeling in front of me.
“It might be time to hang this one up. I’m not sure this zipper can be salvaged,” Travis said after a particularly hard yank.
I suppose he thought my squirming had something to do with the onesie, but it had everything to do with his knuckles brushing against my skin and my body responding like anyone’s would. I sucked in a breath between my teeth, and Travis glanced up at me at the noise.
“It’s allergies.”
I braced for rejection the way you brace for winter storms, expecting the worst even when it wasn’t coming. There went my secret hope—my unspoken secret hope—that he hadn’t noticed my dilemma.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” I defensively.
Travis glanced up at me again, but this time his jaw dropped and his eyes widened in disbelief.
“Is that what you seriously think?” he asked.
“Uh…yeah?”
Travis sat back on his heels a little, his jaw still slack.
“What else would I think?”
“The better question is why would you think that?”
Now that he’d pointed it out, I really didn’t have a reason for thinking that. I mean, we did kiss in the car the other night, so it’s not like I thought he was wholly opposed to being around me—and tonight, he’d volunteered to be my Daddy and keep my secrets.
Travis, like earlier this evening, let me think through my thoughts without interrupting me or offering his own opinion. Yeah, that didn’t make any sense at all now that I was thinking about it.
“Yeah, okay, I see your point.”
“I’m glad you do,” he said with a happy tilt in his voice. “If you thought this was going to offend me, I’m not sure you even know who I am.”
“I’m not sure I do know you well enough to say.”
Travis gave one final yank and the cloth came free of the zipper. To my everlasting disappointment, he got to his feet and handed me my clothes.
“Well, if you’re not opposed to it, we could get to know each other better.”
“What did you have in mind?” I asked. I definitely knew what I was hoping he’d offer, but I didn’t want to push my luck—or force it.
“Do you trust me?”
Trust came easy with him, even when every old instinct said to run first and feel later.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then I’m going to leave it as a surprise. Let’s get you dressed, and then we can go.”
“What are we doing here?” I asked, glancing around the empty parking lot of the skating rink. “Are we even allowed to be here?”
My heart thudded harder than it should have, like my body already knew this was something important.
“One of the perks of being the minority owner is that I at least have keys to the place. Which means I’m allowed to come and go as I please,” Travis answered from across the wide expanse of his SUV.
“Now sit tight, and I’ll come around and get you,” he said, followed by the slam of his door and a quick jog around to my side.
He opened my door, reached inside, and unbuckled my seatbelt. I didn’t need his help, but I appreciated the gesture. I didn’t need him to hold my hand as I got out of the car either, but I liked that too.
He paused briefly to grab a duffel bag out of the back seat, then led me across the parking lot toward the entrance.
“Are you absolutely sure?” I asked again—not because I didn’t believe him… well, partly because I didn’t actually believe him, but mostly because I wanted to reassure myself.
“I promise we’re not breaking into the skating rink,” Travis said as he fished it out and waved it triumphantly over his head.
Once inside, we stopped briefly at the skate counter so he could grab a pair for me. Based on the thunk when he dropped his duffel bag, his own pair must have been in there already.
After finding out my size, he led me over to a bench and dropped the skates next to me, along with his duffel bag.
“Sit tight. I’m gonna go get the lights,” Travis said before disappearing into the darkness.
I pulled off my shoes and picked up the skates he’d left beside me. I was still working on figuring them out when I heard a click and the lights around the rink flickered on. When I saw it—really saw it—the skates in my hands were forgotten.
Whoever was in charge of the decorations for the rink deserved a raise.
They’d turned the place into an indoor winter wonderland.
Streams of warm yellow light framed the rink while icicles and snowflakes hung from the ceiling and Christmas trees wrapped in colorful bulbs lined the perimeter.
It was so beautifully done that I could almost forget it was indoors, and instead imagine that I’d been transported to a frozen pond in the middle of a forest. I expected woodland creatures to join me any moment.
For a moment, the whole world felt made for us, soft edges and warm lights and room to breathe.
“What do you think?” Travis asked when he returned to my side.
I was leaning over the railing, staring at the lights in awe.
“I think it’s the prettiest ice skating rink I’ve ever been in. It doesn’t even look like one anymore.”
“Then it worked. That’s exactly what we wanted.”
“Who’s ‘we?’”
“The other owner and me.”
“They usually go all out?”
“I’m not sure what the rink has done in the past because this is our first year owning it.
The previous owner wanted to retire, so a buddy of mine from the team and I bought it together.
” Travis took my hand and led me back to the bench.
I felt a bit like a little kid—no irony there—but I was busy being awed by the lights.
With a nudge, I sat down on the bench, and Travis took it upon himself to put on my skates and tighten the laces.
His touch steadied me, quiet and sure, like an anchor dropped exactly where I needed one.
“I should have asked before we came, but do you know how to ice skate?”
“Sorta? Maybe? Kinda but not really.” I’d been on skates before and had managed to make it a few feet before I fell.
“Hmm, I’m not sure if that’s a yes or a no.” Travis laughed.
“I’m much better on a snowboard than on skates,” I answered with a grin. His returned one melted away any hint of resistance on my part.
Travis always forgot to be cool, and I think that might have been what I liked best about him. He wasn’t afraid to show his happiness and made me feel like I could show mine. When he offered me his hand, I took it.
“No toe pick for me, but I think I can manage to show you a few things.”
I wasn’t sure if I was falling for him, or if he was just making it very hard not to.