Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“That’s really cool. I can’t wait to see your moves.”
“You can’t wait to see me shake off the cobwebs, you mean?”
We both laugh, and I’m struck once again at how bizarre it is to be here in this place.
My mind drifts back to New York. To my parents who are probably more than a little pissed with me. To Landon, who is probably wondering why I had the nerve to abandon him on our wedding day with nothing but a note. To my friends, who I’ve only just now made the smallest contact with. I think about it all and I wait for the tug of nostalgia or homesickness to come, but it never does.
I look around where I am. I turn to the left and take in the towering mountains partially obscured by falling snow. I savor the feeling of cold, wet points of snow touching my skin. I breathe in the crisp air and enjoy the crunch of our feet on the thin layer of snow covering the sidewalk.
Maybe I could stay here. Really stay here. Not just for a few months after Christmas. Maybe this could be my place. Before, I’d always just kind of been where I was. Frosty Harbor could be my place.
I know I’ll need to face my past sooner or later, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t still stay.
I go up to the rental desk and get a pair of skates, strap them on, and join Mia, who is already twirling gracefully on the ice along with half a dozen other people–mostly just a few moms and their kids.
I feel shaky on my skates at first. I didn’t realize just how long it had been.
But after a few minutes, I’m enjoying the feeling of simply moving fast with the blades of my skates biting into the ice and the way the cold wind whips at my cheeks and hair. I even pull off a few tricks, which earns happy applause from Mia, who is keeping pace with me and talking occasionally as we skate.
I close my eyes and sink into the moment–to the whole experience. I’m also completely oblivious to the fact that Jesse has come down to skate, too, and he’s currently watching me from the bank of the frozen harbor.
23
JESSE
OF COURSE.
I came down to the harbor to skate so I could clear my head. I was going to go with Jake to watch a movie with the guys, but I figured Andi would be there. I’m trying as hard as hell to keep an emotional distance between us today. I want to send the right message. I want to prove we can fool around at night without going all gooey eyed for each other by day. Easier said than done, apparently. So I’m cheating a bit today. I’ll just avoid the shit out of her and make it easier on myself.
But even when I’m keeping my distance, I can’t get her off my mind. All fucking day, I’ve had Andi on my mind. Her scent. Her presence. She’s like a drug I’m desperately trying not to get hooked on. So, I figured I’d get in a workout on my skates to clear my head.
But there she is.
She’s on the ice with Mia Calloway. Mia is skating backwards and beckoning for Andi to follow.
Andi does a little spin and a jump, surprising me with her grace. She’s good. I can tell immediately from the way she carries herself on the skates. Her balance is almost perfect and she lands as if gravity can barely touch her.
She does a twirl, hands circling out with wrists bent, then curtseys and both girls break into laughter.
Something in my chest hurts.
I realize I’m smiling as I watch her. I realize it because she looks up suddenly, locking eyes with me. She was mid turn and her skates bump into each other. She spills on the ice, her ankle rolling to the side as she lets out a yelp of pain.
“Shit,” I say, dropping my gear and rushing to the ice. I make my way toward her as fast as I can in tennis shoes, almost falling on my ass several times and not caring.
I slide to my knees beside her, where Mia is crouched and Andi’s breathing hard.
“I’m fine,” Andi says, clearly forcing a smile. “I just rolled my ankle a little. I’ll be fine.”
“Not if you lay here on the ice,” I say.
“Wanna drag me to safety?” she asks, smiling that crooked smile of hers.
“I’ll…” I hesitate. I was going to offer to carry her. Bum shoulder or not, I should be able to manage that much. But I glance behind me at the distance of slippery ice and realize as much as I may want to whisk her to safety in my arms, I’d be doing more harm than good. One slip and I’d slam her to the ice and cause more damage. “Can you stand with help?” I ask.