Page 74

“What’s up, Kenzie?”

A puff of air clouds under her nose. “I don’t actually know how to skate.”

I blink. “Oh?”

It seems like something that would have been worth mentioning before now.

“I mean, I did know how to skate, when I was really little. It’s been a long time.” She looks out at the milling skaters instead of at me. “My dad used to take me.”

I hear it again: that mix of pain, bitterness, and self-deprecation that has me itching to throw her behind me and fight off anyone who’d ever do her harm.

“I didn’t say anything because I was hoping it would all just come back to me, but...” She digs one blade into the ice, and her foot wobbles in the skate boot. “Now I’m not so sure.”

I try not to smile. She’s letting me in, if only a little, and I need to respect her, but damn does she ever look cute.

“Would it be condescending if I said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s not that hard?’”

A trace of her familiar glare slips over her face. “Yes. Very.”

I nod. “Noted.”

I push myself to my feet and come to stand on my skates in front of her.

“You still want to do this?” I ask.

She looks up at me for a moment before setting her face in a determined grimace. “Yeah. I do.”

I back up to give her a little space, and she keeps one hand clutching the arm of the bench as she raises herself up to stand in front of me.

“The good news is you’re on your feet now,” I tell her. “The bad news is it’s about to get a lot harder.”

“Ha,” she barks after letting go of the bench for a second just to flail for it again in the next. “Is that how you coach your highland students?”

I chuckle. “Not quite.”

Lydia and Ty return, already zipping around and doing fancy things like turns and braking.

“You two coming?” Lydia asks as her blades scrape to a halt beside me.

“You go ahead,” I answer. “Kenzie and I need to warm up our skating skills. We’ll meet you down by the Beavertails stand.”

Lydia nods. “Sounds good, but do not ask us to put your order in for you. I can and will eat four of those things.”

“Four? You think you’re getting mine too?” Ty jokes.

Lydia pats them on the cheek and then peals away as she shrieks, “If I beat you there, then yes, I do!”

I lose sight of them a few seconds later as they duck and weave through the crowds.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Kenzie says, still clutching the side of the bench. “I know you came here to hang out with your friends. I can figure this out myself and meet you there. I can’t stay long anyway. You should be with them.”

I shake my head, fighting the urge to growl at her. She might have me totally mesmerized, but she is still pretty good at saying things that annoy me.

“I invited you to because I want to spend time with you, Kenzie, and with my friends. I...I like having you here all together.”

I go still—as still as I can on skates—as the impact of what I’ve just said hits us both.

“Moira...” she murmurs.