Page 34 of Full Court Crush
Once Amelia got her own skates, she joined the others in the queue to get on the ice rink. Keira stood a few people in front, frequently looking around, as if searching for an escape route. It wasn’t long before the gates to the ice rink opened and the queue moved forward. Many people clung onto the fence before they even got on the ice.
Keira hesitated at the gate, holding up those in line behind her. She was making herself smaller as they squeezed around her. Amelia moved past her and onto the ice, then she turned, offering out a hand.
Keira glanced around again, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She straightened, took Amelia’s gloved hand, and stepped out onto the rink. She almost immediately lost her balance, nearly falling and taking Amelia down with her.
Amelia managed to grab the railing and steady them both, returning them to an upright position. Keira’s body got pinned between Amelia and the fence, still partially blocking the entrance. Their icy breath rose as a mist between them, combining in the air. They were so close Amelia could count Keira’s individual, beautiful eyelashes. Her pulse quickened, and she increased the space between them.
“Sorry,” Keira said, blushing and looking down.
“Hey,” Amelia responded, but Kiera wouldn’t look at her. She used the knuckle of her index finger to gently lift up Keira’s chin. Keira's eyes went wide, but Amelia pressed on, ignoring the familiarity of her own action, and the way it made her pulse quicken. “Nothing to be sorry for, okay?” Keira’s eyes roamed her face, and she wondered if she was thinking about the away game hotel room, too.
Amelia stepped away from the boundary. She held out her hands, looking pointedly at Keira still clinging onto the fence. Keira rapidly shook her head. Amelia knew what it was like to be that paralysed by anxiety. She didn’t say anything, but gestured again for Keira to take her hand. Keira closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Finally, she let go of the support and grasped Amelia’s hands.
“That’s it,” Amelia said, trying not to think about Keira’s proximity as she clung on for dear life.
“I’m just going to move us out the way a little…” Amelia slowly skated backwards, dragging Keira along with her like an unstable penguin. The dark night sky twinkled with stars as laughter rose around them. Amelia didn’t take her eyes off Keira, guiding them out of the way of the queue of people trying to get on the ice. Once they returned to the fencing, Keira let go of her hands and latched onto it like a limpet suctioning onto the shore. After a few more deep breaths, Keira finally looked Amelia in the eye.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” Amelia moved to stand next to her, leaning her elbows on the fence behind her and surveying the ice rink in front. “Try watching what some of the others are doing, and then we’ll give it a go, okay?”
“Mm-hmm,” Keira said, but it came out as more of a squeak. Amelia had to stifle a laugh; right now, Keira was like a trapped animal that could easily startle, and the last thing she wanted to do was scare her off. But her usual smirk being replaced by almost wild eyes was somehow adorable.
The pair watched the other skaters, focusing on their teammates doing laps around the ice rink. Lucy, naturally, was attempting to do jumps and spins, regularly falling flat on her backside. Asha and Evie were the most graceful, skating around the rink deep in conversation. Sienna and Sofia were too busy laughing at Lucy to do much skating.
“Do you want to give it a go?” Amelia asked gently, pushing off from the fence and doing a slow figure of eight in front of Keira.
“Can’t I just stay here?” Keira said helplessly.
Amelia laughed and stuck out her hand. Keira hesitated, looking between the offered hand and Amelia. Amelia wondered what she was thinking and what other questions were going unasked.
Eventually, Keira smiled nervously, reached out, and grasped Amelia’s hand. She took another deep breath and bravely pushed off the fence.
“That’s it, well done.” Amelia praised. “Set your one foot at forty-five degrees, then push the other one out at ninety degrees from that.”
Keira tried it and took a few faltering steps.
“No, no, without picking up your feet,” Amelia chuckled. “You need to sliiiiiiiide.” She drew out the word as she demonstrated to emphasise her point. Keira nodded and copied Amelia’s movements, successfully propelling herself a few feet forward. Amelia beamed.
“I did it!”
Punching a hand into the air, Keira instantly lost her balance.
Amelia caught her around the waist at the last second as her feet nearly went out from under her, leaving her leant back and looking up into Amelia’s eyes. The shock of her nearly falling was quickly replaced by the shock of the intensity of each other’s gaze.
Keira’s eyes darkened. Someone — probably Lucy, wolf-whistled from nearby, and Amelia righted Keira so quickly she nearly sent her flying in the other direction. Keira cleared her throat.
“Thanks,” she muttered before giving Amelia a shy smile. Amelia would have winked if she didn’t think it risked sending Keira flying again.
Keira
The basketball team stumbled out of the ice rink, laughing and chatting as they returned their skates, passing the ever-growing queue of people waiting to get in. Keira’s legs were a little disorientated now she was back on solid ground. Her brain felt a little disorientated, too; she felt like the entire ice rink had been watching her flail, even though that clearly wasn’t the case. She didn’t know which felt worse — needing help, or accepting it. Amelia had been gracious about it, of course, but it still left Keira feeling off balance. She looked over at Amelia, chatting happily with Evie. It wasn’t just the ice that had left her off-kilter.
“Doughnuts!” Lucy shouted. Then she disappeared into the crowd, heading toward the food stalls.
Amelia glanced at her and smiled while shrugging her shoulders. She followed Lucy into the throng of people moving in every direction, including children darting in and out from one side of the wide pathway to the other, nearly colliding with each other.
Keira marvelled as she followed. Everyone was in a sugar-fuelled haze. A large funhouse towered over the path. Brightly lit in a variety of colours, lots of screams and giggles emanated from within. Opposite was a large wooden structure. The beer taps and the scent of mulled wine wafting out told Keira it was a more grown-up establishment.