Page 27 of Santa Daddies

“I hope so.”

She glanced at me. “Me too. We should all be so lucky in relationships.” She rolled her eyes. “Sorry. I’m feeling cynical despite all this beauty.”

I held out my hand for her to take. “Come on. Let’s see if flying gets you out of your funk.”

She smiled. “I’m not ready to fly. I’ll settle for staying upright.”

Out on the ice, I turned around to skate backward, offering her my other hand as well. She took it and we skated around the others slowly, getting her used to the feel of gliding on the blades. As we came up on the bride and groom, Emily let go of my hands.

“Look at you,” David said, and grinned. “How long’s it been?”

“I think it was the field trip in the sixth grade,” she said with a self-depreciating laugh.

“No, what about that guy you liked in your first year of high school?” He paused, looking skyward as if attempting to recall the name. “Larry or something? I can’t remember, but he played hockey, and you wanted him to notice you, so you?—”

Madeline and Blake skated up to join us. “It was Lucas Vanderline. The captain of the hockey team.” She gave a mocking teen-girl sigh.

“Do not remind me!” Emily said, pointing a finger at her older sister. But the movement had her wobbling on her skates,so I grabbed her arm to steady her. She shook me off instantly, shooting me a look I couldn’t decipher.

“She fell and landed on her backpack, breaking that bottle of Britney Spears Fantasy perfume she begged you to get her for Christmas,” Madeline said to David, her breath puffing out as she chuckled.

“Right!” David added and winked at Little Red, who in return, scowled.

“And you refused to buy me another backpack, so I stank like I bathed in it for the entire year. It also made the whole ice rink smell for a week, so the entire hockey team was angry with me.”

“Aw, poor Memmy,” both Madeline and David said in unison and then burst out laughing.

“Yeah, poor me. They called me Britney all through high school for that.” She growled and one leg slid back and she pitched forward.

I caught her and pulled her against me. David’s brows went up slightly.

“You’re lucky you didn’t break your tailbone or your neck,” Madeline said.

“Oh, the last thing I felt was lucky, and my ass was black and blue for a month.”

“You just need some practice,” Madeline said. “Kristoffer, the Norse god here, was probably born with skates on so he’ll probably have you up and running on your own in a few minutes.”

Charlotte started to drag David away. “Leave them alone, David.”

“Thanks for watching out for my sister. She can be a disaster,” he said, turning to me as they skated off. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was something odd in his expression. Perhaps he thought I was one of those losers not good enough for his sister.

I nodded at him, but then my mind was filled with cute images of a teenaged Emily and more dangerous ones of her very adult body, naked, splayed out on my bed.

The next time they rounded on us, David said, “I’ve got a surprise for you, Em.”

Charlotte smiled at her soon-to-be husband. “You do? You didn’t tell me.” She glanced at Emily. “Your brother is such a sweetheart.”

“A surprise? It’s not my wedding. You and Charlotte are supposed to get all the surprises this week.”

“It’ll be here tomorrow morning,” he said and twirled Charlotte, who was the only other girl on the ice wearing figure skates like Emily. And she must have taken lessons because she did some fancy backward glide on one leg, spun, and took off, my best friend chasing after her.

Emily stumbled again as she watched them, and I chuckled.

“Okay, Little Red, let’s not have a repeat of high school here. Your ass is too adorable to be all bruised up again.” I winked. “Red and hot is fine but bruises won’t do,” I whispered.

She narrowed her eyes on me. “Shh, my brother is right there! And so is my sister. And while the little OTK action was fine at the bachelorette, they’d freak out if they knew what happened afterward. Didn’t you see the look on David’s face when you caught me?”

I raised my hands in surrender. “Actually, I didn’t notice anything. Are you sure you’re not seeing things? And did you just shush your Daddy?” I don’t know why I kept flirting with her when I had definitely noticed David reacting.