Page 34 of Switching Skates

“No touching. No looking. You know where I’m talking.” She eyes me.

“Deal,” I agree effortlessly. “Unless you want me to, just say the word.”

Her eyes drop. “I’m serious.”

I scoff. “So am I.” I clear my throat, hearing the higher pitch in my voice. “The last thing I’d want is to touch your body without you absolutely begging me for it.”

“Mason,” she exhales breathlessly, and as if on cue, I watch her guards shift back up in her gaze.

Shit.

“But how do you propose we shower?” I counter genuinely. “Or use the restroom?”

“Umm … webothsit down on the toilet. Eyes closed. Finish. Boom, problem solved. As for showering, hopefully, we can switch back before that becomes an issue.” She tables that discussion for later.

She tips her head side to side in thought. “There’s another issue we have to sort out.”

I nod, urging her to continue.

“I think I’m going to have to spend the night here tonight. I think being separated for any amount of time could become a problem. Because people will get suspicious if we’re not there to cover for one another, you know?”

“I’m in,” I respond instantly. I’ll take any more time with her I can get.

“So, we need to go to your place and get some clothes, a toothbrush, and stuff. Hopefully not blow this entire situation to your sister or teammates. And then we should go to the rink when there’s an off hour so I can teach you everything you need to know for tonight.”

“Sounds like a plan.” My stomach grumbles. “But first, can you please tell me what I can eat? Because I think your body is starting to get angry at me for not feeding it.”

She laughs, addressing her body like it’s its own being. “Yeah, she’s temperamental like that. How about a smoothie?”

“Anything, please.” I’d eat cardboard right now. I’m so hungry.

She nods and smiles—a real, big smile taking over her face—and my heart thumps harder in my chest.

God, I still lov?—

NO. We do not have time for that right now!

Oh fuck, I’m in for it.

What happens when we do find a way to switch back? Is everything going to go back to the horrible normal we’ve been in for years? Maybe something will change between us for the better. I can only hope.

I glide across the ice in her figure skates, wanting to do well for her, which has me more nervous than the Frozen Four Championship did last year.

Besides that, my heart is out of fucking control, and my breathing has been quick and erratic since I stepped foot outhere. Does she always feel this way when she skates? What about the pain in her leg that pulses as I shift my weight?

Fuck, I don’t know how she does this or calms herself down. This is intense.

Taking a few deep breaths, I feel myself finally relaxing a bit. I got this. I can do this. If she does this every day, then I can do it for just one.

I just have to get over the new fear I have with these skates that I don’t usually have to deal with. The damn toe pick. I’ve already caught myself on it more times than I’d like to admit.

The kids are learning how to backward crossover skate tonight, and thankfully, it’s something I already know how to do.

In hockey, I use it to skate backward quickly and be flexible in the directions I can go. I don’t typically skate as far as figure skaters do, but at least I’m not starting at ground zero, learning this skill.

“Not bad,” she praises me, and my heart does a fucking triple axel, soaring high above my head. “Go again. A few more times.”

My right leg is starting to ache horribly as I practice her exact formation over and over. I do my best to ignore it, but it’s nearly impossible when every shift of my weight has me wincing.