Page 87 of The Monster I Loved

Bam! I knew it would happen. She was now against my chest.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you.” She’d smiled shyly.

“I saw you,” I said.

She’d looked up, and finally our eyes locked. I didn’t look away, and neither did Summer. The cold air between us evaporated, and I’d felt a heat growing inside of me.

“Summer, this is Thaddeus. Thaddeus, this is Summer,” Henry said without any enthusiasm.

She slid back away from my body, and I felt a loss. “Nice to meet you, Summer.”

“Oh, I heard about you. You’re the boy from on the hill.”

Why did she say it like that? Like I was from another planet? “Who told you about me?”

She looked to her left. “Daisy.”

“Who?”

Henry cleared up the confusion. “You met my other friends. She has the brown hair.”

I guess none of them were as important as Summer.

“I like your moves.” I knew I sounded lame.

“What moves?” she asked, as if she didn’t look like a pro figure skater on the ice.

The rest of the gang joined us.

“Let’s race,” Felix suggested.

As someone who played hockey at school, I was happy with his suggestion.

Time to impress Summer.

When the whistle blew, I was off, and to my surprise, Summer was close behind me. Faster, my blades sliced into the ice, but I couldn’t lose her. Then, I realized, why the hell should I? I shortened my stride and heard her blades scrape beside me, then eventually, she looked over at me and smiled.

“You’re pretty good. I didn’t think anyone knew how to ice skate up there.”

She sped up until she was leaving me behind. I leaned forward, taking long strides. I wouldn’t let her get away. My blade caught on something. And, before I knew it, my ass slammed into the ice.

How fucking embarrassing. Skates scraped toward me, and I knew it was Summer before she leaned over me, concerned. “You okay?”

From the angle, the fall now seemed worth it. I got to admire her all I wanted. She reached out a hand, and I held it...for a bit too long.

She giggled. “Are you going to get up or just hold my hand?”

“I can do both.”

Summer’s mouth flew open, but she didn’t protest when I stood and dragged her around the ice.

That memory came back as I held her hand, all these years later, guiding her up the hiking trail. We walked in silence until Summer looked at me, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. It was a skill I’d possessed years ago, and then it disappeared. Now, it was back. We didn’t always need wordsbetween us, and right now, we shared the same thought. We’d grown tired of walking and wanted to take our butts back to the lodge. We laughed and turned around.

“Well, we finished most of it,” Summer said.

I smiled. “We came to relax. No explanation needed.”

When we got back to the room, I was drained. Summer grabbed a shower first, and then I got a chance to wash off. When I came out, she was sitting on the couch in the room. I sat next to her, leaving the intimidating bed beside us.