Page 71 of The Love We Deny
I wave back, while Will makes a point not to look at her. Or anyone.
Until we walk past a man with his family, who comes right over to him, patting him on the back. “Hope you don’t plan on staying out too late, son. You’ve got work bright and early tomorrow morning.”
Will gives him a smile that seems a little forced. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“That’s the spirit!” He leaves him with another pat, never looking my way. When he tries to continue like that didn’t happen, I turn, stopping him with a hand on his arm.
“What was that about?”
“Oh, uh—” Will keeps his eyes pointed at our feet, rubbing his neck. “I sorta got a job.”
“What? What about the practice, you’re not finished—” I can’t hide the panic in my voice. It’s not that I don’t want Will to have a job. But he has one. With me. Where I can see him every day. I didn’t realize he was looking for something else.
“See? This is why I didn’t tell you, man. Now you’re looking like I ran over your dog. I know you want me around because of this.” He gestures between us. “But I’ve done everything I can at your place, and Dad got me a gig that actually pays decent, and—”
“I’m sure we could find you something else to do.”
“Nolan.” He rests both hands on my biceps. “I’ll still be around. Your house has the good TV with all the channels. And food. And my favorite niece and nephew—”
“And me?” I ask, hating the way my voice sounds.
“I guess so,” he says with a shrug, softening his words with a smirk. “And I’ll have more money, so maybe I’ll take you out to a fancy restaurant for our next date.”
“If I decide I want to go out with you again.”
He rolls his eyes, dropping my arms, and I hate that I can’t take his hand. Or kiss him. But there are people everywhere, and this conversation was already too much for the location. “Alright, let’s find something to do before I remember I don’t like you.”
“The ice skating is over there,” I say, pointing toward the rink set up.
He follows my gaze. “You any good?”
“I’m decent.”
“I haven’t skated since I was a kid,” he says. “Probably like riding a bike though, right?”
“Probably.”
Neither of us can skate.
That becomes clear seconds after we step onto the ice. Will grabs the wall, catching himself right before he falls, and I slide three feet in the wrong direction before stopping myself by bumping into a stranger.
“You’re decent, huh?” Will says, from the wall.
“At least I can stay upright,” I challenge, trying to figure out how I can get back over to where he is.
“You almost took out that old lady.”
“She was in my way.”
He lets go of the wall and tries to skate in my direction, and it goes better than his first attempt. Until he’s right in front of me and his feet nearly go out from under him. I grab his arm before he goes down, losing my own footing.
That leaves us in the middle of the ice, trying to stand up, but slipping and falling again, and suddenly, we’re both laughing harder than we ever have.
We make it around the rink twice without falling, barely, mostly by holding on to each other. He catches me by the back of my ridiculous sweater, and I save him twice. By the time we’re skating back to the edge, we’re both flushed from the cold and out of breath, and I can’t remember the last time I had fun like this.
Laughed this much.
We find a bench to take off our skates, and Will gets up to return them while I sit in the cold with numb fingers.
