Page 87 of Perfect Distraction
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The following Wednesday, Andrew found himself sitting on a rickety wooden bench, hunched over his feet to make sure the laces were tight.
“Ready?” Lauren asked.
“No.”
“Come on. Stand up already.”
“Don’t rush me, woman.”
“They’re tight enough, I promise. I won’t let you fall.”
Andrew gave her the side-eye. “If I go down, there’s no way your tiny body can stop me.”
Lauren put her hands on her hips, wobbling slightly. “I’m hardly tiny.”
“Compared to me you are.”
“Being a giant is no excuse. Stand up and let’s get out there. The couple’s song is about to start. I always had to sit this one out as a kid, because I never had a boyfriend to skate with. Let me have my moment.”
Andrew groaned. “Fine.” He was happy to share firsts with her and give her a reason to feel like she was proving a point to all the assholes who’d passed her by. He had no idea how rolling around a skating rink hand in hand with him would do that, but it hadn’t been up to him. She’d insisted they do something fun tonight to keep his mind off the PET scan tomorrow morning, and he’d let her pick the activity.
It was working—he’d only thought about his scan twice. He pushed himself up from the bench, his arms immediately flailing.
Lauren blinked, keeping her expression flat. “We’re on carpet. You can’t be off-balance yet.”
“Are you going to be heckling me all night?”
“Probably.”
“Maybe I’m just trying to throw you off. Once I get out there, you’ll be blown away by my blazing speed.”
“Pfft. Get inline, buddy,” she said with a wink.
He laughed and shrugged. “That’s how I roll.”
“See? You’re having fun already.” She grabbed his hand, and they began the awkward clomp across the carpeted floor to the rink entrance. “I had a feeling this would be a wheelie good time.”
“Stop. I can’t handle it.” He also couldn’t handle how good she looked in black leggings. Thank God she had a long sweater that covered her perfect backside. He wouldn’t mind a better view, but there were a lot of teenage boys here, and a surprising number of other couples his and Lauren’s age—Was hanging out at the skating rink coming back in style?—and he would’ve had to spend the entire evening standing behind her if he thought they were checking her out.
He took a few rotations around the floor to get the hang of it. He hadn’t spent time at a skating rink as a kid, but he had gotten a pair of roller blades for his tenth birthday and had worn them out that summer. Somehow his body remembered the basics, and soon he and Lauren were flying around the outside, hand in hand.
She looked up at him and laughed, and he smiled down at her, feeling ridiculous and happy. The DJ announced it was time for the couple’s song, and those who were with someone paired up across the floor while others went for the exit to wait it out. Lauren squeezed his hand, and the first notes of a Khalid song came across the speakers.
The lights went low, and a few colored beams strobed across the floor, passing across the bodies of the skaters who circled the rink. The beat of the song, the feel of Lauren’s hand wrapped around his, and the sudden darkness in the room did something to him. When they came around a narrow curve near the wall, on the opposite side of the benches and social area, Andrew veered off course, successfully slowing enough that when his shoulder hit the wall it barely stung. Following his momentum, Lauren collided with him, cushioned by his body.
She yelped as their skates crashed together. He put his arms around her as he braced his back against the wall to keep them on their feet.
“Are you okay?” she asked, trying to pull back and look up at him. “Did you lose control?”
Andrew gazed down at her in the darkness. The music pulsed around them and people continued to glide by, either not noticing them embracing in the corner, or not caring.
“Yeah. I kind of think I have.” He kissed her, loving the way she responded with enthusiasm, even here. He wasn’t typically one to put on public displays of affection, but he’d also never been this into a woman before. He forgot about everything else when he was with her. They could have done anything tonight, and as long as she was there, he wouldn’t worry about tomorrow.
When he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue she sighed, opening to him, and a passing skater called out, “Get a room!”
They broke apart, Andrew’s eyes searching the crowd for whoever had said that, wanting to tell him to mind his own damn business. Lauren giggled and pressed her face to his chest.
