Page 92 of Ruin The Friendship
Lydia pushes me away gently and staggers backward, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll get changed. When are we leaving?”
Flustering her is one of my new favorite activities.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
Fifteen minutes later, we are heading out of our apartment hand in hand.
“Should I ask where we are going? I’m assuming it has something to do with skating.” She gestures to her outfit.
She’s dressed in a deep navy frilly skirt that I’ve seen her wear to skating events a few times, with tights underneath and an athletic long-sleeve top. The tights and top are fleece-lined. Her bump is hidden under the ruffles of her skirt, and I’m a little bummed I can’t see it.
“Yes, it has to do with skating,” I concede. “I’ve got all your skating gear in the car.”
Lydia lets out a small squeal, and I squeeze her hand. We get into my car, and I start the drive to the arena. Her eyes widen as we pull into the garage and park.
“Fletcher…” she says, her voice full of trepidation. “What are we doing here? Are we breaking and entering?”
Shaking my head, I laugh under my breath. “We aren’t breaking and entering. You’ll see.”
I grab the bag with her skates from the trunk, hauling it over my shoulder and wrapping my free arm around her. I lead her through the arena and into the locker room, where I sit her down on the bench in my locker.
“Alright, let’s get those skates on.” I bend down to pull her banged-up figure skates from the bag.
“I can do it myself,” she says, trying to pull her feet away and reach for her skates.
“Nope.” I hold out my hand for her foot, glancing up at her with raised brows. “Gimme.”
She groans. “I’ve been putting my own skates on for over twenty years, Fletch. I can do it on my own.”
“Yes, you can. But you don’t have to, and besides, I want to.”
Once both her skates are on, I take off the light purple blade covers and shove them into the bag, grabbing her hat and mittens, which I help her put on. Then, I get my skates from my locker and put them on.
I stand and take her hand again, leading her out of the locker room and down the tunnel.
“What are you doing?” She asks warily, pulling my hand. “We’re going to get into trouble.”
“No, we aren’t. I got permission. I just have to text them when we’re done so they can clean up the ice and turn off the lights.”
“We’re not about to skate in the arena, right? There’s no way.”
“Yes, we are.” I laugh, taking in the scared look on her face. “It’s just ice.”
“I know it’s just ice.” She huffs. “You seriously got permission for this?”
“Yep. You’re going to teach me some tricks, Coach.”
She scoffs. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Figured it was about time I learn some fancy shit. Maybe it can be my new celly. I’ll do a triple axel.”
Her mouth drops. “I can’t even do a triple axel.”
“Really?”
“That’s Olympic level, Fletcher.”
“I bet I could nail it.”
