Page 53 of Hope and Hot Chocolate on Mistletoe Lane

That made her smile, I was pleased to see. ‘That’s a mouthful.’

‘Yeah, let’s not put it on a T-shirt. Are you ready to get on the ice?’

‘You might regret this,’ Holly warned.

‘I doubt it,’ I muttered. I wanted any excuse to be able to hold her, and this was perfect. Even with her imminent departure, I still couldn’t stop myself from wanting to kiss her again. Would I ever regret reconnecting with my old best friend in a way I thought would never be possible? Fuck, no. ‘Let’s get our skates on.’

She groaned. ‘That’s terrible.’

‘You love my puns,’ I replied with a wink. She giggled a little bit, proving me right. I held out the skates I’d brought for her before perching on the bench by the rink to put mine on.

‘How do you have these?’

‘I ordered them from Amazon, guessed your size,’ I said as I tied my boots.

‘Why?’

Glancing up, I saw Holly had frozen and was staring at me. ‘Because I wanted you to skate with me and these are better than the ones they rent out. Like mine.’

‘What if I’d said no?’

We locked eyes. I wanted to say something else but instead, I went with a lame joke. ‘I would have saved them for another woman to impress.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘No wonder you’re single.’

‘Takes one to know one!’

‘Yeah, who would put up with us?’ She looked at me again and this time, her cheeks flushed.

‘Good point,’ I replied, continuing the joke even though I was tempted to say we could easily put up with each other. ‘I snapped at Willow earlier; I bet she’s pissed off with me.’

‘She’s used to it,’ Holly said with a laugh.

I winced even though she was teasing. ‘I don’t want to be known as being rude to people…’ I stood up, adrenaline pumping at the thought of getting back on the rink but this time with Holly by my side, something I’d wanted for years.

‘You weren’t like that when we were younger,’ she remarked as she stood up too and wobbled.

‘Here.’ I held out a hand and she hesitated for a second, but then she closed her fingers around mine and we stepped gingerly over to the gap that formed the entrance, hovering by the ice, not quite ready to step on it yet. ‘Maybe I felt like life had screwed me over so I took it out on people around me. The thing is, I’m starting to realise I’m right where I am supposed to be.’

‘You are?’

‘I’ve been fighting this life I’m living and I’m not sure why. I thought I should want more maybe, or maybe once I did want more, I don’t know. But I’m happy here now, Hols.’

She nodded. ‘I can see that,’ she said softly. ‘I think I always knew that you wouldn’t leave with me,’ she added, staring at the ice and not at me.

‘I felt like a failure when I didn’t get into university and I’ve been ungrateful ever since, acting like I got stuck here, but look around – who wouldn’t want to be stuck here? I just wish I hadn’t lost you.’ I let go of her hand and stepped onto the ice, turning to face her. I held both hands out. ‘Take my hand and let’s get you on the ice.’

‘I wish I hadn’t lost you either,’ Holly said before she lifted her hands and gripped mine tightly.

Her words warmed me up from the inside out. ‘It’s pretty great we’ve had this second chance,’ I said, holding her tightly and giving her an encouraging nod as she gingerly shuffled forward to join me on the ice. Her legs trembled a little but I made sure I held up her upright.

Holly clung to me as she tried to straighten up. ‘This feels weird…’

‘I’ve got you,’ I promised. ‘Let’s try and move a little bit, okay?’

‘I’m scared,’ she blurted out.

‘Don’t be,’ I told her and I started to move backwards just a little bit, pulling her slowly along with me. She gasped as we moved. ‘Like this,’ I said, showing her how to glide across the ice. A chilly wind whipped around us but the dark sky above was clear. The night was lit up by both the stars and the glow from the Christmas tree and fairy lights around us. It was so quiet out here. Just the two of us. A moment that I would have killed for when we were teenagers. I wanted to hold Holly all night.