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"Aria." Her name feels good rolling off my tongue, but I don't like the stern way I say it. "Get off the ice. This isn't going to be productive for anyone."
She stares me down in a challenging way. I don't back down and I don't falter. Instead, I close the distance between us, half blocking her from skating anywhere else in the rink. Aria huffs and she's visibly irritated. It rolls off her in waves and she gives me a dirty look before finally caving. "Fine. I'm not going to argue with you, but that doesn't mean I agree with you or like this at all."
"I don't care," I tell her as she turns away from me and skates over to the door. "You're not thinking straight and this is what we both need whether you want to admit it or not."
She looks at me over her shoulder as I follow her off the ice. "You don't know what I need, Leo."
I don't respond and instead walk past her as I head over to the bench. Aria is purposely slow, like she's dragging her feet to make a point. The silence is deafening as we sit side by side and I begin to take my skates off. Aria doesn't move to unlace hers. Instead, she sits there with her hands in her lap and stares out at the rink.
"Take your skates off," I tell her as I put my skate guards on mine and put them in my bag. "We're going to go get some food and then we will come back."
She sighs and complies without challenging me. It's almost as if she's defeated, yet the annoyance is still radiating from her. I can't help it as the corners of my lips lift in the slightest as I watch her untie her skates and take them off. She wipes the snow and ice from the blades before putting on her skate guards and placing them in her own bag. I slide my feet into my sneakers and wait for her to finish up.
Aria puts on her shoes and stands up before she looks up at me. "You're buying."
A chuckle rumbles in my chest and I don't bother fighting the smile as I look into the swirling gray hues of her eyes. "Come on," I nod my head toward the exit, "I'll even drive too."
"Good," she says, her voice warm and soft. She's still clearly annoyed with me, but she has softened a bit.
Her struggle with being perfect is something that seemed to cause her a bit of distress. The anxiety was evident in her face when I told her that we were taking a break. It's not my business and I shouldn't care, but for some reason, it bothers me seeing her like that. If she's going to be my partner, whether I like her or not, part of my responsibility is making sure she's safe.
Even if it means keeping her safe from herself.
We head out into the parking lot and Aria follows me to my car. There were a few other skaters at the rink, all practicing to get ready for the upcoming competition. Figure skating is the type of sport that requires hours upon hours of practice. Aria and I really need to make sure we get in as much ice time right now as we can. We are at a slight disadvantage considering the fact that we’re a new pair. Most of the other skaters have been skating together for years.
Aria and I have the chemistry and all the right tools to make this partnership work, but we still have a lot of work to do.
"Your car is abnormally clean," Aria muses out loud as she sits down in the passenger's seat and shuts her door. I look over at her as she buckles her seat belt. "Did you just get it or something?"
I raise an eyebrow as I glance at her while securing my own seat belt. "No. I just make sure I clean it regularly."
"Weird," she mumbles before looking out the window. She's in a weird mood now and I'm not sure how to play this. It's like her anxiety has made her irritable.
I'm genuinely curious now. "Is yours not clean?"
"No, it is," she tells me as she looks back at me. I turn on the engine and pull my car out of the parking spot. She leans forward and wipes her finger along the dashboard. I watch her from the corner of my eye as she inspects her fingertip for any dust. "It's just a little more lived-in than yours."
I don't bother saying anything else to her about the car. She's not happy with me right now, and that's okay. She doesn't realize it, but everything will be okay. I don't like losing any more than she does. I also know that stress has the ability to leave you crippled. When you're under an immense amount of pressure and stress, that's when you're more likely to fuck up. I need Aria to be at her best, and the woman I was skating with not long ago was not at her best.
I don't want to be the cause of Aria's anxiety. I don't want to be the cause of her stress. As much as I like getting a rise out of her and pissing her off, this isn't how I want it to be.
We drive into the heart of town and I pull my car up along the curb in front of the local coffee shop. Freckled Hen is the only one on this side of town and in my opinion, they have some of the best brunch food. They also have a lot of vegetarian options and I know Aria doesn’t eat meat. She's distant, almost as if she's lost in her own mind as I put the car in park and kill the engine. I watch her for a moment as she drops her gaze down to her lap and undoes her seat belt.
As she reaches for the door, I reach out to grab her arm. She looks down at my hand on her forearm before her gaze meets mine. "Hey. If you don't want to eat here, we can get our food to go." I pause for a second. “I can go in and order for you if you’d rather that. They have a lot of vegetarian options here.”
Her eyes soften and she shakes her head. "No, I want to eat here."
I nod, quickly releasing her arm before I undo my own seat belt. Aria doesn't give me a chance to open her door for her and a part of me is glad. My grandmother would have scolded me up and down for not being a gentleman and opening it for her. I didn't want Aria to get the impression that this was some kind of a date. We're not friends. We're just two people stuck working together who decided to come get some food.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Aria and I walk up to the front door and the bell dings as I pull it open and hold it for her to walk in first. Her perfume invades my senses as she steps past me and I instinctively take a deep breath, breathing her smell in. I fall in step behind her and we walk up to the counter. Aria looks up at the menu on the wall behind the baristas and I do the same. There are two other people in line and the smell of fresh coffee fills the entire shop. I glance around, looking for an empty table, when I find one over in the back corner. It's pretty busy, but that’s to be expected at this time of day.
We both order and I pay for our food before grabbing one of the small signs with the number eight on it. I point to the table in the back and Aria heads in that direction. As we approach it, I lengthen my stride so I can get to the table before her. Extending my arm, I wrap my fingers around the top of the chair and pull it back for her. Aria pauses and raises a curious eyebrow at me. She doesn't say anything as she sits down, but I notice the pink tint creeping across the tops of her cheekbones as she ducks her head.
I step to the other side and take a seat across from her. Aria folds her hands in her lap and her gaze meets mine. Her face is free of any makeup, her hair pulled up in a tight bun on top of her head. She looks absolutely beautiful. I could stare at her all fucking day.
"I'm sorry for being bitchy," she says, her voice quiet. "When things don't go the right way, it makes me really anxious and I get irritable. It's better if I keep my distance from people when I'm feeling like that."
