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“You look so good,” I blurted before I could stop myself, and I had never wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole more than right now.
“You think so?” Andy’s lips curved up into a smile, and my heart leaped into my throat. He was so handsome.
I nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
Andy chuckled somewhere deep in his throat. “That’s nice of you to say. Thank you, Leo.”
My feet barely touched the ground the rest of the way inside.
***
I watched as Andy finished lacing my skates. It was sweet that he wanted to make sure I was safe and everything. Oh no! What if I fell on the ice and embarrassed myself? If I couldn’t skate, would Andy want me? Ezra had told me I didn’t have to worry about that, but I was anyway. Ask me to take apart an eight-cylinder engine before I put it back together again, and I was your boy. But this? This was uncharted territory for me. Slippery territory, actually.
“Uh, maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” I heard myself say.
Andy was still squatting before me, my skate propped on his knee, the guard on the bottom to protect him from the blade. “We can just sit right here if you want. We don’t even have to go out on the ice if you’re more comfortable with that. But I said that I would catch if you fall, and I meant it.”
Those butterflies in my stomach began to flutter again. “That’s sweet.”
“Do you trust me?” Andy asked as he climbed to his feet, towering over me. He held out his hand, and when I took it, heat streaked up my arm and into my body. “Do you?” He titled his head.
I nodded. “Yes. Yes, I trust you.”
I let Andy lead me out onto the ice. It was romantic how we had the entire rink to ourselves, the twinkling of the Christmas lights while the soft sounds of holiday music playedover the speakers overhead. I saw Ezra sitting up in the seats, sandwiched between Noel and Maverick, a smile on his face. He gave me a little wave, and I shook my head.
“You’re doing great.”
Andy dropped my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist. The warmth of his big palm burned through the fabric of my sweater and caused my entire body to light up. I’d had crushes before, but nothing had ever felt like this. This was so much more.
I beamed up at him. “You’re a good teacher.”
Andy’s cheeks flushed pink as he smiled down at me, the lights dancing over his face. “It’s nothing.”
“I disagree,” I told him. “You’ve instructed me how to keep my feet from slipping out from beneath me, kept me upright, and you’re so relaxed. Someone else might be stressed or uptight, but not you.”
Andy suddenly slowed us down, and when we stopped, he leaned forward to brush his lips over mine. It wasn’t heavy or hard, just a swipe of his mouth, but my heart thundered against my ribcage as sparks ignited inside me. My first kiss was just as magical as I had hoped it would be.
“I hope you know how much I like you, Leo.”
“I like you, too,” I assured him. “Is your father going to freak out about this?”
Andy jutted his chin behind me. “I’m pretty certain that he’s rushing off to call Pop right now so he can tell him how I had the nerve to kiss you in front of him.”
“Does he hate me that much?” I knew things between us wouldn’t work if Maverick didn’t like me. Andy seemed close to both his fathers, but Maverick might be a tough nut to crack.
His brows dipped. “You think my dad hates you? Trust me, he doesn’t. He’s a little protective, which I love. He’s great. They both are, and I’m so lucky to have them.”
“You are,” I whispered softly before I pushed the thoughts of my parents out of my head.
Andy’s arm snaked around my shoulders again, then he guided me around the rink. “Noel seems great, too. The fact that he’s here and everything.”
“He is great. He didn’t sign up to take care of me, but when our parents disappeared...” I realized I had let that part slip, and I cringed as I wanted for his reaction.
Andy squeezed my side. “I’m sorry that your parents were assholes.” He didn’t pry or ask questions, something I wasn’t used to. I kind of liked it. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him about how he ended up with the Olsons before he surprised me again. “Can we do this again?”
“You want to go on another date?”
“I’d like to take you on all the dates, if I’m being honest.”
