Page 72 of Snowflakes and Ice Skates

She slowly turned to face me. “This feels weird.”

“What?” There were a thousand possibilities running through my mind. Was she ill? Did she not want to eat here?

“You. Me. This.” She gestured between us. “It’s weird. Not in a bad way, but…”

She trailed off while I stared at her wishing I could read her mind. What was so weird? Sure, we had a history of playing cat and mouse, and she wasn’t a fan of my past reputation, but I wasn’t that man anymore. I wanted to be better. I wanted to be happy.

“But?” The word was barely a whisper.

She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s nothing.”

I let out a huff of a laugh, “It’s obviously not if you’re this worked up.” I just wanted her to tell me. Open up to me. Make this more than a casual lunch.

“It just feels different.” Her eyes pleaded with me to understand. I wanted to. I wanted to feel whatever she was. She sighed. “It feels like this could be the beginning.”

Her words hit me square in the chest and through to my heart. The beginning? Of us? That was exactly what I wanted. I nearly jumped across the car and wrapped my arms around her. I wanted to scream. Yes! This is the beginning!

Before I could reply, she grinned and got out of the car. I followed and met her at the back. She gazed up at me and slid her hand into mine. At that moment, I felt it too.

Seven

Jessica

I must have seemed insane. Sitting there, stunned, by the realization that the nerves or regret I’d been waiting for never came. All morning, I kept my hands and mind busy with tasks, but more often than not, I caught myself smiling at nothing.

Excitement. That was it.

Even when he came and picked me up, I thought on the drive panic would set in. I thought this would be awkward. That something in my brain could click into place, and I’d tell him to take me back. That it was a mistake, but as I sat in his car, this feeling settled over me. A bit of relief mixed with anticipation. I couldn’t describe it any other way. My gut was telling me it was the beginning of something big.

I probably seemed a little crazy to him, but he didn’t react. He just smiled like maybe he felt it too.

Lunch was delicious, but it was the conversation that made the whole outing. Gone was the immature and teasing Lance I knew. Instead, he was smart and funny.

“I can’t believe you never got caught,” I exclaimed before sinking down. I didn’t mean to speak so loudly, but I was shocked.

“Coach never realized it was me. I swear he interrogated the entire team, but none of them ratted me out.”

He toilet papered his coach’s house every day for a week and somehow got away with it.

“Why didn’t he stay up and wait to see who it was?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s not like I was some mastermind. I went around one or two every night and just avoided the motion detection lights.”

“You must have felt like superman or something.”

He puffed up his chest. “Batman actually.”

I laughed for what felt like the hundredth time. I couldn’t remember a time lately that I’d so completely enjoyed myself. The best part was that his attention never left me. He didn’t stare at his phone or check out the women that walked by more frequently than necessary. Two fans stopped by for autographs, which he happily gave, but other than that, I was his focus.

It was so unexpected. Something that should be a bare minimum but was ridiculously hard to find. He made me feel like I was the only person in his world. Like I could say or do anything, and he would go along with me. I didn’t feel like I had to be on my best behavior or fake interest. I could simply be me, and it was enough for him.

Days passed.

Long hours of planning and coordinating didn’t give me a chance to overthink what was happening with Lance. I spoke to him every day since our lunch date. Either he stopped by with lunch or dinner for me and Dani with Jake, he sent me texts throughout the day, or he called when he was done with training.

We found a rhythm. A routine.

Me and Lance. It was almost too weird to believe, even for me. But things were good. We were taking it slow. Getting to know each other without forcing the other to open up.