Page 28 of Deck the Hauls

At the entrance, I paused. The ice looked… very icy. Hard and slippery. A deadly combination. I swallowed. Why had I told Brittany I could skate?

“You’ll be okay,” Dana said, placing a gentle hand on my forearm. I didn’t flinch when Dana touched me. “We’ll take it slow. We have all night.”

Her words were low, almost husky. What would it be like for her to murmur them into my ear, body pressed against mine, hands gripping my hips? Heat flared in me, and I gritted my teeth.

Good god Emily, not now. Not ever, for that matter. You’re only here to learn to skate.

Dana slid onto the ice, gracefully turning to face me. “Now, hold the top of the wall and step slowly onto the rink. I’ll be on your other side in case you need more support.”

Gripping the wall, I gingerly placed one skate on the ice. Was it going to slide right out from under me? I stepped my other skate onto the ice, tensing all my muscles in an attempt not to lose balance immediately.

“Good. Let’s take a few steps away from the entrance so we’re out of the way.”

I pulled myself along the side wall, relying mainly on my arms rather than legs to propel me. My legs felt like they were out of control, spreading farther apart like a newborn foal. I shivered. The air temperature seemed to have dropped another five degrees now that we were on the ice. Oh god. I should have confessed I couldn’t skate and maybe they could have found a body double or I could have pretended to skate on solid earth or something. Anything but this.

“Great!” Dana glided backward and came to a halt in front of me. “Now, keep your knees bent and lean forward a little, so the weight is over the balls of your feet. You can hold your arms out for balance. Don’t stand straight up or lean back, or you’ll lose balance.”

I followed Dana’s instructions. Now that I’d shifted my weight, I was a little steadier.

“Does this look okay?”

Dana skated around to the side and stared at me. “Your feet and arms are good, but your, um...butt is sticking out a bit too far.”

I tucked my butt in and wobbled. I clutched the side of the rink.

Dana tilted her head. “I think you tucked it in too much. Put it out a little further.”

My cheeks heated at all the attention on my butt.

I readjusted my body until I was balanced again and breathed out. I looked down and immediately wobbled. Shit!

“Don’t look down, it’ll throw your balance off.”

“That’s looking good now. How does it feel?” Dana asked.

“Um, okay I think.” I blinked. I actually didn’t feel like I was about to land flat on my back. That was an improvement.

“Excellent. Now, you can practice marching, like this.” Dana demonstrated lifting one foot, and then the other, in small steps across the ice. “After you get the hang of this, you can start gliding. I’ll stay in front of you and skate backward so you can grab on to me if you need to.”

Dana was really taking her role as instructor seriously. Hopefully I didn’t need to grab on to her, though. My pulse quickened at the memory of her catching me the other night. Yes, I should definitely avoid any further contact like that.

After half an hour, I was taking shaky glides around the rink as “Last Christmas” by Wham! blasted over the loudspeakers. Apart from the occasional heart wrenching sensation that I was about to topple over, a few erratic skaters who seemed to have indulged in too much mulled wine, and some pain from the boots pressing against my ankles, this was actually quite enjoyable.

“You’re doing great,” Dana said, shooting me a slightly crooked smile.

My heart stuttered.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“My ankles are a little sore but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.”

Dana’s gaze dropped to my feet. “Do you want to take a break so we can check your skates? I might have tied them too tightly, or sometimes your socks can bunch up and rub against your skin.”

“That sounds good. I could probably do with a drink too. I didn’t realize skating was going to be such hard work!”

After gliding over ice, stepping back onto non-slippery solid ground was a reality check. My legs were heavy and stiff, my steps clunky, and it took more than a moment for my balance to reset.

We made our way over to one of the small circular metal tables that had been set up in front of the food stand. I sat on a metal fold-out chair and loosened my laces, relieving some of the pressure against my skin. That’s better.