He shrugged and chuckled softly at the look on my face. “Yeah, it’s not a big deal.”
“Is it for some kind of community service hour requirement?”
I didn’t mean to sound so accusing, I was just having a hard time adjusting to this new image of Gabriel. First, he’d tried to get me out of detention, and now this? I didn’t know him at all. Not even after years of loathing the very sight of him.
Now I was starting to feel like the jerk.
“It’s just a part-time thing I do.” He calmly met my gaze, the blues of his eyes softening. “These kids come from poor homes and the owners of the rink try to give what they can so the kids can have an hour each week where they don’t have to worry about anything. I like helping out. I don’t have money, but I have time.”
“And Michael?” I swept the rink with my eyes, looking for the other half to this hockey duo.
“Michael’s not the biggest fan of kids. Or giving up his Saturdays. Or working for free.”
I made a sour expression. “Or me, so I guess I know how the kids feel.”
He chuckled dryly and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at his hands. “Yeah, Michael doesn’t like a lot of things that I do.”
My stomach clenched slightly and I studied the side of his face, right where the scar met his hairline. Did he mean to say that he liked me? And was that like a friend, or something more? The very thought should’ve made me laugh in horror, but there was this strange craving in my gut, like I got every time I walked into a movie theater and smelled the buttered popcorn. It was hard to make sense of my reaction, so I ignored it, busying myself with pulling my laptop out.
“Um...so...uh yeah.” I swallowed painfully and opened the laptop on my knees. The video had all been saved on a memory chip, which I popped in the side of my computer. “I just glanced at the footage from last night, but it looked pretty good.”
Avoiding his gaze, I played the film on mute. No need for my incriminating conversation with Lexi to get in there. We watched most of it in relative silence, with Gabriel occasionally pointing out shots he thought would make a good addition to our study. Within an hour, we had a pretty solid selection. My rear was starting to feel frozen from sitting so long on the bleachers, so I put the laptop down and stood to warm myself.
“I don’t know how you can stand being on the ice for so long,” I said, rubbing my hands up and down my arms. “I wasn’t built for cold weather.”
“You get used to it.” He stood bes
ide me and shot me a quick glance. “And skating is totally worth being cold.”
I laughed. That seemed unbelievable, but I guess I could give him the benefit of the doubt. “I wouldn’t know, never skated before.”
Gabriel’s solemn expression totally melted away into a horrified and comical grimace. Squaring his shoulders toward me, he tucked his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt and stared. “You haven’t skated before? Never? Are you pulling my leg right now? I’ve been on the ice since before I could walk.”
An unbidden smile came to my lips. It was kind of funny seeing Gabriel animated about something. He was usually so emotionless. “Never.”
“Okay, that’s it. I’m calling for an emergency intervention.” He jumped down to the ground and nodded toward the rink. “You’re going to skate. Now.”
I gaped at him and then waved my hands in front of my chest. He couldn’t be serious. “Um...no. These gangly legs are dangerous enough on solid land. On ice, I’d probably be lethal. You don’t want me out there.”
A deep laugh emanated from his chest. He shook his head, his wavy hair falling onto his forehead, and then held up a hand toward me. “Come on, killer, I’ll make sure nothing bad happens. You can trust me. I do want you out there.”
A shiver ran down my spine as I looked into his eyes. He seemed so sincere. Could I really trust him? Not only with this, but in thinking that he wouldn’t hate me when he found out I was playing him behind the scenes? Lexi thought all would be forgiven, as if there wasn’t years and years of bad blood between us. Could she be right? I couldn’t be sure. But my hand reached out and took his before I’d even fully made up my mind.
“We’re really doing this?” I asked, intently aware of his large hand enclosing mine in a warm grasp that seared my skin.
He helped me down the bleachers and then immediately released me. I couldn’t help but feel sad he hadn’t held on for longer. Maybe then, I could’ve better analyzed this sensation I was getting whenever we touched. It had to be a chemical reaction, right? A simple mix of volatile chemicals that combusted and made me lose my train of thought.
And not a sign that I was totally losing my mind?
“Definitely.” He grabbed his skates and then led me toward a booth on the far end where they kept the rental skates. With an effortless jump, he scaled the countertop and bent down to look at the skates neatly ordered by size on the wall. “What size shoe are you?”
My cheeks warmed and I shifted nervously. My large shoe size was one of my most embarrassing traits. Lexi was a dainty seven and Charlotte an average size eight. Heck, even Michael had once accused me of having clown feet. A girl didn’t forget a thing like that. It made me feel like a giant to say it aloud, but I could see no other option here. Not unless I wanted to embarrass myself even further by trying to stuff my feet into skates three sizes too small. It was time to woman up.
“Size...eleven.”
I’d pretty much mumbled it, like it was a dirty secret, but Gabriel didn’t bat an eye. He bent down and pulled out a white pair of lace-up skates and set them on the counter. Jumping back over the counter, he sat on a nearby bench and began to pull his skates on. I gingerly grabbed my own pair and sat down beside him.
What had I gotten myself into?