Page 72 of Destined For The Wolf Daddy

“Marley, just open the box.”

She chuckled as she finally lifted the lid and peeled back the tissue paper inside the box. When she finally saw what I’d gotten her, her jaw dropped open, and she looked up at me with the same shocked joy Noah gave me during Christmas. “Shut. Up. You got us ice skates?”

I smiled and nodded. “I did. I know you’ve been wanting to learn, so I thought we could do it out here together, and I can help you get the hang of it so you can join in on the fun the next time everyone's skating on the lake.”

Under the soft glow of the moon, we found ourselves by the frozen pond, the air filled with the stillness of the winter night. I knelt down, fingers fumbling with the laces of Marley's ice skates, each breath visible in the chilly air. The trees stood sentinel in the silence, their branches adorned with a dusting of snow, and the pond seemed to shimmer in the moonlight.

“Alright, you’re all strapped in,” I said. “Ready for a moonlit adventure?”

Marley grinned, her eyes reflecting a mix of determination and excitement. “Tonight, a frozen puddle in the woods. Tomorrow, the Olympics,” she said as I sat down to lace my own ice skates.

“It’s good to have dreams,” I said with a bit of playful indulgence. “It’s good to have goals, even when you might not be able to achieve them.”

She swatted me. “Mean. What if I really wanted to do it?”

“Well, do you?”

She pressed her lips together, trying not to smile. “No, not really,” she admitted.

“Thought so,” I said with a wink, extending my hand. "Let's make tonight something special, anyway.”

Her hand found mine, and we ventured onto the ice, our skates creating a hesitant melody on the frozen surface. The night air was crisp, and the only sounds were the occasional giggle and the soft scrape of blades on the ice.

“Take it slow. Feel the ice,” I advised, guiding her as we set out. I skated backwards, holding her hands in mine. Just a bit of stabilizing pressure—enough to be able to catch her if she slipped face-first.

“Why are you so good at this?” she asked me. “I didn’t know you were a pro.”

“I used to rollerblade a lot,” I said. “Travis and I used to have a two-man street hockey team.”

“Seriously? Were you any good?”

“We might have been if we had anyone else to go up against.”

She snorted out a laugh and immediately lost her balance, slipping back at first, then forward. I caught her, firming up my legs to keep her from falling.

“I got you, sweetheart,” I said.

Marley nodded, refocusing on her feet, her face becoming much more serious. With a tentative push, she glided forward, creating delicate patterns with each unsure step. The moon above seemed to smile down on our clumsy attempts.

“This is...different,” Marley remarked with a laugh. “I feel like a baby deer out here, trying to walk right out of the womb.”

I chuckled, matching her wobbly strides as we moved across the pond. The moonlight painted the world with a romantic hue, and the air was filled with the sweetness of the winter night.

“Embrace the clumsiness,” I teased. “It adds to the charm of the date and makes me look good.”

“Oh, well, we can’t miss an opportunity to make you look good.”

As Marley gained confidence, I let go of her arms, allowing her to build her balance on her own. Her every move was punctuated by laughter as she wobbled on the ice. The pond became our own private dance floor, and as she gained more and more confidence in her strides, we started to talk.

“So,” I said, “how are you feeling about the injection coming up?”

“Oh, is that what we’re doing? You bring me out here and corner me in a conversation about my feelings?” she teased through her labored breaths.

“We don’t have to talk about it at all if you don’t want to.”

“I’m kidding,” she said, catching up to skate beside me. She took my hand in hers, and I looked down at her sidelong as her breaths gusted into the chilly night air, creating little puffs of condensation. She was quiet for a long moment and then finally spoke. “I’m nervous,” she admitted. “But I’m excited about it. I get more and more excited about the more you say stuff like…like what you said a few minutes ago.”

“What did I say?” I asked, not sure what she was referring to.

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