Page 48 of For Crosby

While facing me, he skated backward and pulled me forward. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you if you fall.”

I didn’t doubt it. And that scared the hell out of me.

We’d nearly made it around the ice another full time when the front of my skate caught a bump in the ice and sent me toppling forward. Crosby didn’t expect me to crash into his chest because his legs shot out in unnatural directions. He fought to remain upright, but he fell backward with me clutched to his chest.

“Ohmigod,” I squealed as I closed my eyes and landed with a thud on top of him.

A long silence passed. I didn’t open my eyes for fear of Crosby’s reaction. Would Mr. Hockey rear his ugly head?

My eyes cracked open.

Crosby dropped his head back on the ice and laughter burst out of him. The sound echoed around the empty rink.

“What’s so funny? Are you hurt?”

He lifted his head to look at me. “You weigh a hundred pounds. I’m fine.”

Instinctively, my hands shot out and my fingers slipped through the back of his hair, feeling for a bump. “Did you hit your head?”

“I told you I’m fine. If you don’t stop fussing over me, I might think you actually like me.”

I snorted. “It’s gonna take more than fancy skating to get me to like you.”

He gazed into my eyes with a small grin on his face, but said nothing.

“What?”

He shook his head, though his eyes riveted between mine for another long moment. “Stay.”

My brows shot up. “What?”

“Don’t go home. Stay here with me.”

A weird sensation swirled in my belly. What was he asking? What did he think was going on between us? “Why?”

“Because you’re the closest thing I’ve got to a friend these days, and I really don’t want you to leave.”

The desperation of his words, mixed with the honesty in his gaze, pricked my eyes with tears. I didn’t cry easily, but in that moment, with him beneath me awaiting my response, I realized he truly had no one but me.

But how long did he want me to stay? For the night? For the week? Until school began again? I guess it didn’t matter. I didn’t have anything going on back home. And no one but my parents would miss me, and they were leaving for a two-week cruise mid-January anyway. “Okay.”

His smile nearly erased every bad thought I’d ever had about him. How was this the same guy I’d met in November?

By the time we returned to his room, the sun had set and his room was pitch black. He flipped on the light. And suddenly the space was too small. Too silent. Too stifling.

What had I agreed to?

“You wanna watch a movie?” Crosby asked, gesturing toward his bed.

“A movie?”

“Yeah. What’d you think I was gonna do? Get you back here and try to get you naked?”

“Kinda.”

He snickered. “Well, you’re here. Does that mean I misread things?” He climbed onto the bed and crossed his arms behind his head with his legs outstretched in front of him. “We can totally forget the movie.”

I rolled my eyes.

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