Page 66 of Offside Angel

It’s not too far from the way Mira looked when she first got on the ice. To be fair, she warned me in the car ride over that she wasn’t going to be any good on ice skates, but she does everything else so gracefully that I didn’t believe her.

I should have.

It was like trying to teach a millipede to skate. There were limbs flailing everywhere. I was so busy trying to keep her from cracking her skull open on the ice that I couldn’t even help Aiden.

“If you don’t put me out of my misery and let me take these skates off,” she gasped, almost eating shit when a ten-year-old skater whizzed past her and upset her very delicate equilibrium, “the universe is going to put me out of my misery for you. I’m going to die out here.”

I helped her to the edge of the rink and she’s been safely in the stands ever since.

Aiden has been a lot easier to train.

After a half-hour of slow laps around the ice while holding my hands, he’s able to skate mostly unassisted now. On his third lap without any help at all, he waves me away. “I can do it by myself.”

“Are you sure? I can follow along behind you if?—”

“I’ll do it by myself,” he insists.

I skate away, hands raised. “I’m sure you can. I’ll go talk to Mira while you take a solo lap.”

I skate for the exit and Mira walks down the bleachers to meet me on the bottom row. “He looks good out there. A little more practice and he’ll be a pro.”

“He’s already talking about being on a hockey team. He wants to be a forward. Naturally.”

“Like father, like son,” she agrees. “Do they have teams for four-year-olds?”

“There’s actually a peewee league that runs through the Angels. Some of the trainers and rookies help coach. I might sign him up.” I shrug. “Maybe I could even coach.”

Mira smiles. “Aiden would love that. And it would give me a good excuse to paint my face and make glitter signs.”

I can see it perfectly: Aiden tumbling out of the car with all of his gear, Mira decked out in team colors. She and Taylor would make a perfectly obnoxious cheering section. And even though PDA is very much not her jam, Mira would kiss me over the boards before every game.

I tug on the end of her braid. “You’ll be our good luck charm.”

She winces. “I’m not so sure about that.”

My hackles rise. Something has been off with her since she got back from kickboxing this afternoon, but I don’t know what. Admittedly, there wasn’t a lot of time to figure it out.

She got home an hour later than planned, saying something about a “situation” she had to handle at the gym. Before I could ask about it or make good on my promise to clean her up in my shower, Aiden blew in with Evan thirty seconds later. He was talking a mile a minute about how he desperately needed to learn to skate so he could keep up with Jalen, who just started lessons all of one week ago. Ten minutes later, we were headed out the door for the rink.

“I never got to ask about what happened at the gym.” Our legs brush as I turn to her. “About why you were late.”

Mira goes rigid. Her green eyes flare wide. “What? When? Nothing.”

I arch a brow. “You want to try that again? Maybe your second take will be more convincing.”

Her braids bounce against her shoulders as she shakes her head. “Really, it was nothing. Nothing happened. I just—” She looks at me, and goddammit, there’s something there. Something she isn’t telling me. She blinks away before I can figure it out. “I stayed late to work out some frustration. I think talking to Hollis freaked me out a bit. That’s all.”

“I should’ve been there,” I grit out.

She was worried about a possible head injury and begged me to stay, but I could’ve paid a flight attendant to check on me through the flight. I should’ve flown home to be with her, regardless of what she wanted.

“No, you shouldn’t have. You probably shouldn’t even be here.” She sweeps her fingers over the side of my head. “You need to rest. How do you feel?”

I snag her wrist. “I’m fine. You’re the one I’m worried about.”

“You don’t need to worry about me anymore.” She gives me a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’ve sworn off ice skating. It’s only solid, unfrozen ground for me from here on out.”

“I’m serious, Mira. You don’t have to do anything you aren’t ready to do. We can go to Hollis and handle this whenever you think the time is right.”

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