Page 40 of I'd Never Date my Best Friend's Brother

“Ready to keep going?” His voice holds a promise that I haven’t heard from him before. It strikes a cord in my heart that has a ripple of joy spreading through me.

“Yes,” I whisper, answering the question he's not asking. I have never felt more certain about anything before in my life.

Chapter 20

Jamie

Evie is enchanting. Every time she gains a little more balance, the excitement on her face sends heat radiating throughout my chest and a smile splits my face. Even though my main focus is keeping her from falling, I can’t deny how much I enjoy holding her close whenever I need to keep her upright.

Another person nudges her as they pass, and I feel her trying to wrap her arms around me in order to keep from falling. As I catch her, I can hear her giggle, and I can’t stop the smile from expanding across my face.

My chest radiates with heat at her laugh, and my stomach swoops.

“Let’s move more toward the center. It’s like rush hour out here.” I snake my arm around her waist and hold her arm as I slowly guide her toward the center of the ice. She grips my forearm around her waist, and I savor the warmth of her body.

Once we reach the center, I reluctantly move my body from her side to stand in front of her, but I still let my hand linger on her waist, not wanting to stop touching her.

“How do you make it look so easy?” She’s watching my feet as I move, her eyes wide. “It’s like you’ve been skating your entire life.”

The smile she beams my way has my heart skipping. Her blue eyes are sparkling, and I find myself lost in them.

“You should’ve seen me when I first tried ice skating. It wasn’t pretty.”

That’s not completely true. I had a learning curve, but I quickly took to the ice. I honestly think it’s because I’ve been on skis since I was four years old. My dad was an avid skier and took me with him whenever he could.

Her eyes roam over my face, and my heart stammers when she stops at my lips. When she lifts her eyes back to mine, I see the girl I left six months ago staring back at me, and my breath catches.

“I’ve missed you,” she says so softly that it feels like a whisper. Then, more firmly and with a poke to my chest, “But if you ever do that to me again, I will never forgive you.”

I can’t stop the grin that spreads across my face or the heat spreading through my chest. I grab her finger and hold it, my eyes never leaving hers. “I promise I won’t leave like that again. Will you let me explain what happened? I need you to know why I di—”

“Yes. But not here.” She looks around at everyone with a smile on her face. “We have an audience.”

I follow her eyes to see that everyone is either outright watching us or pretending like they aren’t. The smirks and whispers are evident. I look outside the rink and see everyone smiling and laughing around the fire pits.

When I look at Sean’s bingo crew, it looks like they are taking bets on something. A laugh bubbles up.

“What?”

“I can’t believe your brother plays bingo.”

Evie’s laugh ripples. When I turn back to her, she looks at the people outside the rink, a small smile resting on her face. I take the moment to admire her profile, and I let my eyes greedily roam over her face.

I feel her palm resting on my chest, and my hand covers hers. “Ready to try again?”

She nods her head before she starts to move forward, on her own this time. A crooked grin crosses my face as I slowly follow behind, giving her space to try on her own.

“How do I turn around?” She asks with her face over her shoulder just as her arms start to swing.

I push forward with my skates and reach her just before she falls. Her laughter rings through the air as she lands in my arms, facing me.

“Guess that’s one way to do it,” I chuckle.

Her laughter stops as she gazes into my eyes, and for the thousandth time tonight, my breath catches. The emotions shining in her eyes has me captivated and my heart pounding. My eyes roam her face before pausing at her mouth.

“Look up,” I hear Sean’s mischievous voice next to me. Evie and I both look up at the pitch of the lights to find mistletoe hanging directly above us.

I feel a smile creep across my face as I look back down at Evie, who is looking directly at me.

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