Page 80 of Follow My Heart

Gaining more confidence, I took longer glides.

Ryder stepped a bit farther away but kept my hand in his. I hovered closer to the wall in case I’d need to grab on.

Faith spun around and took off again.

I admired the easy way she glided away. Then my blade slipped out from under me. I flailed, squeezing Ryder’s hand hard.

He wrapped his free arm around my back before I could hit the ice. “Keep your eyes on your feet for a while. Until you gain more confidence.”

I blew my hair out of my face. “Good idea. Thanks for catching me.”

Ryder grinned. “That’s what I’m here for.”

When we were together, he was all-in with me. Faith might come first in some ways, but I still felt cherished in Ryder’s presence. I was important to him. I wasn’t an afterthought. He wanted me to learn to ice skate, to enjoy this outing with them.

I took one long lap around the rink, then a second, before I let go of Ryder’s hand.

“You okay for a minute? I want to go around with Faith.”

“I’ve got it,” I said with more confidence than I felt.

This was his thing he did with Faith. It made sense that he’d want to spend time with her. I could do this. He took off after Faith, and I made a third lap, feeling more confident to lift my gaze from my feet for longer periods of time.

On the fourth lap, I was feeling even better, making longer strides, and even wobbled but caught myself.

Faith and Ryder came up beside me. “Ready for hot chocolate?”

“Yes.” My legs were tired from being so tense the entire time.

We headed toward the exit, and Ryder volunteered to get in line for the hot chocolates. I was happy to sit on the bench next to Faith.

“This was fun. Thanks for including me.”

“I’m glad you could come,” Faith said sincerely.

“I don’t want to take away your time with your dad. If you ever want it to be just you and him, you can say so.”

She grinned. “I know.”

It made me feel good that she enjoyed my presence. It would be so much harder if she resented me.

“You’re good for my dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Mom wouldn’t do things like this with him. She went out with her girlfriends. Dad wanted to do a weekly date night, but she never did.”

A weekly date night when they were married? That was sweet. The perfect way to stay connected to your wife while you had children.

Everything about Ryder was attractive. He was sweet, attentive, an amazing dad. And he had a huge heart. He had so much love to give, but it had been stifled when he was with Stacy. I was the lucky girl who got to experience it.

Ryder returned with three cups of hot chocolate. He handed them off before sitting next to us on the bench to watch the skaters fly by.

Holiday music played from the speakers, and the lights gave it a magical feel. It was the best night I could remember having in a long time. Being with them like this made me think about the future. What would it be like to be in their lives long-term?

I wanted to come home to both of them. This is what I’d been missing. It wasn’t just the business or living my dream. It was sharing it with someone I loved and who supported me.

My skin flashed hot. Was I falling in love with Ryder? I was supposed to be cautious, not get my heart involved like I had so many times in the past. But it had snuck up on me. I never stood a chance.

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