Page 6 of Shattered Fears

“Dork.” She chuckled and disappeared into a queue of people to deposit their shoes. A few minutes later, she reappeared with skates. They looked like torture devices. He put them on and found his footing. Ok, this wasn’t bad. He could do this.

“You coming?” Isobel held her hand out, and he followed her with a strange walk to the ice.

Holy Hell! Ice-skating wasn’t natural. The first step he made onto the ice sent his legs in different directions. He grabbed the side and held himself up. His heart beat rapidly. Any chance of looking cool for his girlfriend vanished as fast as honey did when he was hungry.

“You okay?” Isobel effortlessly skated up to him.

“It’s not as easy as it looks,” he admitted.

“I thought you’d done it before. I’m sorry.” She held her hand out for him, and he took it. The other hand remained tightly gripped to the side of the rink. Slowly, he started to glide his feet: one in front of the other. Every so often he’d lose his footing, and he’d resemble Bambi on ice for the first time, but eventually he got the hang of it and managed to let go of the side. He made sure to hold Isobel’s hand tightly, though.

“Are you enjoying it?” she asked him as they were on their fourth lap of the rink.

“It’s different, but yes, I am.”

They pulled to a stop, and he sat back against the side. She pressed her body into him.

“Thank you,” she whispered into his ear.

“What for?”

“This. I know you were nervous, but you still did it for me.”

“You’re my girlfriend. We do stuff together.”

“Your girlfriend?” She tested the words on her tongue.

“Yes,” he frowned.

“You do realize this is the first time you’ve officially named what we are.”

“Is it?” he questioned. “Shouldn’t be. You’ve been my girlfriend since the day we first met, and you will be until the day we die.”

She smiled at him but didn’t answer. He retook her hand and set off skating again. He was determined that, by the end of the evening, he would be skating without holding her hand. Actually, scrap that, he was never going to let her go. No matter what.

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