Page 190 of Power Play

“The first time was a tragedy, wasn’t it?”

“Are you sure this is a good idea? You have averyimportant stretch of games coming up, and I don’t want to be on the end of Brody Saunders’s wrath if you hurt yourself in your off time.”

Liam scoots his chair back and stands. “I want you to learn.”

“Is knowing how to skate a prerequisite for hanging out with you?”

“No. I want you to learn for you. I’ve taught you a lot of things over the last couple of months, Piper, and it pisses me off I didn’t get to teach you how to skate the first time. Consider this a door closing on your past. After tonight, everything you want to learn, I’m going to be by your side while you do. Encouraging you. Motivating and supporting you. You won’t be embarrassed or afraid of anything ever again.”

I want to weep.

I want to laugh and scream and hug him tight.

I want to tell him all the ways he’ll never be the person from my past, starting with the gentle way he cares about me.

The way helovesme, and the way I love him.

I think.

The word terrifies me. Scares the absolute shit out of me, because I can see what happens when you abuse it. When you turn it into something wretched and broken and messy.

I’ve seen the worst side of love, but here I am, staring at Liam and knowing deep within every fractured piece of my soul, I am completely and irrevocably in love with him.

“Hey.” He moves around the table and squats in front of me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. This is the most thoughtful thing anyone’s ever done for me, and I’m having a hard time processing it.”

Liam’s mouth hooks up in a smile. His eyes twinkle and happiness almost radiates off of him. “Wanna do a lap, Sunshine?”

I nod, afraid to say anything else. I might blurt out how I feel about him. I might ask him to stay with me forever because I’m terrified of a world without him in it.

He helps me switch my sneakers for the skates, lacing them up and tapping the toe when I’m ready to go. I wait for him to put his own skates on, watching the easiness of his movements and how natural he looks being near the ice.

“All right.” He holds out his hand and I stand, our fingers locking together. “Remember: it can’t be worse than last time.”

“That’s debatable. Tonight you could hit your head.”

“Might knock some sense in him,” Ethan hollers from the stands, and Liam flips him off.

“I didn’t know we had an audience,” I say, and he sighs.

“That was part of the agreement. They would help but only if they could watch us act all, and I quote, ‘cute and shit.’”

“Look at you.” I reach up and pinch his cheek. “You’re like a walking romcom. Guess we better give them a show.”

We take the first lap slow. By the third lap, I’m more comfortable. My posture is straight, my eyes are straight ahead instead of down at my feet, and I loosen my death grip on Liam’s hand.

“I can finally feel my fingers,” he says when I pull away. I shove him, knowing it won’t do much damage, and he grabs my wrist. “Bad move, Pipsqueak.”

Before I can prepare for his retaliation, Liam lifts me above his head like I’m a figure skater. I squeak when I see how high I am and feebly swat at his back.

“Oh, my god. Put me down, you big ogre.”

“No can do. I overheard the guys say they have a bet going for tonight, and I kind of want Hudson to win.”

“He deserves a win, doesn’t he?” I close my eyes, not wanting to look at the ground. “Fine. But don’t make me stay up here very long. My life is flashing before my eyes.”

His laugh is loud and bold, and it melts into me. “You win. I’m putting you down.”

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