Page 135 of Ice Mechanic

I slowly allow my other foot to join the first on the ice. Chance holds my hand and skates backward at a glacial pace. I follow him like a newborn deer testing out his legs. Each of my skates seem to have their own engines because one foot keeps veering right while the other keeps sliding left.

Chance snorts.

I shoot him a glare that’s sharp enough to cut. “Are you laughing at me?”

“No, ma’am,” he says, pulling in his lips.

I murmur grumpily, “I haven’t done the splits since my middle school cheerleading tryouts and here I am about to do two of them in a day.”

Chance’s eyebrows shoot up. “You tried out for cheerleading?”

“You try being an awkward eleven-year-old who loves fixing engines with her dadandthe younger sibling of the most popular girl in school. It was a very confusing time.”

“Did you make the team?” he asks.

“I got laughed out of the gym.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Dad let me drive on the backroads after try-outs, so it turned into a happy memory. Besides, I would have hated every second of being a dancer. I was happy leaving that to June.”

“This is your first time talking about her.”

“About who? June?”

“May mentioned that you three are a quarter of the calendar.”

I laugh.

“But,” he adds, “that’s kind of all I’ve gathered.” He smiles and shakes his head. “SoJunewas the most popular girl in school?”

“Don’t sound so excited.” I give him the stink eye.

“I’m just intrigued. You’re so…”

I scrunch my nose. “So what?”

“Feisty.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Of course, Tink.” He laughs. “And May is chirpy and optimistic. So I kind of pictured June as a combination of the both of you.”

“Well, she wasn’t. June was—is—extremely beautiful, but she’s kind of cold too. Didn’t like having her sisters hanging around all the time. Was super independent. She and dad argued a lot growing up. Even so, I don’t understand how it was so easy for her to leave town and never look back.”

My heart burns the way it always does when I talk about my older sister. Our family shattered the day she left and we’ve carried on, but it’s never been quite the same.

“Sounds like you miss her a lot,” Chance says carefully.

“Miss her?” I scoff loudly to ignore the pang in my chest. “I cut her off when she stopped answering my calls. Dad and May are the sappy ones. Dad can’t remember us, but he mentions June all the time and May…” My throat wells with emotion.“Anyway, that’s enough of my family drama. What about your family?”

“What about them?” Chance asks, skating a little faster.

I side-eye him because I notice he’s increasing the pace, but I don’t stop him. As long as he doesn’t let me go, we’ll be good.

“What’s your family like?” I add.

Chance narrows his eyes in thought as we take a curve. Does he have eyes in the back of his head? How has he not turned around to check that he isn’t crashing into the goalie net?

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