Page 51 of The Valentine's Bet

“Easy.” Brittany offers me a hand as we step out. “You just have to breathe. Have you ever ice skated before?”

“Yeah, it’s just been a while.” I give her a sheepish smile and follow her lead, taking off slowly.

And within ten minutes of skating, Brittany is already chatting it up with some blond guy. It’s not surprising, but once again, I’m the odd one out, waiting for Mr. Right to show up.

I sigh, taking in the way the lights glimmer on the ice. Music fills the air, and some people are skating while holding hot chocolate...

Yeah, that’s a solid no-go for me.

There’s no way I could make that happen and not burn myself.

“Hey,” a voice says from beside me. “You look like you could use a hand.”

I turn to look up into a pair of soft brown eyes. “I’m doing okay right now, but we’ll see.”

“It was a terrible pickup line, wasn’t it?” He laughs. “I’m Brendon.”

“Amy.” I take in his nice navy peacoat. He’s handsome, with an olive complexion that’s to die for. And he looks around my age.

“How’s your night going?”

“Um...” I hesitate. “It’s fine, I suppose. It’s a little cold, though.”

“Welcome to New York,” he jokes, flashing me a smile. “But really, itiscold tonight. You want some hot chocolate? It might warm you up while you skate.”

I look up at him, ignoring the worry in my chest. “Sure.”

Chapter Sixteen

Parker

Louise giggles. “She’s very clumsy.”

I frown, watching Amy shake out her glove that’s now soaked in hot chocolate. She’s clearly not much of a skater, barely managing to keep her forward momentum, and adding the hot cocoa to the mix was not a good idea. Louise finds it amusing—but I don’t.

“So, the two of you are friends?” Louise’s voice still doesn’t pull my gaze from Amy, who’s losing her balance even more as the guy she’s skating with continues on, forcing her to keep up a too-fast pace.

Inconsiderate jerk.

“He didn’t even get her a napkin,”I mutter.

“What?”

I shake my head. “The guy she’s skating with. He didn’t even get her a napkin. He didn’t even stop when she spilled her hot chocolate.”

“Uh ... Okay. I mean, I guess that’s not, like, thenicestthing to do, but maybe she told him she didn’t need a napkin. She could just ask him to stop if she needs a break from skating.”

“She’s not gonna do that.”

“Well ... then I guess that’s on her.”

I look over to Louise, opening my mouth to argue—but stop. “Yeah, sorry.”

“It’s all good. You’re just, um,concernedabout the well-being of your friend... Likereallyconcerned. What about your sister?” She gestures to Brittany, skating arm-in-arm with some tall blond dude.

“She’s fine. She can hold her own.” I shrug. “She’s out on a rebound, anyway. Weston will show up before too long, too. He’ll keep an eye on her.” I frown. He better keeponlyan eye on her.

“Hmm.” Louise’s tone is filled with suspicion, and as much as I should be worried about it, I’m not. She’s not my type. But before I can say anything else, her eyes go wide, and her hands fly up to her mouth in a gasp. “Oh my gosh!”

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