Page 112 of The Baller

She eased one of her gloves off with her teeth, and cupped my cheek. “I’m so good, and I’m having the best day. I know it’s busy, but we have this cute little cabin. I mean… there’s no way I’d come on my own,” she giggled, which only made me want to scoop her up and kiss her until the morning. But I refrained.

I just about moved her out of the way in time as Parker and Tanner hurtled back into the cabin, tripped, and fell on the floor as they cried out, “I win!”

Millie returned from the bathroom, taking one large step over them and sat down on the spare log next to Ethan. “It was a tie,” she drawled, picking up a hot chocolate and taking a long sip.

“You guys are idiots.”

The idiots jumped up and brushed themselves free from the ice and sludge they’d fallen in.

“No way it was a tie. I won!” declared Tanner, positioning himself on the log next to Millie. “I left after you.”

“This is why I don’t have kids,” grumbled Jake.

Wrapping my arms around Radley, I leaned us against the boards and peered up at the Christmas Tree. “Did you write your letter for Santa yet?”

“No,” she whispered back, pulling my arms around her tighter. “I don’t need to. I have everything I want this year already.”

“Yeah?”

She spun around in my grip. Her beanie had fallen so low it was almost resting on her lashes as she looked at me. Using my chin so I didn’t have to let go of her, I nudged it up.

“You’ve no idea how much you’ve given me the past few months. It’s like everything has started falling into place since we met, everything I’d been learning in therapy is falling into place. It was finally unlocked…” she smiled gently, “and you were the key.”

I shook my head. “You’ve done it all. It was always inside you, you just needed to find the right time. I’m so proud of everything you’ve let yourself do. I’m so proud ofyou, period.”

I dropped my lips to hers, feeling the warmth of them against the rest of her cold face. She tasted like hot chocolate and nutmeg, sighing into me as my tongue swept across hers, and the noise around us silenced with each slow, purposeful glide. Just like every time I kissed her, I wanted to stay in this moment forever, and just like every time, I very reluctantly pulled away.

“You wanna come skate with me again? I need an excuse to hold your hand.”

“You can hold my hand whenever you want.” She tilted her chin up to me for a kiss, to which I obliged. “And you can kiss me whenever you want, too.”

“That’s good to know,” I mumbled, without breaking contact.

We stepped onto the ice, where Tanner and Parker were now leaning against the boards and playing a game where they guessed who’d fall over next.

“You two dipshits wanna come skate?”

“Hang on, just watching that dude. He’s gonna go any second.”

Radley and I followed the direction he was pointing, but neither of us could figure out who Parker was talking about, because it could have been any number of people. I leaned into him to ask just as he ducked behind me, and spun against the boards.

“No way, no fucking way,” he hissed.

“Parker, whatareyou doing?”

“There,” he hissed again, pointing out to the ice.

Radley bent down and peered around my legs. “Are you okay?”

“No, over there!”

“What are you doing?”

“Over there,” he repeated and stood up, keeping himself behind my body and tipping his chin toward the ice as he mumbled from the corner of his mouth, “There. Is that Scout?”

“What’re you guys doing?” asked Millie, resting her elbows on the board.

“I’m not entirely sure.”

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