Page 101 of Wilder

Layla darted away, but Wilder stayed at the boards with Lexi.

“How’s it been going?”

“Pretty good, I think.”

“From what I’ve heard, we’re going to have a good turnout.”

“I hope so.”

Wilder turned to face her, leaning an arm along the boards. “How was your day?”

“It was fine,” she said. “Mik wasn’t happy about our training being interrupted, but he’ll get over it.”

“Do you want to come for pizza once we have everything ready to go here?”

Over the past couple of weeks, Wilder had extended the invitation each Friday, but Lexi had declined to go. She’d tried to offset that rejection by attending church with them.

Lexi just wasn’t sure that she should spend more time with the Halversons. At least attending church involved other people, not just Wilder and his family.

But that day, she was finding it difficult to say no to him. Maybe it didn’t matter. They’d both agreed that they were just friends.

“Sure.”

Wilder’s expression brightened as he raised his hands like he’d just won something. “Excellent!”

Layla returned with her skates, and while Wilder helped her, Lexi went to her office to get her and Wilder’s skates.

By the time she got back, Layla was out on the ice with Amelia. Wilder sat down on the bench beside her and took his skates.

“Do you need help lacingyourskates?” Wilder asked as they sat down on the bench.

“No, sir,” Lexi said. “I’ve been lacing my own skates since I was about ten.”

“How are you feeling about tomorrow?”

Lexi considered it for a moment, then said, “A little nervous.”

Wilder paused mid-lacing, turning to look at her. “Nervous? I wouldn’t expect that, given the experiences you’ve had.”

Lexi shrugged. “What can I say? This is much more personal than any competition I’ve been in.”

“It’s going to be great,” Wilder said with a grin. “Just have fun with it. People will be entertained by whatever we do. They don’t really have any expectations. They’re not going to mark you down if you do a double jump instead of a triple.”

“You’re right.”

She just wasn’t used to skating for something so casual. Even when they skated for the galas following competitions, there was still a high expectation of what she and Mik would perform. They might not have been judged officially, but people still liked to see perfect programs.

“Let’s go have some fun,” Wilder said as he stood up.

He offered her his hand, and after a moment’s hesitation, she took it. Once she was on her feet, he let go, and Lexi missed the feel of his hand in hers.

Shaking it off, she went with him to the ice, took off her guards, and stepped out on the ice. There were still lots of people setting up for the next day’s activities, but a few came to the boards to watch them.

They didn’t go right into the program. Lexi did some stretches as she skated, feeling her muscles protesting being put to work again that day.

Wilder chased after the girls, who shrieked with laughter as they darted away from him. Even in this, Amelia showed herselfto be a lot more at ease on her skates, as she evaded Wilder for much longer than Layla was able to.

Lexi pulled up their song on her phone, then connected it to the Bluetooth sound system. When Wilder and the girls joined her, she said, “Ready to go?”

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