Page 15 of Merry Mischief List

“Like an ogre.”

“You mean like an onion?”

“No. I’m going with theShrekthing.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Smartass.”

The hidden look of disappointment on her face makes me uncomfortable.

“What if I help you with one of them?” I say, knowing there’s an item on the list she may need assistance with given our location.

“Do I get to choose?” she asks, waggling her eyebrows.

I immediately recall the more mischievous items, then mentally slap myself for even allowing my mind to wander there.She’s Jess’s sister. Remember?

“No,” I say, redirecting my train of thought. “Consider it an apology for hitting you with my car.”

“I guess you do owe me,” she concedes. “What do you have in mind?”

7

ANDI

“Okay, nowthisis badass,” I say with a huge grin as we walk into the empty hockey arena at Crystal Bay University. The temperature has plummeted from outside, and we quickly put on our jackets.

“What size shoe are you?” Porter asks, walking towards a supply closet.

“Eight and a half.” He disappears inside and emerges with two sets of ice skates. “You don’t have to do it with me. Wouldn’t want you dislocating a hip or something, old man.”

“Hah, hilarious,” he says, narrowing his eyes at me. “But why should you get to have all the fun? Besides, someone’s gotta keep you from busting your ass on the ice.”

“Is that so?” I bark out a laugh. “And what makes you think I don’t know how to skate?”

“You’re a Florida girl.” He smiles smugly. “Need I say more?”

“Mm-hmm, we’ll see.”

We lace up our skates, and I’m trembling both from the cold but also the excitement to get out on that perfectly smooth ice and prove Mr. Smug Face wrong. He opens the door and gestures for me to step out onto the rink first. I purposefully struggle, giving the full giraffe-on-roller skates show, and while it may look ridiculous, Porter’s deep laugh echoing through the empty arena makes it worth it.

“Told you,” he taunts. “It’s harder than it looks.”

“Well, maybe if I just…” I do a little shimmy, then stand up straight before taking off at full speed. I dig my toe into the ice, then push my body off the ground and do a single axel before landing perfectly. I glide around, then skid to a stop, and Porter has a look of pure shock on his face. “Not bad for a Florida girl, huh?”

“Where the hell did you learn to do that?” he asks, skating over to me.

“There’s a pond behind our cabin in Virginia that freezes over in winter. It’s where I spend pretty much every waking minute.”

“You taughtyourself?”

“What, like it’s hard?” I wink, maintaining eye contact as I skate away backwards. He catches up easily, and we take turns “showing off” our skills around the rink.

“Wanna try something a bit more difficult?” Porter asks after we’ve sufficiently warmed up.

“I’m always down for a challenge,” I say as he glides away, coming to a stop in the middle of the rink.

“Skate towards me, and as soon as you’re within reach, jump with your hands straight up.”

“Excuse me?” I scoff. “You want me towhatnow?”

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