Page 59 of Switching Skates
Tattooed on Mason’s back, centered between his shoulder blades, is a sunset—reds and oranges coloring the five-inch patch of skin.
Time seems to slow as I stand still, staring at the tattoo, as if in a trance.
He got a tattoo of a sunset?
I mean, surely, it must just be a generic sunset and doesn’t hold any meaning to the nickname he gave me when we were kids … right?
Because if it’s not and he got it because of me, then what the hell does that mean? Whatcanit mean?
My heart starts racing, my mind spinning with endless thoughts of possibilities. I want to ask him, make him tell me the truth.
That thought alone makes me feel like I have a frog in my throat. Because I have no idea what the hell I would do with the answer or if I even really want to know it.
“Mason! Hurry the hell up!” Maeve shouts at me as she walks past the bathroom. “We will start this movie without you.”
“Be out in a second!” I yell back, attempting to get out of my head and focus on the task at hand—getting dressed and trying to forget that I ever saw the tattoo in the first place.
If he wanted me to know about it, he would’ve told me.
After slipping on some comfortable clothes, I head downstairs, finding Mason and Maeve already on the sofa with bowls of popcorn in their laps. It’s a bit eerie to see Mason so comfortable in my body, sitting crisscross with a cozy blanket draped around his shoulders.
That’s my spot, not his. But Maeve would never let me take that seat, thinking I’m her brother.
Maybe we should tell her and freak her out. It would surely make this ordeal more entertaining to have someone else in the loop.
But it also sounds more complicated, and knowing her, I bet she wouldn’t leave it alone until she got to the bottom of how to switch us back, and I don’t want her dedicating her life to it if, in the end, there isn’t a solution.
I’m feeling rather hopeless myself. It’s been a week, and the real challenges haven’t even begun. What happens when I’m stuck in his senior-level classes with no idea of what’s going on?
I’m going to ruin his academic career, and while I had fun playing hockey for him in that scrimmage, there’s no way I can go off and pretend to be him in the pro league.
My mind continues spiraling as I settle into the recliner andA Cinderella Storystarts playing on the TV. Maeve hands me a bowl of popcorn from the coffee table in front of her, and I nod in thanks.
Oh God, and then there are going to be the puck bunnies throwing themselves at me, and I’ll have no interest in pursuing any of them. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. I just don’t swing that way. Although that thought alone opens up a thousand new questions and concerns.
My eyes begin to burn, and I force the sensation away, staring intently at the movie until my mind starts to empty out and only Sam and Austin remain.
My rom-coms are my comfort movies, a blanket for my soul. But right now, watching Sam and Austin fall in love makes my chest ache in an entirely different way than it usually does.
Because I want that love so desperately, and seeing the tattoo on Mason’s back is making me think that a love that I want could exist with him. And that maybe a second chance wouldn’t be so bad.
What if it worked this time? What if this was always our love story? To part and find our way back to one another.
No, Daphne, stop. You already tried with him. You saw how that went last time.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I tear my gaze from the TV to check it. A text from Mason.
Mason: You okay over there? What’s on your mind?
Glancing up over my phone, I find his eyes locked on me, and Maeve’s locked on the movie.
Me: I’m good. Just tired, I think.
Mason: Hmm, I don’t know if I believe you.
My thumbs hover over the keyboard as I try to figure out what to say, but I’m at a loss for words.
I am tired, truly. Tired of the emotional weight of the last week. Tired of fighting over whether to trust my heart or my brain. Tired ofeverything.
