Page 16 of Yours to Ho Ho Hold
“No, you’re perfect.”
She sits up a little straighter, and I’m afraid I may have spooked her. She opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it, not wanting this date to end just yet. “There’s an ice skating rink not too far from here. What do you say?”
“How many dates are you going to take me on? I’m pretty sure you’ve exceeded your limit by at least two.”
“What’s the matter? Are you afraid you’ll embarrass yourself in front of me?” I tease, and she shakes her head, her lips twisting to the side like she’s holding something back.
I crane my neck to look around the empty diner. “Or do you have other plans with someone I don’t know about?”
“I hope you’re getting all of this out of your system,” she says as she throws her bag over her shoulder.
I stand and offer her my hand, which she takes without pause. It’s almost like we’re on a real date. I’m grateful for our unfortunate travel circumstances because, otherwise, I don’t think Holly Shepherd would give me the time of day. She’s so closed off. She’s been through so much, and I’m just thankful she’s letting me in, even if it’s only for twenty-four hours.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get it out of my system,” I say under my breath. I don’t know if she really doesn’t hear me, but she doesn’t say anything else.
We fall in a comfortable silence as snowflakes fall all around us. The world appears to be in slow motion, as if in this moment time is frozen.
“So, why aren’t you spending your Christmas with your family? What’s in Florida anyway?” I ask, breaking the silence.
She studies me out of the corner of her eye. “Normally, I would, but this year, they’re traveling. They won this all expenses paid Alaskan cruise off this traveler’s podcast they listen to. A Christmas cruise has always been on the top of their dream vacations, and the opportunity was too good to pass up.” She shifts on her feet. “They tried to back out of it because they didn’t want me to be alone, but I couldn’t let them. They’re already having the best time. They keep sending me all these pictures and updates.” She pulls out her phone and swipes open her text thread showing me several pictures. There’s one of her mom smiling ear to ear as she sits on Santa’s lap and another of both her parents overlooking the ocean at sunset.
Her mom’s petite with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She’s gorgeous, and I can totally see where Holly gets her good looks from. I feel like I’m looking at her forty years in the future.
She has her dad’s eyes, though. They’re a rich chocolate brown that feel so warm and inviting. You can tell a lot about someone by their eyes. Holly’s are deep and full of secrets, with a sparkle of fight that steals my breath and makes me want to fall to my knees. She’s all sarcasm and sass on the outside, but deep down, I know she’s hurting. She cares so deeply about the people she loves that she’d spend her entire life just trying to make it up to them. But that’s no way to live.
“They look like they really love each other,” I say, passing her phone back.
“They do. I don’t think I’d believe love like that existed in real life if I didn’t see it with my own two eyes. They do everything together. They’re each other’s best friends and the kindest people I know.”
She puts her phone back in her purse and looks up at me. She must see the smile I’m trying to hide because she narrows her eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
I squeeze her hand. “You’re lucky to have them. I know you think you fucked up, but I bet you’re being harder on yourself than you need to.”
She rolls her eyes. “Oh, yeah? And when did you become a psychologist?”
“Hey, I told you, I can be anything you want me to be, baby.” I wink and pull her into the ice skating rink.
“Jingle Bells” plays loudly over the speakers as we crouch to lace up our ice skates. A group of teenagers stand awkwardly in one corner, whispering and giggling as they point to another young couple holding hands. Young children use plastic trainers that look like miniature walkers to help them keep their balance while people young and old slide around the oval rink.
It’s dark outside now, and the bright lights and falling snow add to the Christmas magic. It won’t be long before little children climb into bed as they wait for the jingle of Santa’s sleigh bells.
“Shouldn’t these kids be in bed?” Holly bluntly asks, and I can’t help but laugh. I love her sharp tongue and how she always says what she’s thinking. It’s how I know she’s at least tolerating my company. Dare I say, even likes me … maybe? She’d definitely tell me if she didn’t, so I at least know I’ve got somewhat of a chance. I’m holding out hope anyway.
We step onto the ice, starting slow and gradually building speed as we make our way around the loop. My ankles wobble a little when I slow down around the curves, and I nearly lose my balance several times as teenagers and children alike zoom by us. Thankfully, I don’t think Holly notices.
I catch her smiling, turning her face up as big fat snowflakes land on her cheeks. She closes her eyes every now and then as if she’s savoring this moment, as if she, too, is enjoying herself.
I wet my lips as I watch her body move, gliding along the ice in a rhythm all her own. She’s so fucking beautiful, and I feel like I’m seeing a side of her she’s kept locked up for too long. I don’t have to know about her painful past to see she doesn’t exactly let herself loose very often. It’s apparent in how tired she looked yesterday, with those dark circles under her eyes and the way she belly laughed after she beat me sledding. It was like her laugh needed to warm up a little because she hadn’t used it in a long time, but once she let herself play, there was no holding it in. Fuck, I want to make her laugh like that again.
She starts moving faster until she builds up enough momentum, and then she breaks into a full spin, her back leg extending gracefully as she stops spinning. She looks over to me with a giant grin, her chocolate brown eyes swirling with mischief and challenge.
I cup my hands over my mouth and let out little hoot of encouragement before taking off to catch up to her. Only, I’m not as skilled as Holly, and on my next step, the toe of my skate gets hung causing me to stumble, inertia propelling me forward.
I try to brace my fall so I don’t hurt myself, but then, out of nowhere, a little kid pushes his plastic walker contraption in front of me.
I dig the blades of the skates into the slick ice in an attempt to emergency brake, but they seem to have minds of their own. I feel like one of those cartoon characters kicking their feet falling in slow motion for what seems like an eternity.
Crashing into this small child is inevitable, and the only thing I can do is try to absorb the brunt of it so he doesn’t get hurt. It all happens so fast.
