Page 53 of Fear of Love
“I can teach you to skate.” He shrugged.
“You wanna teach me?” I pointed to myself. “Weren’t you the one who said I was a lost cause on the ice?”
“That’s still true.” The smirk on his face made me want to smack him. “But I think I can help you stay upright, if you want.”
While a part of me wanted to say no, the idea of Landon taking the time to teach me had me saying the exact opposite. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
I gave him a nod, hoping I didn’t regret this. “Let’s get you some skates.”
Landon towered over me on a normal day, but with skates on, he was even taller. I was jealous at how easily he walked in the skates on the carpet as we headed for the front desk. Why did everyone in the Boone family have to be so freaking talented when it came to sports? It would be nice if one of them sucked at something.
“Emily, what are you still doing here?” Landon asked the moment we got up to the skate rental counter. The familiar girl from a few weeks ago stood there looking between the two of us.
“I was just about to leave.” The look Landon gave her was one I saw him use countless times on Mateo.
“You didn’t need to stay this whole time. It’s Friday, go out with your friends.” The way he scolded her let me know the two of them were close.
“Yes, Dad.” She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She looked over at me curiously, eyes darting back to Landon.
“I’m Lydia.” I introduced myself, feeling like I needed to say something.
“Hi, I’m Emily. This one’s favorite worker.” Emily gestured to Landon.
“She won’t be if she doesn’t get out of here.”
“Don’t worry, he’s actually a teddy bear.”
I decided right then I liked this girl. It was clear she adored Landon and loved giving him shit. Her and Mateo would get along swimmingly. “Need some skates?”
“Size seven,” Landon answered before I could. I glanced in his direction in surprise. He knew my shoe size? Ignoring my curious looks, Landon grabbed the skates from Emily. “Thanks. Now get going. I’ll see you Monday.”
“I’m going.” Coming around the counter, she gave me a parting smile. “Nice meeting you, Lydia. Feel free to give this one shit for me.”
“Oh, I will.” I mirrored her grin. Beside me, Landon sighed, which just made me smile that much harder.
“See ya, Boss.” With that, Emily left, leaving Landon and me.
“You two shouldn’t be left alone.” With a hand on my lower back, and my skates in his other hand, Landon guided me back to the benches. I took a seat and went to grab the skates from him only to have my hand smacked away.
I’ve seen Landon on his knees for me—just a few days ago, actually—but as he squatted down in front of me in a pair of skates, my stomach did a weird little summersault.
“Foot up,” he instructed as he tapped the inside of my knee. I saw the other guys do this for Josie and Tasha and never thought much of it, butholy shit. There was something so sexy and sweet about Landon balancing on his skates while sliding a pair on my feet.
All I wanted to do was run my fingers through his hair and tug his face up to mine.
“I can lace up my own skates,” I said, trying to distract myself from the feelings that were growing in my chest.
“First step is making sure your skates are on right. Tight but not too tight that you can’t feel your toes,” Landon said as he slid my other foot into a skate. His fingers skillfully laced them up within seconds. “How does that feel?”
All I could do was wiggle my toes and nod. Words left me as he glanced up at me from under his lashes. It was like being sucker punched in the stomach with how handsome he was. Those gorgeous eyes leaned more toward blue today, thanks to what he was wearing.
“Let’s get you on the ice.” Landon stood to his full height, hand held out.
I liked how his dwarfed mine when he helped me off the bench. I wobbled as I took a step forward. Last time I did this, I clung to Mila the entire walk to the ice. This time was no different as I gripped Landon’s hand and arm.
“You can walk in high heels, but you can’t walk in skates?” Landon teased.
