Page 34 of Fair Play
I pull away regretfully but her eyes remain closed and there’s a faint smile on her lips—as if she’s still lost in the kiss.
“Yum,” she whispers.
God damn.
If almost any other woman had that reaction to my kiss I would laugh, but not with Billie. She’s delightfully earnest in her reactions, and it’s jarring how badly I want her.
But we have nowhere to go where we can be alone and it feels somewhat dirty to take her to a hotel.
“Do you want to keep skating?” I ask after a moment.
Her eyes slowly open and she licks her lips. “Sure. For now.”
She slides her hand into mine and we go back in the direction we came.
There doesn’t seem to be anything to talk about so we don’t, but I’m acutely aware of her hand in mine and the pure joy on her face every time I glance over at her. Even if she never speaks to me again, I’ll have no regrets because I got to help her find her way back to this. Her delight is immeasurable, and I can only hope the kiss we shared was at least half as enjoyable.
“We could drop off our skates and walk to Santa Monica,” she says. “I want to ride the Ferris wheel on the pier.”
“Any particular reason?” I ask curiously.
“Because I never have.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
We return the skates and get our things and then she surprises me by not putting on her shoes.
“Let’s walk along the shore? It’s probably about six miles but I really want to.”
“Okay. I’m game.”
“Are you sure? You’re not too tired? You played today, and I know how hard that is on your body.”
I chuckle. “I’m not too tired for a walk on the beach. I’m up for whatever you want.”
“Okay.” We carry our shoes and walk down toward the water but not close enough to get wet because it’s way too cold for that. For me anyway. I don’t know if Billie thinks so but she doesn’t seem eager to get wet either.
“You looked strong on skates,” I say after a while. “I bet you were breathtaking on the ice.”
She smiles. “I don’t know about breathtaking but I loved it.”
“You never wanted to go back? Even after you were healed.”
She shakes her head. “Even if I wasn’t traumatized from the accident, the truth is—competitive ice skating is expensive. Bodi didn’t have the money. I got Social Security from my parents until I was eighteen, and we still just barely survived. He was making the league minimum in the minors. He was eighteen. He could barely take care of himself, much less navigate the competitive skating world.”
I nod.
That makes sense.
As annoying as Bodi is, I have a fuck-ton of respect for him. I can’t even imagine taking full custody of one of my sisters at eighteen.
“He did a hell of a job,” I say. “That would be a lot for anyone, and exponentially so for an eighteen-year-old kid.”
“I know. That’s why I forgive him every time he pulls some Neanderthal move that pisses me off. Don’t get me wrong, I love him. My brother is steadfast, reliable, and truly an amazing human being. But he hasn’t dealt with his trauma, so his reactions to almost anything to do with me are over-the-top and sometimes ridiculous. You should have seen his face when I came home with the eyebrow piercing.” She’s shaking her head but there’s a fondness in her expression that reflects understanding along with frustration.
“He must’ve shit a brick.”
“Oh, yeah. But I was almost nineteen, and I used my birthday money, so it’s not like he could do anything. I was in college, living in the dorms, and getting straight A’s.” She playfully nudges me with her elbow. “He doesn’t know about my other piercings.”
