Page 38 of False Start

I led them onto the floor with a quick glance to the sullen boys in the corner. Wes looked at them, grinned, and gave me a thumbs-up. He had three of his own. All girls. Leo and Noah had nothing on that chaos.

The music came on and I cringed. I reminded myself that I would have been into the same saccharine sweet, high-pitched pop at their age, and laughed at the expressions on the faces of the boys as the speaker right over their ear made sure they experienced that wonderful beat full force.

Hell, maybe that would be enough to chase them onto the floor.

But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

“Okay—you guys ready?”

All three girls nodded as they stared down at their feet.

“I have one rule. Just one. When you fall, you get back up. Can you do that for me?”

They nodded in unison, Ellie and Addison with beaming smiles while Rylee bit her lip.

Hopefully she stopped doing that before she fell. It was an emergency room visit waiting to happen.

“The first thing I want you to do…bring your heels together and aim your toes out like a penguin.” I shifted into the position on my skates and waited as they settled into the same placement.

Ellie and Addison giggled as they wobbled into place.

But Rylee locked up, her body rigid with every shift. I wanted to hug her and tell her it was going to be okay, but I knew that was about making me feel better and not what Rylee needed. Confidence came from achievement and Rylee showed a lot of vulnerability in the confidence department.

If I had my way, we would blow up those insecurities one at a time until she’s all shiny and shit. Until her go-to look is not one of nervousness and fear, but of excitement and discovery.

“Good job. Now, grab your skate buddy and stomp like me. Just follow the beat. You ladies know it, you picked it.” I lifted my skates, my moves exaggerated to click against the floor, straight up and down, in time with the music. The girls followed along, each stomp harder as they became braver, their smiles growing wider.

“That’s it, just like that.”

None of them seemed to notice that they’d started moving forward a couple inches at a time and I sure as shit wasn’t saying a word. Let them be surprised.

I rolled backwards, keeping an eye on our pace out of the corner of my eye with every intention of steering them around the bend, keeping them going as long as I possibly could.

“Now, bend your knees just a little bit more. Like this. It’ll help you balance. That’s it, just like that.”

They immediately followed my lead and in minutes, their torsos more upright now, the confidence began to show in their bright eyes and big smiles. They even started letting go of their skate buddies with one hand while their heads bopped to the tempo.

“Look at you already. You’re doing it, girls; you’re really doing it!”

I kept their attention on me, exaggerating my movements, raising my knees almost to the point I practically marched in place. I’m sure I looked absolutely ridiculous, but I didn’t care because every minute brought more laughter. Little did they know, with their eyes on mine, they’d begun turning the corner.

Stomp, stomp, stomp.

For ten minutes we kept marching. When Addison started pushing her skate buddy ahead of her a few feet before catching up to it, I knew the time had come to ditch them altogether.

This was where they would fall.

Why the hell did it make my heart ache just thinking about it?

“Okay, how about it, girls? You ready to try without your skate buddies?”

Ellie and Addison squealed in unison while Rylee just smiled up at me, her flushed cheeks chasing away the pale fear.

I crouched down in front of her while the other two distracted themselves rolling their skates back and forth. “Remember what I said. You’re going to fall. What’s important is you get back up, okay?”

“Okay,” she said quietly, lacing her fingers with mine.

“Good.” I kissed her knuckles and stood. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. Knees bent, march it out to the beat, arms like mine.”

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