Page 71 of Tainted Hearts

We break the kiss, both of us panting and look over to see an older lady. She has pointed ears and an amused grin.

“Sorry.” I blush, then burst into giggles as I grab a mortified Noah by the hand and pull him toward the end of the street.

“Is that it?” I ask, pointing to the place where some people are gathering.

“Yup.” We walk over to a booth. “You wait here, and I’ll go get us some skates.” He kisses the side of my head and leaves. I watch the families on the ice. People are laughing as they try not to fall.

“Here we go.” He holds up a set of skates. “I got you a size seven. Is that right?”

“It is.” I take them from him. “Thank you.” I already know he knew my foot size, seeing as he got these amazing snow boots for me, but it's sweet of him to check to be sure.

Taking a seat on the bench, I hold my hands out to him for the skates, but he just gives me a lopsided grin as he kneels down before me.

I watch, biting my lip as he takes my foot and pulls off my boot, replacing it with the skate, then does the same with the other.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to”

“I know, but I wanted to.” He stands up and kisses the side of my head before taking a seat on the bench next to me to put on his own skates.

When he’s done, he stands back up and holds his hands out to me. “Ready?”

It’s only now that I remember that I have no idea how to skate.

“Ahh,” I cast a worried glance over to the rink.

“Don’t worry. I got you.”

Taking his hand, I let him pull me to my feet. It feels weird standing on skates, my legs wobbling as I hold onto Noah. “Have you done much skating before?”

“Nope.” He grins down at me. “Haven’t since I was five.”

My eyes widen. “What? Then how are you going to keep me from falling on my ass?”

“I’m not.” He chuckles. “I’ll just be joining you.”

I pause for a moment before belting out a laugh. “Alright then, we will fail together.”

“As long as you're by my side, I’m winning,” he says with a wink.

Oh, I like this cheeky side of Noah. “Smooth, hot stuff.”

“Sometimes I try.”

Together we walk to the entrance of the rink. We aren’t even on the ice yet, but it already feels like we’re baby deer walking for the first time.

“Ready?”

“Good thing we don’t feel pain for long.” I laugh, taking the first step.

The moment we’re both on the ice, we lose our balance and fall on our asses with a grunt.

Flat on our backs, we turn to look at each other and burst out laughing. Not sure how eventful this skating is going to be, but I already know it’s going to be memories worth making.

***

“Iknow we heal quick, but it doesn’t really help when we can’t stop falling long enough for it to kick in,” I grumble as Noah helps me up from the ice for the millionth time. He got the hang of it after a few minutes—I, however, did not.

“Come on, Hellcat.” He chuckles. “Let’s get you and your sore ass back to the cabin. We can build a snowman, have some hot chocolate by the fire, and relax for the rest of the night.”

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