Page 98 of Stuck with Me

ME

Not on your life.

* * *

Referringto the pond is generous. It’s more like a small lake. While it has been cold as fuck here, I’m still not confident this body of water is frozen enough to skate on.

But I plan on letting everyone else try it out first. Although maybe that’s not the best idea because I’ll be the only one who then has to jump in the freezing water and try to save them. And you can bet your ass I won’t be doing that. Maybe I’d save Rosie.

Maybe.

Jones and Maverick clean off the snow from a log so we can sit to put our skates on. I stay standing while most of them hurry to lace up their skates. Dean tries testing the thickness of the ice. He says based on the color of the ice it should be go time. But just to be safe, he drills a few holes and measure the thickness and confirms his assumption.

Maverick and Cammie are the first ones out on the ice. They wobble a bit at first but soon enough, are holding hands and skating in circles. Rosie goes next. Her legs don’t tremble at all. She looks like a natural out there while she glides across the ice. I try not to lust over the way her body dances so beautifully out there.

An elbow to my arm breaks me from my trance.

Jones gives me a smirk. “I don’t know who you’re trying to fool, but you’ve got it bad for her.”

I do a double take of Rosie before forcing myself to focus on Jones. I shrug to try to play it off. “Nah, but can you blame me for looking?”

“Nope.”

“Hey, how come you two never hooked up?” After the question is hanging out there between us, I cringe as I realize, Rosie and I never discussed Jones. Only Dean. Maybe the two of them have hooked up.

Jones sits on the log. “Are you kidding? Cammie would’ve killed me if I even thought about Rosie like that. Besides, Rosie has been hanging around since we were kids. She’s always been more like a sister. And we’re too much alike anyway.” He stuffs his feet into the skates while I watch Rosie for a few more seconds. “C’mon, put your skates on.”

I sit next to him and take my snow boots off. My mind dwells on Jones’s words about him and Rosie being alike as if it were a bad thing. But at least doesn’t that mean they have stuff in common? Because Rosie and I have absolutely nothing in common. We constantly argue. Though it does make for some topnotch foreplay.

I’m the last one on the ice. My ankles wobble and I’ve cursed about a hundred times over how idiotic this whole idea was. I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to do this. Ice skating is not for people who have hardly seen snow. Hell, I’ve concluded it’s not for Texans.

“You okay, cowboy?” Rosie teases as she sails past me. She spins and skates circles around me.

“Cowboys don’t belong on ice skates,” I grumble, keeping laser focused on my feet as they shuffle very slowly.

Rosie laughs like the cruel woman she is.

I’m about to return to the snow and call it quits but it’s as if Rosie reads my mind.

“Don’t even think about quitting,” she hollers, skating up alongside me again.

“My feet are barely moving. This is not fun for me,” I grunt. “And you should know me well enough by now to know I don’t do anything if it’s not fun.”

I shoot her a sly smile over my shoulder and then my legs flounder and my body lurches forward. I catch myself before I fall onto my ass.

She tries to hide her giggle. “Let me help.”

“Why?”

“Quit being a stubborn ass and take my hands.” She holds out her gloved palms like a peace offering.

I’m a pathetic loser and so far gone for this girl that I stupidly accept. Though I won’t admit it to her. Or apparently anyone else.

Setting my hands in hers, she grips them and skates backward while she pulls me with her slowly. My legs teeter before straightening and my skates skid over the ice a few times before they begin to glide. She smiles and picks up the speed. The icy wind whips at my face.

“See, not so bad.”

The only thing not bad about this is holding Rosie’s hands. “I’m glad your wrist seems to be better.”

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