Page 54 of Love so Cold

“Promise,” Samantha mouths, zipping her lips and throwing away the key. Erica and Jessica nod in agreement, their expressions as intent as kids waiting for storytime.

“Alright...” I start, diving into the tale of a night that felt more like a rollercoaster than a meal. “Victor had this whole evening planned out, you know? One of those places with more forks than courses.” I shake my head. “But halfway there, he just... shifts gears. Asks me where I’d actually like to go. So I picked Lou’s Diner.”

“Lou’s Diner?” Samantha’s eyebrows shoot up and she stifles a laugh. “Girl, I would have paid a lot of money to see Stone Cold Victor Stone sitting in a booth at Lou’s Diner.”

I chuckle, the memory of sitting across from himunexpectedly warm. I’m about to tell Samantha that he’s actually got much humbler roots than he lets on, but then I think better of it.

“Okay, and then?” Erica prompts, her curiosity piqued.

“So, he goes into this spiel about his plans for the neighborhood.” I gesture vaguely, trying to mimic Victor’s confident hand movements. “Answers to address pretty much all of my worries. Made it sound like he cared. Whether he does or not is still something I’m trying to figure out.”

“Sounds decent,” Jessica comments, nodding thoughtfully.

“And after that, we just walked around town. Ended up back at the arena and...” My voice trails off as I remember gliding across the ice with him.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Samantha interjects, leaning forward, her detective instincts kicking in. “You went ice skating? With Victor?”

“Uh-huh,” I confirm, unable to suppress a smile at how surreal it sounds.

“Sounds pretty date-ish to me,” she teases, but then her gaze narrows slightly. “You’re holding back, Avery. What aren’t you telling us?”

I sigh, the weight of the secret suddenly too much. “He kissed me,” I admit, the words tasting strange, almost foreign.

“Shut up!” Erica gasps, hands flying to her mouth.

“Kissed you?” Jessica repeats, her eyes wide.

“Total mistake.” The words tumble out in a rush, and I can feel my face flushing all over again. “On both our ends.”

“Doesn’t sound like a mistake,” Samantha says softly, her teasing tone gone. She studies me, concern etched in the lines of her face.

“Probably just got caught up in the moment,” I say, shrugging it off, though my racing heart disagrees.

“Or maybe not?” Erica offers gently, a knowing look in her eyes.

“Either way,” I say, standing firmer in my resolve, “it won’t happen again.”

“Here they come!” Samantha points to the rink at our kids and I’m grateful for the distraction. We all lean forward, hands shielding our eyes from the glare of the overhead lights, searching for familiar little figures.

“Is that...? Wait, who’s that with them?” Jessica asks, squinting down at the ice.

“Definitely not Victor,” Erica chimes in, her brow furrowed in confusion.

I scan the rink, feeling a twinge of disappointment. Instead of Victor’s tall frame and dark hair, there’s another man, someone I don’t recognize, calling out instructions and guiding the kids into drills. “Weird,” I mutter under my breath, thinking about how passionate Victor had been about skating, about how he said he was finding the love for it again.

“Anyidea why he’s not here?” Erica’s question hangs heavy in the air, and I feel their expectant gazes on me.

“No clue,” I admit, shaking my head. “But I’ll find out.”

The practice flies by in a blur of the scrape of skates against ice. As it wraps up, we shuffle down to the lobby, puffs of warm breath creating foggy halos around us.

“Victor’s usually here by now, right?” Jessica glances around the crowded space, parents and siblings milling about.

“Yeah, he’s actually never missed a single practice before.” The words tumble out before I can stop them, and I realize just how closely I’ve been paying attention to Victor’s comings and goings.

“Maybe it’s a business thing?” Samantha suggests, but the uncertainty in her voice matches my own concerns.

“Could be,” I concede, though my gut tells me it’s something more personal. Did our kiss last week change things? No, he wouldn’t mix that with coaching the kids. Would he?

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