Page 64 of Unloved

“Arms up for me, princess,” I say, slipping the fabric over her head and settling it over her hips. I lean in and zip her up, fabric grazing her chin as she grins at me sweetly. I grab my skates out of the back before locking my car.

The cold sting of the arena settles my nervous system as we enter. I’m about to have her sit while I grab her a pair of skates, when she squeals.

Ro tackles me, my back hitting the lightly padded flooring as her long limbs tangle with mine. She’s tall for a girl, and clumsy, enough that I can imagine her as a gangling teen.

“Shit—sorry.”

I smirk up at her through a sea of curls as she scrambles to pull them back over her shoulders, even as they keep escaping. “You know, I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you curse.”

She blushes further before shoving on my chest and peering through the window overlooking the rink.

“It’s Sadie. She’s here.”

My eyebrows raise as I slowly push up, letting Ro continue to hold on to me—something I’m not sure she even realizes she is doing—while I do.

She’s whispering, so I do, too, brushing back a few of her curls and politely ignoring her full-body shudder as I lean in.

“You know they can’t really see us up here, princess.”

“Oh,” she whispers before clambering away from me and standing, cheeks stained dark red.

I follow her gaze and look through the dark glass at the half-filled rink. Public skate is designated to the outside circle, but in the middle is my captain and the figure skater with a group of about six baby skaters.

Rhys watches Sadie with a singular focus, head following each movement. Like he would another player, as if he’s unlocking the secrets to their moves, their plays. The kind of focus only Captain Rhys is capable of. And I might’ve noticed it slightly at the party, but here, under the hard fluorescents, it’s impossible to miss.

Maybe I was wrong.

Because it seems like Sadie looks at him in the exact same way, careful and intense.

Like they both watch over each other, constantly.

“Is he a good guy?” Ro suddenly asks.

The question surprises me slightly. My eyebrows dip as I examine her profile while she watches them. She looks anxious and worried, hand splayed on her chest, fiddling with the collar of her shirt, and chewing on her lip.

“It’s just,” she continues before I can answer. “I’ve never seen Sadie reallylikea guy. And she has… a lot going on. I want to make sure he’s as good of a guy as he seems to be.”

“No— Rhys is the best guy I know. I’d trust him with my life. She’s in good hands.”

Something sours in my stomach, because I suddenly can’t get Rhys’s birthday party out of my head. It isn’t my fault, I know, because going off my party-based interactions with Sadie, why wouldn’t I be protective of my friend?

But Ro isgoodand kind. And if she is protective of Sadie, if she loves her this much, then perhaps there is more beneath the surface.

Like there is to you?

Or do youwantto believe that because Ro loving Sadie despite her flaws means shecouldlove you as her friend? In spite ofyourflaws?

As it always is, the voice in my head sounds like my dad, and I have to shake my head to clear the spiral before it starts.

Except now I can’t remember what she’s said because my brain is far away from our last interaction. So I scrub at the back of my neck and nod to her.

“You have to pick something else.”

Whether what I said was on topic or not, she grins and I relax.

“Me? What about you?”

“Nope. We clearly aren’t going skating today, so… you have to pick something else.” I turn and head for the door, loving how quickly she follows me with a smallhmmnoise as she thinks.

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