Page 18 of For Pleasure Or Worse

"I could have." He stood slowly, wobbly knees quaking beneath his stocky build. I reached a hand out for balance and Mateo grabbed it. "But that wasn't the game. It was you pick the date and we do it, not you pick the date and I approve it."

That was a very hot way to put it. Mateo was more aware of himself than any other guy I'd dated. I liked that he was honest, and blunt, and somewhat abrupt; it was invigorating to be kept on my feet. He made me laugh without trying to. I glanced toward the rink, busy circles of people leaving a breeze as they flew past. "We have to try. You didn't get me all booted up for nothing."

"Oh, we're going." The toes of our skates clacked together. "I'll be the first man to take you roller skating even if it kills me." At that, he tugged me to the cusp of the rink, timid like jumping into a swimming pool for the first time. Our fingers interlaced and we leapt off the rug together.

And immediately ate shit.

Like, a theatrical amount of shit eating. Arms pinwheeling, legs swept out from under both of us, four skates pointed at the ceiling. But we never let go of each other's hand.

A low groan rumbled out of his chest. "Holy fuck, I think I did just die." Slowly he sat up, bringing my limp, windless body with him as I was too busy shaking with laughter. There was nothing that could have prepared me for that. "Are you okay?"

Skaters swerved around us like we weren’t even there. "I think I broke my ass."

"That would be a tragedy," he said, miraculously getting back to his feet and extending a hand to hoist me up. This time we were more careful, smaller baby steps instead of the very optimistic stride the first time. I bent my knees and glided along beside him until it was like I was a sidecar holding on by a shaky hand.

"There we go, just needed some adjustment time. It's all about assessing and adapting."

"Do you approach everything like a video game map?"

"Everything in life can be navigated," he said. "I've been doing it for fifteen years. It's like second nature now. Another reason I didn't veto the date card you pulled. I figured if there was a will there was a way. I'd figure it out."

"Look at you now,Roll Bounce."

"If they put on a little disco I'll start doing spins." Mateo moved as if he was going to twirl us in a circle and I squealed in protest. His skates flared out and he did a balancing act of running in place to stay upright. "Maybe not quite yet."

"Save it for next time."

"Next time?" Mateo raised a brow and smirked. "Am I impressing you enough with this to get a next time already?"

I'd exposed myself. I wanted a next time, of course. I wanted a third time and a fourth to get to know him, and that scared me. Knowing him more meant letting him know me more.

"I'm optimistic," I said. "The night is young."

"So I will take you roller skating," he started, "and then wine and dine you at that glorious concession stand with a stale pretzel and a Coke the size of your head."

"Oooh, this is really stacking up." A laugh floated out of me.

"Then I'm going to take you over to those sticky, disgusting arcade games and win you enough coins for a bamboo finger trap of your choice, and we're going to forget that I'm in my mid-thirties and pretend we’re meeting for the first time as nineteen-year-olds, and this is the first day of the rest of our lives."

My cheeks were starting to hurt. "God, I was such a bitch when I was nineteen. You probably wouldn't have liked me."

"I would have followed you around like a fucking puppy on a leash."

"Shut up." I nudged him playfully.

"On the other hand, you wouldn't have given me a second look at nineteen," he said. "Scrawny kid with buzzed hair, fresh face, little Bronx accent. I’m glad we're meeting now."

"I was going through a rebellious phase," I mentioned. "I wanted out of my parents’ house more than anything. They couldn't stand that I was going to a state school instead of a private college. So when I left in August I only ever came back for long holiday breaks. Even stayed in Colorado for most of the summer with my best friend and lived with her."

"We have that in common." Mateo had picked up our pace and went from stomping along to actually coasting.

"Family is a bit of a sore subject for me," I said candidly. "They’re the only thing in the world that has the power to hurt me worse than anything but I can't stop loving."

"Because it feels like you're the one who's wrong for it." He nodded. "Like, how dare you not love something that you came from."

I breathed out a squeak of relief. “Yeah. Exactly."

His thumb grazed back and forth lightly across mine, and that simple touch woke up my nerves all the way to my shoulder.

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