Page 87 of Even Beneath the Stars

He grins, wiping a palm across his face. His cheeks are flushed and his lips even pinker. He revs his engine. "Keep your weight balanced and lean into the turn!" he calls just before flipping his visor back down.

I flip mine down too, and watch him, grinning, as he demonstrates four tight donuts in a row. Snow kicks up in glittering waves, catching the last of the sunlight like sparks off a fuse. For a second, he disappears into the swirl of it, just motion and brightness and this wild, effortless energy. The sound of his engine echoes off the trees, sharp and alive as he pulls off to the other side of the clearing to watch as I attempt my very first donut.

Which I nail, thank you very much.

I scream at the top of my lungs. "Yeeeeeehaw! Ride 'em, cowboy!"

The sound of Xavier's full-body laugh reaches me through the growl of the engine as I spin past him.

We each do a few more, then Xavier gestures for me to follow him down a narrower trail farther ahead. And a couple of minutes later, we pull out into an even bigger clearing. At its center is a massive frozen pond, hockey nets standing sentinel at each end. The setting sunset reflects on the ice in shades of rose gold and amber, and long shadows from the surrounding pines stretch across the pristine surface.

Xavier cuts his engine and signals for me to do the same. The sudden silence feels magical, broken only by the soft whisper of wind through the pines.

We pull off our helmets, and I catch my breath at the sight of him. His hair is delightfully mussed from the helmet, and his cheeks and the tip of his nose are flushed from the cold and excitement.

"That was AWESOME!" I beam at him, still buzzing with adrenaline.

"You liked it?" His grin is different from his usual smirk—open… genuine. Pleased. The dying sunlight catches in his eyes, turning them from hazel to pure honey.

"Are you kidding? That was the best time ever! The donuts? The trails? Everything!" I practically skip over to where he's standing.

He runs a hand through his disheveled hair, his grin widening. "Yeah?"

"Totally."

He nods, still grinning.

The snow crunches under my boots as I join him by his four-wheeler. He reaches back, releasing the bungee cord holding his backpack in place.

"Do you skate?" he asks, unzipping the pack.

"Like, a wee bit."

"Good enough." Then he pauses, eyebrows raised. "Wait—do youlikeskating?"

I laugh, "Oh, yeah. I just suck… Bad."

"Cool." He nods. "We can work with that." He pulls a dark beanie over his head, covering his ears, wisps of thick hair curling out the sides and back. He resumes digging in the backpack.

"Wait—are thosenew?" I gasp as he pulls out two pairs of skates—one well-worn black pair and one pristine, bright pink pair with tags still attached.

"I didn't have any girls' skates," he says with a casual shrug, but I catch the slight flush creeping up his neck that has nothing to do with the cold.

"Xavier. You didn't need to—"

"Besides," he cuts me off with a grin, "they're pink and loud—they were practically made just for you."

A laugh bubbles up before I can stop it. "Okay, that's fair." And then I add, "Wait, when did you even have time to get these?"

"I had a spare this morning."

I swear my heart rate stutters.He spent his spare period this morning going out and getting skates for me just for our date.

We plop down on what looks like a fallen tree that's been smoothed into a bench and lace our skates.

The next hour passes in a blur of failed attempts at staying vertical. For every minute I manage to stay upright, I spend three sprawled on the ice. Xavier glides around me with infuriating grace, always there with an outstretched hand when I inevitably topple over.

"You're getting better," he says after my twentieth fall.

---