Page 73 of Defend Me

“Will you send over a few pizzas?”

“Of course.”

He flicked my bicep playfully before he left. I felt strangely alone without him beside me. It was like being in my apartment, but this time, I was surrounded by people. That feeling wasn’t new to me either. It just hadn’t surfaced since I left home.

I stretched out my lips, then fashioned an agreeable expression before I continued toward the rink. There was a man and a woman on a bench, each of them watching the ice with smiles on their faces. She had deep brown hair with tan, olive skin, an intense contrast to his dad, whose features were more like Tilian’s. She leaned on his shoulder and said something to him and he kissed the top of her head, then pointed at the ice.

After a deep breath, I closed the distance between us and let a soft smile form on my lips. They looked up at me, appearing both surprised and curious.

“Hi, I’m Brooks,” I said. When I held out my hand, Tilian’s dad took it firmly.

“I’m Ross.”

I flashed his wife a smile. “If you tell me your name is Rachel, my brain will explode.”

“Aren’t you too young to know about that?” she laughed.

“Only the uncultured haven’t seen Friends.”

“Miranda, not Rachel, but I appreciate the laugh, Brooks. Um, do you work here or…”

“I’m a friend of Tilian’s.”

“Oh. Okay.” Her eyes widened. “Are you his-”

“Brooks,” Tilian said from behind me. “Hey, I didn’t know you were here already.”

“My car is fast.”

He moved over to me a little awkwardly on his skates. “Right, uh, this is Brooks. He’s a friend from school.”

“A friend,” Miranda said suggestively. The way she looked between me and him was enough to betray the direction of her thoughts.

God, I loved that awkward expression on his face. His cheeks didn’t redden any more than they were from the cold, but they didn’t have to. Regardless of the way he tended to surprise me, there were some parts of him that I could read like a book.

“Friends.” I threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer. “Things are constantly in motion, though, and who could blame me for seeing the beauty in him? I’m sure you agree that he deserves the world.”

I swear, Miranda was about to melt into a pile of goo. “He does.”

“What are you doing?” Tilian whispered in my ear. It made me shiver.

“I’m not a great skater, but I’m gonna go rent a pair,” I announced to everyone. His brother and sister had come closer and they were shooting each other knowing looks. “Oh, and I ordered some pizzas for us. I hope that’s okay.”

“That’s so nice of you,” Miranda crooned.

I turned around and leveled his siblings with a curious look. “I’m Brooks. And you?”

“Alex,” the boy answered immediately.

“Violet,” his sister replied next.

“It’s nice to meet you. When I get back, maybe I can show you some better competition than your brother. Or I’ll fall on my ass. You probably wouldn’t mind either way.”

As I started toward the pickup counter, I shoved my hands in my pockets. What was I doing? No idea. I’d slipped into ‘impress them’ mode, which was easy for me. I shouldn’t have cared all that much, but apparently, I was losing my grip on myself lately.

Whatever. It was just some pizza and skating.

Until I smelled cedarwood.

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