Page 69 of Snowballed

I shush her since people are looking.

“Maybe I should put a banner over my bed,” Rocky jokes.

“What? Site of Zoe’s Big O? That’s going to be hard to explain to your boyfriends.”

She giggles. “You’re correct about that.”

I’m not going to share all the details of my during-sex-orgasm but what I’m learning from Noah is that I need to participate more. Sex is not something that a guy does to me.

“He made dinner for me,” I brag.

“Yeah, I saw his groceries. Oops, that came out dirty. How was it?” Rocky asks.

“So delicious. It was a recipe he got from his grandmother because he wanted to make me something I’d never had before.”

“Woah. He’s a keeper.”

“Right? You know, I can actually picture a future where we live on the farm and Noah coaches hockey here.”

Rocky leans away from me. “That’s crazy, cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs talk. You guys just started dating.”

“True. But we already know each other really well.”

Rocky shakes her head. “And which coach are you going to fire? Because I’m sure all of them like their jobs.”

“Coach Dubé wants to be a head coach.” She’s been a finalist for two jobs already.

“Assistant coaches don’t make a lot of money, if part of your loony plan is to become some kind of pioneer earth mother.”

“I’ll work.” But I’ll have more time once I’ve graduated.

“This is not normal. I hope you haven’t told Noah any of this.”

“No. Of course not.” I’d only come up with this fantasy while showering this morning. But being with Noah is making my imagination go in all these new directions. I can’t keep from smiling though. Our future feels unlimited.

Since Noah made dinner for me, I want to do something special for him. Luckily the temperature has stayed below freezing every day this month. I sneak down to the pond to see if we can skate on it. It seems pretty solid. Our shallow pond freezes early, and I can still remember my excitement each season when my father would announce it was ready.

I make my plan for a weeknight when we’re both home early and pounce on Noah as soon as he gets home.

“Where are we going?” he asks as I drag him through the snow.

“Here. Our private skating rink.” I motion to the shallow clearing. I’ve already started shovelling and with Noah’s help, it’s clear in no time.

“Damn. I wish I had my skates,” Noah says.

“Ta da!” I pull them out of the duffle bag I brought. Noah’s skates are, of course, new and high end.

“How did you get my skates?” he asks.

“I got Derek to borrow them for me.”

He chuckles. “I better not cross the Meyers family, you’re too devious. Derek will be pranking me all season if I’m mean to you.”

“More likely he’ll be high-fiving you.” I lace up my skates, and I’m the first one on the ice. It’s bumpy and pitted but skating outside is the best. A few skeletal trees surround our pond, and the pink light of the sunset shows through them.

Noah is beside me now. He puts his hand on my waist, and we skate in unison around the pond.

“This feels like pairs skating,” I say. “Hey, can you figure skate?”

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