Page 25 of Crazy Pucking Love
She laughed again. “I think you have issues.”
“Believe it or not, that’s not the first time someone’s suggested that.”
Finally we settled on watching this obscure sci-fi movie neither of us had ever heard of—completely neutral territory, so I decided it was a go.
I couldn’t stop glancing at Megan, and part of me wished this was a Netflix-and-chill situation. That cute little nose, those lips… It was almost worse that I knew what it was like to kiss them.
Okay, maybe it was more than part of me.
Time to remind myself of the reasons I needed to keep from crossing lines. She was Beck’s sister. I couldn’t promise her more than casual hookups, and we were way past that option. She’d already had to deal with too much disappointment in her life, and I didn’t want to add to it. Jazmine and I had been close at one time. We’d been such good friends, then we’d added more to the mix and it complicated everything. And look at where we were now, contempt bordering on hate.
The thought of that happening with Megan… Of no more jokes and giving each other a hard time, or chill nights that gave me the escape I needed from life for a while? My chest ached at the thought. There was no one else I’d rather spend all my sleepless hours with. I couldn’t mess it up. No matter what.
So I forced myself to pay attention to the movie. Every few minutes, Megan would refill her glass with Coke and offer me some more, but I waved it away. I was trying to cut down on my soda consumption since I already relied on coffee to keep me going, and too much of that crap would leave me winded on the ice.
By her third—or was it fourth?—cup, Megan was clearly having a hard time sitting still. She kept crossing and uncrossing her legs, making it almost impossible not to think about how sexy they were. Then she’d wiggle her foot, while her fingers went to tapping on her thighs.
Finally, I curled my hand over hers. “I think you’ve had too much caffeine.”
“Maybe.” She bit her thumbnail. “Have you ever thought about what it’d be like in space? Like, would you get halfway to the moon and be like, jeez, this astronaut thing isn’t as fun as I thought it’d be? Then you’d still have to go land on the moon, and be like I already saw a picture of this desolate rock and it’s not any cooler in person, and make your way home.”
She arched her eyebrows, leading me to believe she wanted an answer.
“I can’t say that I have ever thought about that.”
“Hmm.” She twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “You know what I used to be really good at? Figure skating. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t stopped. I took lessons when I got bored with the piano.”
I lowered the volume on the unwatched movie—the characters in it seemed perfectly happy to be in space if you asked me, but maybe I hadn’t been paying enough attention. “You could probably get back into skating. There are plenty of rinks around here.”
“Okay, let’s go to one.”
“Right now?”
She bobbed her head. “Why not? Or are you sick of skating? Is that like asking a doctor medical advice on his one day off?”
I grabbed the all but empty two liter and the package of Oreos. “You’re cut off. No more sugar or caffeine for you.”
“But…” She slouched back against the cushions.
“If you’re not digging this movie, we can choose something else.”
“No, the movie’s fine, it’s me. I’ve put so much into this idea of a fresh start, and earlier today, I wondered if I’ve actually made any real progress, while also wondering if I’ve been too ambitious with my class load. A few are harder than I thought they’d be, and I suddenly worried that I’ll keep on the track I’ve chosen just to prove I can do it, and then four years from now I’ll look back and think I should’ve picked a different career path.”
“And you’re thinking that maybe you should’ve made a career of figure skating?”
She laughed and shook her head. “No. I just miss the ice sometimes. That gliding feeling, you know? I’m sure you know.”
“I’ll get my skates,” I said. “Then we’re going to a rink.”
“Really?” Excitement pitched her tone, the little squeak at the end totally endearing.
“Really.” While I’d been looking forward to doing nothing, expending some energy would be nice. Especially since it’d hopefully keep my mind off expending energy inotherways, most of which involved me laying Megan back on the couch and kissing her until neither of us could breathe, much less worry about the future.
Chapter Thirteen
Megan
This. This was what I needed. Gliding across the ice, pivoting and spinning. Even the icy sting of the cold air on my cheeks and filling my lungs helped wash away the anxiety that gouged at my internal organs all day.
