Page 57 of Something Like Summer
The mall’s layout wasfairly typical— rows of stores on each floor separated by an emptygap that allowed a shopper to see the floors above or below. Benpeered over one of the railings to the lowest floor, which was anice rink. People of all ages glided by below, as comfortable intheir ice skates as in shoes. This wasn’t going to work.
There was no sign of Jace,but then they were supposed to meet by the skate rentals. Gatheringhis courage, Ben pushed his way through the swarms of people. Twodays after Christmas meant the mall was a nightmare ofafter-holiday sales and gift returns. Once the elevator that Bensqueezed into dinged open, he spotted Jace immediately.
Ben’s date was handsome,which did little to dispel his anxiety. Jace was dressed sharply ina black, knee-length, winter jacket, the sort a classy New Yorkermight wear. This was tempered with a casual pair of jeans and awell-worn pair of tennis shoes. His hair was styled to perfection,which made Ben wish for a mirror to check his own, but Jace hadalready seen him.
They greeted each otherclumsily, unsure whether to shake hands or hug. Waiting in line fortheir skates was awkward, Jace trying to make small talk and Bentrying to find a part of himself that wasn’t feeling bashful. NowBen was eager to get out on the rink, just so they would have anactivity to distract themselves with.
“Are you any good atthis?” Ben asked as they were pulling on their iceskates.
“Oh, I do all right.” Jacefinished tying his laces and looked to Ben’s. “Wait. You missed arung and the tongue is stuffed in. Here.”
Like a father helping hischild, he stooped, untied Ben’s skates, and then laced them upcorrectly. When finished, he smiled and offered his hand. Benaccepted it and hobbled with him to the edge of therink.
“I really can’t ice skateat all,” he said. “I did once when I was eight, and all I rememberis falling on my ass until I finally gave up.”
“You didn’t have methen.”
Jace’s eyes twinkled as heled Ben out onto the ice. Ben started slow, keeping awhite-knuckled grip on Jace’s elbow. Less than a minute later hislegs were slipping out from under him. Jace caught the back of hisjacket before he could fall and allowed Ben to steady himself onthe wall of the rink.
“You have to move yourlegs like this,” Jace explained, showing him the odd diagonalmovement needed to propel forward.
Over the next twentyminutes, Jace patiently coached him. Ben began to get the hang ofit. The ice skates weren’t so different from his old Rollerblades,really. Another twenty minutes later and he was really enjoyinghimself. He still wasn’t confident enough to let go of Jace, butthen he didn’t want to. Ben released his death grip on Jace’s elbowand took his hand instead. He noticed that while Jace was slender,there was a lot more muscle than it appeared. His hands weren’tboney and cold. They were strong and warm.
“This is nice,” Ben saidas they made their way around, hand in hand. “Anywhere else andpeople would be staring at us, but here we have a reason to hold onto each other.”
Jace smiled at him. “I haveto admit that was part of the plan,” he confessed, “but I don’tneed a pretense to hold another guy’s hand in public. Let peoplestare if they want.”
“Where were you when I wasin high school?” Ben sighed.
“I was wondering thatmyself. You look much younger now that you aren’t suffering througha late flight.”
“Oh.” Ben wasn’t sure ifthis was good or bad. “I just turned twenty. You?”
Jace exhaled dramatically.“A little bit older than that.”
“Thirty?” Ben asked inshock.
“Hey!” Jace let go of Bento express how offended he was. Ben’s arms pinwheeled for a secondbefore Jace came back to stabilize him with an arm around hiswaist. “I’m only twenty-six!”
“Well, you were the oneacting dramatic about it,” Ben teased. “What do you like betteranyway? Younger or older?”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s thepersonality that counts. Mind if I do a couple of rounds on myown?”
“Sure.”
Jace parked Ben somewheresafe before gliding away. He moved gracefully, navigatingskillfully past slower skaters and travelling in sweeping arcs. Benwatched him, admiring his skill while taking the chance to checkout Jace’s body. His frame was tall and his shoulders broad, but itwas hard to tell more with the thick winter clothing. More thanBen’s curiosity was becoming aroused.
Ben struck out bravely onhis own, determined to do at least one round under his own power.Jace nodding approvingly as he swept by, showing off by skatingbackwards for a few strokes. When they met back at the entrance tothe rink, their stomachs grumbled in unison. Carpooling in Jace’spractical silver coupe, they drove to a seafood place not faraway.
“My legs are reallystarting to hurt,” Ben winced as they sat down at thetable.
“Wait until tomorrow,”Jace informed him. “You’ll be walking bowlegged allday.”
“Because of the skatingyou mean?”
“Of course,” Jace repliedinnocently.
Their order was taken by adisgruntled waitress who rightly felt it was much too soon to bereturning to work after Christmas. They sipped their drinks whenshe brought them, making eyes at each other and often smilingwithout reason.
