Page 27 of Looks Real Good Now
“And that’s okay with you?” she asked gently.
I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“No reason. I just wondered if she was supporting you through this transitional time of your life.”
“Yeah, she is.” I’d felt more supported by her in the last few days than I had in the last eight months by my dad. “She doesn’t bring every conversation back to hockey, which is great for reminding me that I am a person beyond putting the puck in the net. Do I have a pair of skates lying around?”
“Yeah, there’s a couple of old pairs upstairs that you left here in your last off-season. Does Alana have skates?”
“Don’t think so, but she’ll be better in rentals than me. This body is used to a certain kind of skate, and I don’t want it to be a public skate rink that takes me out. The irony would be too much, and Lenny would never let me live it down. I’ll just go grab a pair and head back next door before Len wakes up,” I said as I drained my coffee and rinsed the mug before putting it in the dishwasher.
“You seem happy, Liam,” Mom said as she picked her pen back up. I thought about it for a moment.
“Yeah, I am.”
20
Alana
“Is there a reason your cold arm is wrapped around me?” My question was mostly muffled into the pillow my head was still buried against. It was cotton and smelled an awful lot like almond, which meant it wasn’t mine. Great, Liam was a witness to my burrowing for comfort.
“It’s cold outside,” Liam replied, sounding much more awake than me.
“And why were you outside?”
“Had to go next door.”
“Are you being cryptic on purpose?” I asked, reluctantly lifting my head from the pillow.
“No, I just figured this would wake you up quicker.” There was a smirk on his face that I wanted to slap off. Or kiss off. The second thought was worrying. But his lower lip looked pouty and like the most kissable thing in the world right now, so I couldn’t be blamed for going in that direction.
“What, because it’s very annoying?” I asked, shaking off thoughts of kissing and moving his pillow back to his side of the bed.
“Exactly. To answer your question, I went next door to get some skates because if you remember correctly, you promised me a skating date.”
“Hmmm, I’ve thought about this, and I agreed to four dates. So, when you signed me up for a Christmas Eve party, I decided that it was going to replace your skating date.” I booped his nose with my finger and rested my head on his chest. That was better.
“Alana,” he whined. My full name in his mouth was such a rarity that it always made butterflies take flight in my stomach, but this time they settled somewhere lower. It was too early to be this turned on, and it was too ridiculous to be turned on by someone calling me by my name.
“Liam,” I retorted.
“You promised you’d come skating with me.” He still sounded whiny. I imagined he still looked pouty as well. I didn’t look at him because I didn’t want to be plagued with fantasies of kissing his pouty lips while he helped me release the tension slowly building in my core.
“Did I, though?”
“Okay, fine, no you didn’t promise. But you did say you’d come.”
“No one is stopping you from going to the rink on your own, buddy,” I teased. I was going. I was always going. I hadn’t realised that I missed going skating at Christmas time until it was floated as an idea by someone who wouldn’t care if I was a better skater than him. But teasing was something I knew how to do with him, and I was having way too much fun making him pout and whine. If I kept it up, I could probablyget him to beg.
And the fantasies were back.
“The whole point of having a fake girlfriend is to deflect from awkward questions, and you think me going to an ice rink on my own when people have seen us walking around holding hands isn’t going to invite awkward questions? About you and other things,friend.”
“Then you should have picked someone who liked being outside.” I laughed. Liam shifted his arm so that his hand was now resting on my waist. His fingers brushed the strip of bare skin between my shorts and T-shirt, and I burrowed further into him to avoid moaning out loud at the touch. I was now half lying on him. I’d feel embarrassed if he wasn’t effectively keeping me pinned against him.
“Come on, Len. Don’t tell me you haven’t missed skating,” he said.
“Are you sure you’re not projecting?”
