Page 40 of With This Ring

“Dakota.”

She turned to see Parker weaving through the crowd on the way to her booth. She stood as he approached. “I’m so glad you made it.”

“My younger brother loaned me his skates since we’re the same size. It’s been years since I’ve actually worn a pair, so we’ll see how this goes.” He set the pair of worn dark-blue skates on the boothbench before gathering her into his arms for an awkward hug. She patted his back and waited for some kind of spark. Instead, she felt nothing but gratitude for him.

“Are you ready to skate?” she asked him.

“Sure.”

As he pulled on the skates, Dakota hoped she would develop stronger feelings for Parker—and soon.

***

Hudson found his way to the skate rental booth and took his place in line. He glanced around the rink and spotted Dakota skating hand in hand with that Parker guy. It was bad enough that he’d run into them on the street last night, but now they were together at the rink. Looked like they were really happy together. And that was just fine with him. Still, his lips tipped down.

But he wasn’t going to allow their presence to stop him from skating. He would enjoy his night at the rink and just ignore Dakota as she skated with another man.

“What size skates do you need?”

Hudson pivoted toward Brice in the booth. “Hey, Brice. An eleven.”

“No problem.” Brice retrieved the skates while Hudson pulled out his credit card. Then Brice gave Hudson the skates and ran the card.

“I love what you’ve done to bring the rink back to life.”

Brice handed him a receipt. “Thanks. It’s been a little hectic, but Kayleigh and I are having the time of our lives. Thankfully, our daughter is crazy about skating too.”

“Coming back here has reminded me how much I used to love to skate.” Hudson slipped the receipt and card into his wallet.

“Glad to hear it. Enjoy your night.”

Hudson carried the skates to a nearby booth and pulled them on before heading out to the rink. He joined the knots of people, quickly catching up to Gavin and Anissa. Gavin had mentioned in a text earlier that Jeannie was out with her book club tonight, so the guys were on their own. Hud laughed along with Gavin as Anissa tried her best to show them her tricks.

When Hudson found himself behind Dakota and her guy, he sped up to pass them. Dakota held the man’s arm, and Hud overheard her trying to give him instructions. He felt his entire body tense. It was clear the man hadn’t skated much and had no idea what he was doing. That, or he was pretending to need help to have a reason to hold on to her. Either way, what a loser.

When the song ended, the house lights came on.

“Hey there, everyone,” the DJ announced. “Let’s give a warm Flowering Grove Rollerama welcome to the rink owners, Kayleigh, Brice, and Gigi Hayes.”

The crowd clapped and cheered when Brice, Kayleigh, and Gigi skated out to the center of the rink. Brice held up a microphone, and Kayleigh stood beside him waving a checkered flag.

“What’s up, y’all?” Brice asked, and the crowd clapped some more. “We’re so glad you’ve joined us tonight. Many of us spent the better part of our youth here at the rink.” He motioned toward Kayleigh, who beamed at him. “And we loved the roller-skating competitions we had here, especially the relay races. Since this is family night at the Rollerama, we thought we’d have some fun.” He scanned the room. “Now, who wants to race?”

More claps and cheers.

Hud folded his arms across his chest. He had won plenty of those races, and so had Dakota. He couldn’t stop himself fromturning to where Dakota stood with that guy—the joker who was holding on to her arm and grinning at her.

Hudson gritted his teeth. What did he care if she chose to date a dolt who couldn’t even stand up on his skates?

Kayleigh took the microphone. “The first relay is for girls ten and under.” She pointed to the floor in front of her. “If you’re ready to show us what you’ve got, line up here.”

More claps sounded as nearly a dozen girls, including Gavin’s daughter, Anissa, came to stand in front of Kayleigh and Brice.

“Let’s hear it for our contenders,” Kayleigh called, and the crowd whistled and cheered. “Okay, ladies. Now I want you to race as fast as you can around the rink and back here.” She pointed to a line on the floor. “This is the finish line.” She held up the flag. “Whoever gets here first is the winner and will race the winner from our next group.” She whispered to her daughter before handing her the microphone.

Gigi held the microphone up to her lips. “Ready... set... go!”

And Kayleigh shook the checkered flag.