Page 45 of With This Ring
When hometown music group Kirwan’s “Dance All Night” began to play, a collective cheer sounded from the audience. Before long, the rink filled up with skaters moving to the beat.
Hudson held his hand out for the trophy. “I’ll take that, thanks.”
“Whoa, Garrity,” Dakota said. “Who saidyouget the trophy?”
“Fine. You can have the trophy, and I’ll take the gift certificates.”
“But what if I want the trophyandthe gift certificates? I think we need to share custody of the trophy.”
“Share custody?” He couldn’t stop his smile.
Kayleigh nodded toward the oncoming crowd of skaters. “I think you two need to take this to the snack bar before you get run over.”
They all moved to the side of the rink.
Dakota made a big deal out of her sigh. “Fine, you can have the trophy.”
He held his hands up. “No, you keep it.”
She shrugged, setting the trophy down on a bench. Then she opened the envelope, sifted through the gift certificates, chose one, and handed the rest to him. “I just wanted a drink.”
“Fair enough.” Hudson took the envelope and started toward the concession stand.
“Wait up,” she called, grabbing the trophy and skating up beside him. “Thanks for racing me.”
Hudson cocked an eyebrow. “Uh... you’re welcome, I guess?”
“Oh, come on, Hud.” Dakota gave him a playful nudge. Was she actually flirting with him? Had she lost her mind? “You have to admit it was fun, and you were a worthy opponent.”
He shook his head.
“I remember you actually beating me a few times back in the day. And there was that one time when you tried to trip me so you could win.”
Hudson stopped and faced her. “Oh no. I didn’t try to trip you. You got too close to me and ran into my skate.”
“Youtrippedme, Hudson.” She shook the trophy at him. “You cheated.”
“I never had to cheat, Dakota. I won fair and square. You’re rewriting history.”
“No, I’m not.” She grinned. “I clearly remember—”
“Dakota?”
Parker interrupted her words. He stumbled toward her on the skates, half skating, half walking. “You were fantastic out there. You’re like a professional.”
Hudson resisted the urge to roll his eyes, then moved along to the snack bar. He used his gift certificate for a large plate of nachos and three drinks before skating to the table where Gavin and Anissa sat.
“Congratulations,” Gavin said. “You were impressive out there.”
“You’re the best, Mr. Hud,” Anissa announced.
“Thanks for cheering for me, Anissa. Wanna share some nachos?” Hudson placed two drinks in front of Gavin and Anissa and thenachos in the center of the table, then sat down across from them in the booth.
Anissa bit into a nacho and beamed at him. “These are yummy, Mr. Hud.”
“Thanks for the snack,” Gavin said.
“You’re welcome.” Hudson turned toward where Dakota was talking to Parker and Kayleigh. He tried to decode her body language as she waved her arms and seemed to be sharing a story. Her dark eyes sparkled, and Parker hung on her every word, clearly infatuated. Not that Hudson blamed him. He had once been that guy, completely and utterly in love with her.