Page 37 of Tusk & Puck
“Well, that was graceful,” she says.
“And the award for best couples ice dancing goes to… Jaromir and Melody,” I add, starting to sit up.
“No, wait for a second. It’s kind of nice to just lie here.”
I lie back down and reach a hand over to her. She’s right, it is kind of nice. You don’t get to do it when you’re sharing the rink with other skaters.
“Cold, too, though,” she admits after a minute.
I roll over onto my side. “Well, I can help with that part.”
She smiles, and then I’m on top of her, and the two of us are kissing. We both roll over, and I feel the warmth of the ice below me and the heat of her body from above. It’s the best kiss I’ve ever had, and as far as I’m concerned, it could go on for years.
She beams down at me, her long hair falling all around her beautiful face. “I think I found my favorite part of ice skating.”
“I’ll get you to love hockey yet,” I answer and kiss her again.
We kiss for a while and skate for a while, then end up just sitting on the sidelines once we’ve gotten ourselves all tired. She leans against me, and I talk about whatever I can think about, while she throws in questions or laughs every once and a while.
It just feels so good to let your guard down with someone like that. To be silly and not even have to think about what you’re saying. Every once and a while, I glance over at her. She's still there, and she’s still beautiful, and it’s all just perfect.
I expected a lot of things out of being a volunteer coach. I didn’t expect this.
I can still feel the warmth of that moment when I’m talking with Verog later.
“So those are the main things I want to focus on,” he’s saying. “Passing and getting back into position as soon as you’re pulled out. Does that sound good, or is there more stuff you want to focus on?”
“What? Oh, yeah, that sounds fine. I have some random drills I want to try, but that sounds good.”
“You sound a little distracted. Is there something on your mind? Or should I say, someone?”
And suddenly, I have to tell him. I have to tell someone, or it’s going to eat me alive. I don’t know how to love someone this much, to be this excited by the time I spend with them, and not tell someone about it.
Okay, and maybe I want to show off a little bit. Besides, it’s just Verog. He’s my boy, and he won’t tell anyone about it. Melody meant I needed to keep it a secret fromthe school,not from everyone.Right?
“Well, since you mention it, I may have made a little progress…”
20
MELODY
Tina and Ryan walk in on me whisking pancake batter and singing to myself. They stand there in their pajamas, watching me suspiciously.
“Wake up, Sleepy Jean!” I belt, mixing up the scrambled eggs in the other pan. “Oh, what can it mean, to a-”
“You’re in a good mood,” Ryan says, walking to his chair. He can tell that something’s up, and that for some reason, he’s not being told what it is.
Tina smiles that little smile she always smiles when she has a secret she gets to keep. She knows exactly why I’m in a good mood, and she’s obviously fighting not to tell Ryan about it.
“Just that volunteer work I’ve been doing,” I say. I had invented a volunteer job in order to explain my dates with Jaromir. “It’s been really satisfying!”
“Oh, right.” Ryan looks down at the table. “Where did you say you were working again?”
Admittedly, I hadn’t invented much of a volunteer job.“It’s a museum. The museum of, uh… natural… art.”
“The Museum of Natural Art?”
“Yeah. It’s for things that look like art but are just natural. Like, a rock that looks like a face, or stuff like that.”