“Rowan has to come! He has to skate with us!” Kaira declared.
“Rowan doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to,” Jordy told her gently. “He’s welcome to, but he might have other plans.”
“But—” Kaira started to protest, but Rowan cut her off with a blurted, “I don’t skate.”
Kaira turned on him. “What?Never?”
“No?”
“Rowan, you have to skate.”
At least, Rowan reflected ruefully, if he wasn’t going to be Kaira’s caregiver anymore, it didn’t matter so much that he was so terrible at saying no.
For the most part, the Orcas were a laid-back group. No one so much as batted an eye when Jordy introduced Rowan as his “friend who saved him and Kaira from tears by bringing her to Vancouver.” Everyone encouraged Rowan to eat and drink whatever he liked and offered to help him tie his skates or hide from the ice, whichever he preferred.
More interesting for Jordy’s teammates—and Rowan couldn’t blame them—was Kaira. Rowan had gleaned through his limited interactions with hockey players that they tended to be baby-crazy if they liked kids at all.
Kaira took their attention as her due, which made the guy Rowan thought was the Orcas’ goalie crack she must be Jordy’s polar opposite.
Rowan had to look away and rub his chest when someone else chimed in that she clearly took after her other dad. Fortunately no one but Rowan seemed to have heard.
Soon enough Kaira ordered them into their skates. Jordy, of course, could stay on the ice all day and never tire of it, but Rowan eyed the slick surface with deep distrust.
“I won’t let you fall,” Jordy promised. “You’ll be fine.”
They were alone by the gate, if only for a moment, since Kaira had sprinted out onto the ice, momentarily forgetting her adults in her joy.
Rowan shot him a look of deep betrayal. “I’m going to be terrible at this.”
Jordy didn’t laugh or mock, even though Rowan knew his pout had to rival one of Kaira’s from the past six weeks. He took Rowan’s hand and solemnly vowed, “I won’t let go first.”
If only he meant that the way Rowan wanted him to. Rowan took a shuddering breath and nodded. “Okay.”
“Now get on the ice before Kaira comes back and pushes you.”
Rowan barked a laugh and stepped forward.
Immediately his feet tried to go out from under him.Obviouslythey tried to go out from under him; that was what feetdidon the ice. He fumbled to try to catch his balance, except the fumbling only made it worse. “Ohfuck—”
Jordy never let go of his hand. With his other, he grabbed Rowan’s elbow, firm but gentle, until suddenly Rowan was standing up straight. “Easy.”
“Easy?” Rowan repeated incredulously. Except now he was looking right into Jordy’s kind, soft brown eyes while Jordy smiled at him, and he could only look away if he wanted to fall on his face. Or his ass.
Skating might have been a mistake.
“If Kaira can do it, you can too.”
That didn’t seem fair—Kaira had obviously been skating since she could walk. Right now she was looping around the ice backward, somehow managing to avoid running into any of the other kids.
“Something tells me learning as a child is not the same thing.”
“Come on,” Jordy coaxed. “It’s easier when you’re moving.” And then he was gliding backward without even seeming to move his feet, tugging Rowan along with him.
“Are youbarking?” Rowan asked, but—okay, it wasn’tsobad. Movement was definitely preferable. Especially forward movement, as opposed to downward.
“When you’re starting out, you’re going to be strongest on your inside edges,” Jordy said, towing Rowan along like he weighed nothing. Rowan made the mistake of looking down for a moment and got utterly distracted by the way Jordy’s thighsstrained the seams of his jeans. Those had to have some kind of elastic in them. Ordinary material could not contain that.
They went over a small imperfection in the ice, and Rowan stumbled. Jordy caught him before he could even start to panic.
