“Ready as I’ll ever be. Hopefully neither of us ends up in the hospital.”
“Don’t worry, we know a good doctor if we need one.”
I’m still laughing when Miller pulls me out onto the ice, and we clutch onto each other—and the wall—like fawns who are learning to walk. The ice is crowded with people of all skill levels, some gliding across it gracefully, and others not so much.
My legs tremble like a leaf as I try to get my bearings, but once I start grasping the concept better, I gain the confidence to let go of the wall.
You’d think I’d be better at this considering I love to rollerblade on the Mission Beach Boardwalk, but wheels on the bottom of a shoe feel much different than a blade.
What little confidence I have at the moment doesn’t extend past me, though, because Miller looks like he might be ready to throw in the towel. Even holding onto the wall, he hunches over as he tries to be steady on his feet.
“How the hell do hockey players make this look so easy?” he grumbles as his legs start going in opposite directions.
“Well, I’m no figure skater, but if you stop thinking about it and just try to walk and glide, your body fills in the gaps.”
Straightening himself, he lifts one arm out to the side while the other death grips the wall, and tries to do as I instruct, but ends up marching on the ice, which only makes me laugh harder.
After a couple minutes, he seems to get the hang of it.
At least for twelve seconds.
Growing cocky, he reaches for my hand, but it becomes his undoing. Completely losing his balance, he topples over, taking me down with him as he falls. Two sets of arms and legs go flying, and we both land on our butts on the cold, hard ice, laughing so much, we both struggle to breathe.
“I was doing so well!” I squeal, my cheeks sore from the wide grin on my face. “Why’d you have to pull me with you?”
“Me?” He gives me a sarcastic look of disbelief and shakes his head as he lays it on thick. “This was all you! I totally had it.”
“Sure you did.”
Sitting on the ice proves dangerous as skaters race past us, their blades getting far too close for comfort, and when a small child passes by paying no attention to us, I try to stand, which is much harder than it looks without grabbing onto something.
Falling again, Miller roars a laugh. “Let me show you how it’s done.” Reaching for the wall, he uses one hand to pull himself to a crouch, but ends up losing his balanceagainand topples back over.
Cursing under his breath, he repeats the process, and this time stands successfully, extending his hand for me. Surprisingly, he’s able to pull me to my feet, and we end up clutching onto the side of the wall like it’s our lifeline.
“Maybe ice-skating isn’t for us,” he admits. “I don’t think either of us have the grace this sport requires.”
“Are you saying I’m not graceful?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear that’s escaped from my beanie.
“Wow, tell me how you really feel.”
“You know what I bet we both are good at?”
“What?”
“Devouring some s’mores.” Miller looks longingly in the direction of the beach, then back at me with puppy dog eyes.
“We haven’t even been skating for ten minutes!” I laugh, knowing he paid a lot of money for us to do this.
Miller shrugs, obviously not caring. “Personally, I think that’s five minutes too long. But if you’re still into it, we can struggle around the edge together.”
“We at least should take a full lap! Come on, we can do this.”
And we did, but it took us a full twenty minutes, and almost two more rounds of falling before we made it back to the entrance.
“I’m so sorry, sir, but our cabanas require a reservation in advance and unfortunately, they’re all spoken for this evening.” The hotel worker apologizes with a remorseful look on his face.
