When Travis lifted his gaze up and their eyes met, his smile softened and his cheeks flushed. I reached for Rusty’s hand and squeezed tight, loving how we could bear witness to the two of them falling in love with each other.
Once she was standing, I walked backward to the edge of the rink. We pushed through the boards, and Rusty and Travis positioned themselves on each side of her so they could help her balance if she needed them.
She was like a newborn foal, wobbling and overbalancing with every move. But the smile on her face took my breath away. She was slowly getting the hang of it, but I was too scared to let her go. We were barely going faster than a snail, but it still felt too fast—I didn’t want her to hurt herself. I loved that she was rediscovering herself and experiencing so many new things, but I was freaking the fuck out. I knew Travis wanted to take her skydiving and bungee jumping, but I honestly wasn’t sure whether I could handle the nerves that went with it. She would probably jump at the opportunity, and I’d be a nervous wreck.
Travis was playing around with remote controls, and the lights dimmed and music started playing through the speakers—disco, of course—and Rusty skated up to us. “May I have this dance?”
“Sure,” Carina said with a smile and let go of my hands, then looked around to see where the edge was.
Rusty hip checked me, and I stumbled, trying not to get our skates tangled. I huffed out a laugh when he reached for Carina, who was standing there frozen, her eyes wide.
“Way to make a guy feel wanted,” I joked. “You wound me.”
“Hush, you big baby,” he teased. “I want to skate with the pretty lady.”
Carina choked out a laugh, and a pretty pink flush stained her cheeks. “I thought you wanted to skate with Jacques.”
“Not when you’re here,” he murmured and took her into his arms like they were about to start dancing the waltz.
He pushed off, skating backward a little faster than we’d been going, then spun them around. Carina squealed with delight, and Travis slid in behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I leaned back against him and turned to kiss his throat.
I heard a bark that was far closer than it should have been, and I pulled back, frowning. “What’s Zeus doing down here?” I asked.
“He was inside when we came downstairs. He’s probably bored of sitting upstairs by himself.”
“You should never have taught him how to open doors,” I chastised.
Travis raised a brow at me and replied, “He knows how to open the door so he can get you or Rusty out if there’s a fire and you’re unconscious.”
“I love you too.” I smiled and kissed him on the throat again.
“So you should. I’m fabulous.”
He let me go, and I skated to the edge of the rink as the automatic doors opened. Zeus just walked straight on through like he owned the place, which, let’s face it, he did. When he saw me, he broke out in that Staffy grin and started wagging his tail so hard that it was spinning in circles. I snorted out a laugh and opened the barrier gate. But before I could step through and usher him into the yard, Zeus launched himself past me, skidding on the ice straight toward Travis.
My guy was there in an instant, picking up our wayward mutt and protecting his paws from the cold. Zeus twisted in his arms, and right before my eyes, he wrapped his front legs around Travis’s shoulders, spreading his hips wide enough that he could hold on like a koala. I chuckled and shrugged when Travis looked at me, bewildered.
“Aw, Zeus,” Carina cooed. “You’re gonna get cold, puppy dog.”
She pulled away from Rusty and wobbled over to Trav, who was slowly gliding backward into the middle of the rink. She was overbalancing, then correcting too much, her arms circling as she stuck her ass out, then bent the other way. She was barely moving and at this rate would end up on her ass in less than a minute.
I skated to her, but she wouldn’t let me take her hand.
“Got to learn this sometime. Can’t have your fake wife be the most useless skater on the planet.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “You also don’t need to learn it in five minutes. But you do need to go a little faster than you are. It’ll be easier to stop yourself from falling.”
Carina unwound her scarf and held it between both hands. With her arms out wide and her knees bent, she pushed off slowly and started gliding over to Travis.
“Yes!” she shouted and lifted her hands up to cheer.
Oh shit.
She wiggled her butt in a cute little dance.
Fuck.
Then she was falling.
