Been You

Chapter 76: Teach With Me

JUSTIN'S POV:

Ely gets up on the ice, looking defeated. Everything in me wants to glide over to comfort her, but I know deep down that if I do, she'll find some way to make me let her quit. I know that in the long run she'll be happier this way, so I let Christian be the bad guy. "Look, I know you're trying to help me, but I honestly can't be helped. If I can't even stay vertical standing in place, there's no way," Ely rants, frustrated.

"Yeah, you're doing this," Christian says, as if he hadn't heard a word she said. He's good at not listening. "Every player hits a wall when learning a new play. Most, more than once. What you need is a little motivation. Something tangible to drive you. Justin?"

"Yeah, cap?"

"Motivate her," he says through his teeth, annoyed with my obliviousness.

"El, can you please try again? For me?" I plead.

"No," she says in a clipped manner. I look to Christian defeated, shrugging. I tried. Za skates over to me.

"I think he means... motivate her," Za says lowly, raising his eyebrows on the last two words. Oh. I clear my throat as I skate over to Ely, stopping right behind her. I wrap my arms around her, resting my hands on her upper thighs, then squeezing. I lean down so that I'm just at her ear.

"If you get this right today, I'll make it worth your while tonight," I whisper so only she can hear. Ely's jaw drops at this, eliciting stifled laughter from Ryan. I throw him a look, stopping him immediately. "I'll be right here behind you to catch you if you fall," I say aloud. "And to feel your sexy ass on my dick when you do that thing with your hips," I whisper. She shivers. I smirk to myself knowing that I've gotten to her. I'm just that goddamn good.

"Okay, start the music," she rushes. I pull her phone out of my pocket, push play and then hand it to Za. I won't make the mistake of letting her fall again. However, it wasn't an issue. She got through the whole routine without falling. It was a little shaky, but it's a big step. And I thoroughly enjoyed my placement the whole time. Christian orders Za to play it back, and I don't complain. On about the fourth or fifth try, Ely gets through the whole routine without faltering. "Ah! Oh my god! Baby! I did it!," she yells, struggling to turn around before grabbing the sides of my face and planting a kiss on my face.

"Hey! No fraternizing on the ice!" Christian orders, making Ely get back in position. "Now, do it without Justin."

"What?" Ely and I ask in unison.

"Is Justin gonna be out there tomorrow? Or is Atifa gonna take his place and hold your thighs steady?" Christian taunts. I just know that Ely is pouting in front of me, but I release her and skate over to the rest of the boys. "Play it back, Za." Ely completes the entire routine perfectly. Ely being Ely, she celebrates this accomplishment. She's so cute and happy. "Do it again," Christian orders, killing her mood. She does, and again, she gets it. This time, I skate over, lifting her up.

"Great job, baby girl," I congratulate, spinning her around. "I knew you could do it," I say setting her down. I don't want her to feel like her hard work went unnoticed. She pecks me on the lips, but I kiss her much deeper, not caring what Christian thinks.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. Let's work on your basic skating," Christian commands. And we do. First with Ely holding my hand, which took some time for her to master. Then, she skated with me holding her waist from behind, which was very easy for her. I release her, allowing her to skate on her own, without warning, like a kid on a bicycle. She continues gliding without difficulty.

"Justin! I'm doing it! I'm skating by myself!" She yells excitedly.

"That's my girl!"

"Okay, now Ely, you're doing great! Let's work on some control," Christian instructs as Ely continues gliding around the rink. "You're gonna need to skate to the center of the ice tomorrow. Can you do that? Just come to us."

"Away from the wall? Nuh uh."

"You're not even using it, Ely. Just imagine it next to you, you'll be fine," Christian says.

"Okaaaaaay," Ely says while she flies toward us in the center. She sorta just threw her whole body weight in our direction, so she's skating wildly. I laugh at her baby goat-like movements, catching her once she reaches the center.

"Woah there, speed racer," I laugh, pulling her into me. "You don't need that much force, just enough to push yourself into the right direction," I instruct.

"Again!" Christian orders. Ely makes a face, but does as he says, throwing herself back to the outside with slightly less force, only to slam into the wall. She throws herself back and forth between us and the wall until she finally is able to glide to me slow enough to catch me as opposed to me catching her. "Good enough for tomorrow. Now to stop," Christian starts, eliciting an eye roll from Ely, "you just use the pick at the front of the blade like so," he finishes while demonstrating.

"Oh," Ely says in realization. "I can do that," she says. I'll admit, I doubted her, but she really can do that. Now that she knows how to stop, she's gliding all around the rink like she's been skating her whole life, and I feel like I've never been more turned on. My two favorite things joint together. She skates over to me, stopping on a dime.

"That is so hot, you know that?" I ask, grinning at her devilishly.

"Oh, this?" She asks, literally skating circles around me. Fuck.