The Undercover Bad Boy

Chapter Sixteen - On the Ice

Chapter Sixteen - On the Ice

"There is no way - no freaking way - that you are going to make me ice skate," I stated as Zach kicked down the motorbike stand.

"And why is that, may I ask?"

"You've seen me dance-"

"Ah, I see. If you are as uncoordinated at ice skating as you are at dancing, well, this will be interesting."

"I swear-"

"I can imagine you now - falling over." His lips twitched into an amused smirk. "But don't worry, Alex, I'll catch you if you fall."

I folded my arms over my ribs and shrugged past him. "I won't fall."

He smirked. "You tell yourself that."

The ice rink was located outside of the mall, in the middle of the busy plaza area. To protect the ice from the rain, a makeshift plastic cover was hung high above it. Many people strolled past us, carrying masses of shopping bags, probably full of Christmas gifts. That reminded me. I needed to go Christmas shopping. Zach and I seemed to be the only teenagers here, it took me a while to realise that everyone else was still at school.

Zach tugged on my sleeve. "Come on."

He led me to the counter where a middle aged man was working. We told him our shoe sizes and paid the admission fee. I passed Zach a ten pound note, but he refused it, instead he dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out a debit card. He handed it over to the man.

"I can pay, you know," I said. "I'm not financially challenged or anything."

He grinned childishly at me. "I'm forcing you to ice skate, so it's only fair if I pay for you."

The man returned with two pairs of ice skates before I could reply.

"And, Alex," added Zach. "Stereotypically, isn't it the guy who pays for the first date?"

I turned to face him but he was already walking to a bench. He had called it a date. He had called it a date. My heart was unable to control itself and I was stumbling over my own feet trying to catch up with him.

This was the first date I had been on in ages. The last one was disastrously terrible. It was two years ago, I was fourteen at the time, Tara asked me to accompany her on her date. The boy she was going with was bringing his own friend. I don't know what was running through my mind at the time, but I agreed. The four of us went down to this restaurant at the edge of town. The boy turned out to be Parker. His friend was actually some guy from his science class, I think his name was Eliot.

Five minutes in, I managed to spill my drink all over the table, scare away the waiter, step on Eliot's foot, broke his toe and ruin his shirt. He excused himself from the date early.

That has to be a record.

"It's a date?" I asked Zach when I reached him.

He looked up and met my eyes. "Why not? I'm a guy. You're a girl - I think. I like you. You like me - I hope. Life's too short. It's a date."

I considered this."Straight to the point as always, Edwards," I commented, nudging him playfully in the stomach. I then stopped, replaying his words in my head. "You like me?"

He was watching me with an entertained expression, as if the answer was incredibly obvious. "A lot," he confirmed. He tugged up the sleeve of his jacket, revealing the scars on his wrists. "Three weeks ago, I stopped cutting. Three weeks ago I met you, Alex. I mean, at first, if found you annoying. But then you kind of grew on me."