JEN
“You could have let me get changed first,” I grumble, tucking my scarf over my chin and nose. The wind is biting cold, and I just know I’ll end up looking like some deformed Rudolph by the end of the night. I shiver, and wrap my arms around myself. A series of beeps tells me he’s locked the car.
Arms wrap around my shoulders from behind, and I feel warm breath on my cheek. “Cold, gorgeous?” Bing asks.
“No, I thought I might get my bikini out. You know, all these tropical temperatures.” I look dubiously up at the sky and the tiny flakes falling from it.
“As much as I wouldn’t object to you walking around in a bikini, I don’t think it’s compatible with ice skating.” He chuckles slightly and moves to my side, pulling me into his body and directing me towards the Winter Wonderland entrance.
Hyde Park is magical at Christmas, and we’re catching the tail end of Winter Wonderland. In fact, it’s the last night. The trees are still standing high, lights are twinkling everywhere, and the horrible snow adds a certain magic to it.
If it wasn’t so cold, I’d probably like to live somewhere like this. Maybe Germany. But, it’s cold, and we all know how much I love the cold.
I rub my gloved hands together, and Bing shakes his head.
“Jen, we’re not in the North Pole.”
I pout slightly. “It’s cold!”
We stop at a vendor and he orders two hot chocolates, winking at me. I beam at him as he hands me the take-out mug. The heat seeps through my gloves, warming my hands. I sigh happily.
“Better?” he asks, kissing the top of my head.
I nod. “Much. Thank you.” I turn my face to kiss his cheek but my mouth finds his. He sweeps his tongue along my top lip, the warmth a stark contrast to the coldness of his lips.
I pull back and raise my cup to my mouth. He grins knowingly, and squeezes my shoulders. “Come on,” he says. “Let’s go and find Alec and Lexy.”
Oh, thank God.
We push through the crowds, dodging to avoid excited children shouting and screaming at their parents. I still don’t get the excitement over snow. It’s cold. And wet. And cold.
“Isn’t that them over there?” I nod to the ice skating rink where I can see a couple snuggled in.
Bing squints slightly. “I think so. That’s where they’re supposed to be.”
“Let’s go then,” I move, pulling him with me. He slips a little on some compacted ice, and I giggle. He looks down at me, smirking. “What?” I ask.
“Have you ever ice skated before?”
“No. Should I have?”
A broad grin stretches out on his face. “Oh, man. This is gonna be fun.” He takes his arm from around my waist, strolling over to Lexy and Alec.
“What? It can’t be that hard!” I look at the rink with the Victorian bandstand in the centre, jogging after him. “If little kids can do it, I can!”
Lexy smiles. “It’s harder than it looks.”
Alec looks at the rink and back at me dubiously. “Can we not skate? Really? There’s loads for us to do here so…”
I slap his arm. “Don’t be a chicken shit, Alec! We can do this. It’ll be just like rollerskating.”
Bing snorts. “Yeah… But with ice and blades.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “I can think of a good place for those blades right now.”
He half-grins at me. “Not in public, babe.”
I purse my lips. “You’re dirty.”
He steps towards me, lowering his mouth next to my ear. “Have you ever complained?”
“No.”
“Well then.”
I elbow him gently.
“They’re cute. In an annoying kind of way,” Lexy muses.
“Uh, sure?” Alec frowns at her.
“Don’t you see it? Even though they’re in a – sorry, not in – a relationship, they still bicker like they always have.” She turns, swinging their clasped hands. “And it’s annoying, but it’s cute because they’re so into each other.”
“What made you the resident love guru?” I yell after her.
“She’s right,” Bing mutters, pulling me after them.
“That we bicker? I know that, Samuel.”
“No.” I look up at him, and he’s smiling. “I am “into you,” as she put it. In fact, I’ve been all the way into you.”
I sigh, shaking my head. “And there was me thinking you were going to say something romantic.”
“What, the flowers aren’t enough?”
“I never said that. But a few swoony, oh-my-gosh-turn-my-legs-to-jelly comments wouldn’t go amiss. I’m just sayin’.”
“Fine. I’ll work on that.”
I nod my head once, grinning up at him. He pays the fee for the skating, and we collect two pairs of skates. I put my empty take-out cup in the bin, holding onto Bing’s arm to steady myself.
Wow, okay. These aren’t great for the old balance. I hold onto my ear.
“What are you doing?” he asks, looking down at me amused.
“I’m keeping my balance. Ears help that shit, you know.” I watch as Lexy guides Alec on the ice. He slips almost straight away, and she laughs, struggling to hold him up. “Alec should try it.”
Bing turns his face towards the rink just as Alec falls backwards. Lexy falls with him, laughing loudly.
“So you’re trying to stop that?” Bing looks back at me.
“No, it’s obviously my goal to fall flat on my ass. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“That might not be such a bad thing.”
“Of course it would be bad. We’re not just talking any ass here. We’re talking my ass.”
“And it’s a very nice ass.”
“Thank you.”
“One that I’d have no issues with rubbing better should you fall on it.” He grins wolfishly.
I sigh, holding onto the side of the rink as I pull myself onto the ice. “I should have guessed that was coming.”
Bing gets onto the ice, skating round me. “It’s one of my special qualities.”
“The ability to make anything x-rated?”
“No.” He shakes his head, and skates forward. He takes my hands from the side. I squeak. “Just the ability to make anything about you x-rated.”
“I want to hold the side. Let me hold the side.” I squeeze my eyes shut as he pulls me slowly across the ice. “And enough with the x-rated. You’re supposed to be romancing me, not seducing me.”
I squeal loudly as he pulls me into him. I wobble a little on the skates, holding his hands tighter. He chuckles quietly, and my face presses into his chest.
“Jen,” he whispers, lowering our arms. “I can’t help it if my thoughts are x-rated about you. It’s not my fault if every single part of me is attracted to you. I can’t help wanting to be inside you in every way – in your body and in your heart. And I can’t help it if I’m falling into you with every smile and sarcastic comment. I can’t help that I’ve been falling a little more every day since I met you again.”
My heart misses a few beats, like a drunken leprechaun doing a tap dance, and I slowly raise my head up. My eyes meet his, and they’re full of sincerity.
“See, you can be romantic.” I tilt my head to the side, a smile playing with my mouth.
“I’m trying,” he whispers, his lips twitching. “But it’s you. You make me romantic, Jen, because I want to be everything you deserve and more.”
My lips part a little, and I lean up, pressing them against his in a kiss that’s so short, but so long at the same time. It may only last for a few seconds, but time is irrelevant when your heart is the one in control.
Because in that moment, with our hearts in control of our feelings, they could have been as old as time itself.
~