We were moving slowly across the ice. “I’m not sure this is a good idea, my holding onto you like this.”

“You’re doing fine.”

Miraculously, I’d finally found a rhythm that worked for me. I was going so slowly that it was nearly impossible to fall. Nina looked gorgeous as she looked up into my eyes while we held hands. She was wearing white earmuffs atop her golden hair that fell in messy waves over her matching white coat. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold air. She reminded me of a sexy ice princess.

She repeated, “You’re doing so good.”

At one point, she gave me a sweet smile that was so agonizingly beautiful, it made me lose focus and forget to dig into the ice again. I fell, but this time, she went down along with me. As Nina fell back, I landed on top of her.

“Nina! Shit. Are you okay?”

She closed her eyes and for a split second, it seemed like she was crying which caused me to panic. It quickly became apparent that she was actually laughing hysterically. It was just the kind of all-consuming laugh where no sound came out.

My arms were on each side of her. “It’s not really funny. I could have crushed you.”

She was still laughing. “Well, you didn’t. I’m still in one piece.”

Her tits were plastered against my chest, and I had to fight my body’s reaction; I could feel myself getting hard. But truthfully, I didn’t really want to get off of her. It seemed my body much preferred getting off on her instead.

Our faces were close when I said, “I’d get up, but I’m not sure how to without falling on my ass again.”

She began to laugh even harder at my admission, and now, I was laughing at myself. I could feel her sweet breath on my face. Was I sick for wanting to just stay on the ground with her and never get up?

“You know what? That’s good. You needed to fall. Because if you don’t fall, you’ll never learn how to pick yourself up.”

I rolled off of her and sat on the ice.

She got up and kneeled. “Alright, do what I do. Put one foot out in front of you, okay?” I did as she said. “Now transfer all of your weight to your left foot and dig into the ice with your right. Got it?”

I managed to carefully get myself up. We started skating alongside each other when I somehow gained unwanted momentum, slamming into a barrier.

She was laughing as she skated toward me. “That reminds me. I need to teach you how to stop!”

“You think this is funny, huh?”

I teasingly took her earmuffs off her head and put them on mine.

“Hey, lay off my muff!” Her face turned red even though her innuendo was clearly intentional.

God, I loved dirty Nina.

I couldn’t help myself. “I prefer to keep your muff closer to my face.” Her cheeks turned even redder. “Don’t dish it if you can’t take it, Kennedy.”

She conveniently changed the subject. “I need to seriously teach you how to stop.”

“Running my mouth?”

“No…stopping on the ice.” She pointed her toes together. “Do this then push your heels out. That’s how you stop.” She skated around me, starting and stopping several times. I copied the motion, eventually becoming accustomed to it.

She took my hand, and we skated slowly side by side for several minutes. This time, I’d really gotten the hang of it. So caught up in the moment with Nina, I’d barely noticed that the sun had set. The Christmas lights around us looked suddenly magnificent in the darkness.

“It’s getting cold. We should probably get going,” she said.

I wasn’t ready for our date to end. It wasn’t an official date, but it somehow felt like the first real date I’d ever been on.

After we returned our skates, I tugged on her coat. “Let’s go get some hot chocolate.”

“Okay. That sounds good.”

We walked to a café around the corner and found a cozy booth that overlooked the giant Christmas tree on the plaza. I watched her as she looked out the window and sipped her drink. Spending this afternoon with her had been one of the best experiences in recent memory for me. All I could think about was how badly I was feeling the need to open up to her. I wanted to share myself with her in any way I could. In that moment, I decided that if she didn’t get an A on her next exam, I was going to nix the helicopter idea. It needed to be something bigger and better. We’d go on a plane ride instead, and I’d take her away to Chicago, show her where I grew up. I hadn’t been back since I was a teenager, and I wanted to share that experience with her.

“Nina, I love that you’re getting A’s, but is it wrong that I really hope your last grade sucks?”

“Why is that?”

“There’s some place I really want to take you.”

A worried look washed across her face. “Now, I’m scared.”

“Don’t be scared. It’ll be amazing.”

Inherently, it felt like the end of my hiding the truth was near. It was going to happen after Christmas, which meant that this time of ignorant bliss with Nina would be over soon.

I must have gotten lost in my mind.

“You always do that when you’re deep in thought.”

“What?”

“Grind your tongue ring against your teeth.”

“Does it annoy you?”

“No, not at all.”

I wished she’d kept it at that.

Instead, she added, “I think it’s sexy.”