Where The Ice Gives Way Chapter 73

**Charlotte**

It feels strange. Jessica and the others don’t circle me like sharks. They don’t look me up and down and decide where I belong before I even open my mouth. Instead, they gush. Actually gush over my skating. Annabelle is all bright eyes and fast smiles, with dark hair in a high ponytail and a glittering warm-up jacket. Jessica is exactly what I thought she would be on the outside. She’s polished and pretty. The kind of girl people probably assume gets everything handed to her. Then she laughs at herself for tripping over a music cord and nearly taking out two other skaters, and I realise she is basically a ball of cotton candy in designer leggings. Annabelle is somehow sweeter and louder. She’s dramatic in a way that doesn’t feel mean. The more time I spend with them, the more the nerves start to melt off me in little pieces. They pull me into their practice without hesitation. Jessica wants to see the spin again, and Annabelle wants me to show her the way I held the extension on that long edge. Another girl with pink gloves and a neat braid tells me my musicality is insane. I have no idea what to do with that except stand there blinking while Jessica groans, “She means you make the rest of us look bad in a really pretty way.” I laugh, and the strangest part is that nothing terrible happens after.

So after a while, I stop standing at the edges of myself, and I move with them. We take turns crossing the ice in little runs of steps and turns, Jessica calling out, “Again, but prettier,” while Annabelle nearly crashes into the boards trying to copy something I did and then pops back up laughing so hard she can barely breathe. Blake catches my eye right as I come out of a turn, and his whole face lights up like I’ve done something incredible. The heat that rushes into my cheeks nearly sends me off balance. When I turn back, both girls are looking at me. Jessica is grinning, and Annabelle’s eyes go wide. “Oh my gosh,” Annabelle whispers, then does a slow little loop around. “Is something going on between you and *The* Blake Atlas?” I blink. “*The* what?” She stops dead. “Wellington High’s hockey captain and golden boy.” My face goes hot so quickly, I feel it clear to my ears. I glance toward the far end of the rink on instinct. Blake is talking to Theo now, but that means absolutely nothing. He could probably hear us from over there if he wanted to. “I...” I lower my voice. “We...” What are we? We are fated soulmates. We are wolves and bonds and impossible things. He is the pull in my chest and the reason my heart beats faster. But these girls are human. How do you explain something like that to someone who lives in an ordinary world?

Shanti rolls her eyes so hard I feel it. *You tell them that he’s your man.* I nearly choke. *My man?* I think back at her.

*Yes. Yours. Put a claim on it already.* I can feel her tail flick with annoyance. Annabelle is still waiting, rolling back and forth on her blades with the kind of delight that tells me she has already made up her own answer anyway. “He’s totally into you,” she whispers, doing another little circle around me. “I’ve never seen anyone hold his attention like this before.” Jessica nods. “Ever.” My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. Annabelle laughs. “It’s okay, I’ll keep your secret until you’re ready to fess up.” I make a strangled little sound that is definitely not a proper sentence, and Jessica pats my arm. “Oh, she’s gone. Look at her face. She’s gone.”

“I am not gone.”

“You are very gone,” Annabelle sings. I laugh again even as I cover half my face with my hand.

We stay on the ice for hours. The boys at the far end switch from drills to some shooting game Theo seems deeply invested in winning. Jessica and Annabelle drag me through half a dozen little practice runs and show me combinations they’re working on. White afternoon fades into that deep blue-grey that comes before dark, and it is only when Blake skates toward us that I realise how late it’s gotten. Annabelle sees him and her whole body tightens with glee. “Oh my gosh,” she squeaks. “He’s coming over here.” Jessica elbows her lightly, but she is grinning too. I turn just as Blake slows to a stop beside us. He looks from me to the girls and then back to me. “Hey, Lotty,” he says. “Mum’s got dinner cooking. You ready to go?” Behind him, Jessica and Annabelle are making faces over his shoulder. Not subtle faces either. Wild, dramatic, silent gushing that makes heat surge into my cheeks so fast I’m surprised the ice doesn’t melt beneath me. Blake’s brows pull together instantly. “You okay?” he asks. “You’re looking a little red in the cheeks.” I flap one hand uselessly in the air. “Yep. Nope. I’m good. We should go.” My voice comes out slightly too high, and Jessica makes a choking sound, while Annabelle looks like she’s about to fall over laughing. “Thank you for today.” That is when the girls completely lose all discipline. The second I look at them, both of them start mock-swooning and making exaggerated kissing faces at me over Blake’s shoulder. My soul leaves my body as Blake starts to turn, and he catches the very end of it, just enough for his mouth to twitch in dangerous amusement. No. Absolutely not. I grab his arm with both hands and yank. The movement almost topples him straight into me. He catches himself at the last second, laughing, while I use all my dignity to shove him toward the boards. “Come on,” I hiss. “Let’s go.” He is full-on belly laughing now, and I push him again. Behind us, Jessica and Annabelle are fully cackling. “We’ll see you at school on Monday, right?” Jessica yells across the ice. “Yeah,” Annabelle shouts. “We expect details!”

I groan and keep pushing Blake toward the gate while he bends forward, laughing so hard he has to brace one hand on his knee. I throw a glance over my shoulder anyway. “Yeah,” I call back, breathless and blushing and still trying to get Blake off the ice before he figures out exactly what he just missed. “Of course! Wait! No! No details!” They both wave, way too pleased with themselves. Then Annabelle makes a heart shape with her hands, and Jessica nearly falls into the boards laughing. Blake straightens beside me, still grinning like the happiest menace alive. “What,” he asks, “was that?”

“Nothing,” I say quickly. He looks at me. Then, the girls behind us. Then back at me. His grin gets wider, and I push him harder toward the gate. “Charlotte.”

“Blake.” He laughs again and somehow, with my face burning and the girls still carrying on behind us, I find myself laughing too.