Where The Ice Gives Way Chapter 74

**Blake**

Charlotte is still blushing when she manages to push me off the ice, and I round on her. The pink tinge sits high in her cheeks and reaches all the way to the tips of her ears. Whatever it was that Jess and Annabelle were doing behind my back clearly got her flustered. She keeps her eyes down as she steps out of the gate and onto the rubber flooring, as if she thinks that if she avoids looking at me long enough, maybe I’ll let it go. I won’t. This is far too enjoyable. “What was that?” I ask again. She bends to sit on the bench and starts untying her skates with far more focus than the laces require. “Nothing.”

“It didn’t look like nothing.”

“It was absolutely nothing.” Her voice comes out too quickly and is far too innocent. Behind me, Theo is laughing, and I glance over my shoulder to find him hauling the goal back toward the wall with Charlie beside him. Both of them are wearing expressions that tell me they know far more than I do and are enjoying it. Charlotte groans quietly. “Ignore them.”

“Hard to do when they both look like that.” She mutters something under her breath, I don’t quite catch, and bends lower over her skates. I crouch in front of her before she can finish untying the first one. My hands go to the laces automatically, and she goes still. “Blake.” I grin. “You’re slow when you’re flustered.”

“I am not flustered.” I look up at her, and she looks down at me. That alone is enough to make my grin widen, and her cheeks turn even redder. “Right,” I say. She kicks lightly at my shin with the toe guard of the other skate. “Shut up.”

I laugh and loosen the laces for her, fingers working through them in quick, practised pulls. The skates came off cleaner than they went on, probably because now I know exactly how they fit her. The thought settles somewhere warm and stupidly satisfying in my chest. Lex also enjoys whatever this is. *Make her blush more. I like it.* The second skate comes off Charlotte wiggles her toes inside her socks, then glances toward the rink where Jess and Annabelle are still packing up. Both girls wave the moment they notice her looking, and Annabelle blows a kiss, to which Charlotte nearly drops her skate. I laugh again and tip her chin up in my direction. “Still nothing?” She presses both hands over her face for one second, then drags them down slowly. “I’m going to need you to stop enjoying this.” “I’m really good at keeping secrets, Lotty. Tell me what they were saying?”I give her my best puppy dog eyes, the ones that usually make mum fold instantly. Charlotte narrows her eyes at me. 

“You two done flirting with footwear?” Theo asks, ruining my attempt to gain valuable information. Charlotte makes a strangled sound, jumping slightly like she forgot there were other people here. I take the skates from her before she can die of embarrassment and set them neatly into the box before I look over at Theo. “You’re just jealous nobody ever blushes for you.” He clutches his chest dramatically before falling backwards into Charlie. “Wounded.”

Charlotte is smiling again by the time we finally get all the gear packed and dragged toward the exit, and I can’t stop looking at her. I really like the look of happiness on her face. Charlie and Theo get distracted immediately, trying to argue over whether one of Theo’s shots actually counted during their last drill. It didn’t, but Theo claims it did. Charlie looks like he’s about to murder him over basic mathematics. That gives me just enough of a gap to fall into step beside Charlotte while we head to the car. She hugs her coat tighter around herself and tips her face up into the cold for a second. “You had fun,” I say. It isn’t really a question, but she looks at me, and there it is again, that smile she keeps trying to hide. “Yeah,” she says softly. “I did. Thank you for bringing me, and again, for the skates.”

“I knew I’d like seeing you in them.” I smile, and she looks away, cheeks pinking again, and mutters, “That was very smooth.” I grin. “Thank you.”

We reach the car, and I open the passenger door for her and wait until she’s inside before I round the bonnet. By the time I slide into the driver’s seat, Charlie and Theo are climbing in behind us with too much noise and not enough grace. Theo talks the whole way home. Charlie tells him to shut up, but Theo keeps talking. Charlotte leans her head against the window and watches the dark move past outside quietly. Now and then, I catch her looking down at the box between her boots. I want more of that for her. More moments where her smile comes easily. More rooms where she walks in expecting the worst and finds something kind waiting instead. When we pull back into the drive, Mum is already waiting by the door. She takes one look at Charlotte’s face and beams. “Well,” she says, hands on her hips. “That answers that.” Charlotte ducks her head, smiling anyway, and steps inside.

The smell of dinner fills the house as we walk through to the dining room. Mum shepherds us all toward the table where Dad and John are already sitting. I pull out a chair beside mine and guide Charlotte into it. Once everyone is seated and plates have been filled, Dad clears his throat. “So, Charlotte. We thought you’d like to know how Arun is doing now,” Dad says. John nods beside him as his eyes move toward Charlotte. “He’s exhausted,” Dad continues. “And frightened, but his wolf is still in there. We can all feel that much. The man himself is holding up just fine.” John speaks then, voice low and direct. “He seems to remember everything before he lost his humanity, but only pieces of the in between.” I glance at Charlotte. Her face has gone soft again, but not in the easy, happy way that I was really enjoying. This is different. She looks more thoughtful and pulled inward. I let my hand settle lightly against her knee under the table, and she stills, then glances at me. I watch the moment as she pulls herself from whatever thoughts she was having and puts her hand on top of mine. “That’s good, right?” She asks my dad, and he smiles at her. “That is really good, Charlotte. Better than the alternative of what we would have had to do with him.” She gives him a small smile, and dinner continues after that. I sit beside her and think about the way she looked under the rink lights, alive and laughing and blushing hard. Then I think about Arun chained in the shed. Then back to Charlotte. Softness and power. Light and weight. Mum’s words echo back through my mind. Shanti needs Shakti. Peace means nothing without the strength to hold it.