"Are you telling me," Beth begins as we drive down the street heading into town, "that after I reached out and invited him to your party and left you alone with him that you still didn't kiss him?"

"Okay, first of all," I reply, my arms folded across my chest in frustration. "We weren't really alone. My dad and Ian were playing outside where they could see us. And what was I supposed to do? Kiss him in my bedroom?"

"Yes!" she yells in exasperation with a bite of humor. "Oh my God! Yes, you kiss him in your bedroom, the bathroom, the fucking closet! Summer, come on, you're killing me here!"

"He technically did kiss me," I remind her, a tiny grin forming on my lips as I remember the moment he kissed me on the cheek.

She rolls her eyes. "Yes. A kiss on the cheek. How sweet." She turns the car onto Highway 95. "Did you know my brothers kiss me on the cheek? And my dad?"

I slide down in my seat and fold my arms across my chest in frustration. "You're ruining it for me."

"Good!" she says, trying to hide her laughter. "I want to ruin it for you. That's not a kiss. That's how people greet each other in Europe."

"It was more than that," I snap, glaring at her. Because it was more than that. There was something there. Something I can't explain. My dad has kissed me on the cheek too, but this had feeling behind it. Emotion. Want. I shake the image of him with his lips pressed against my cheek out of my head for the thousandth time. "Can we stop talking about this? We're supposed to be having a bestie day, not talking about boys."

She nods her head. "Fine, fine. But this isn't over, Summer. I swear to God, I will make this happen. Even if I have to physically force his lips on yours, he will kiss you." I shudder at the thought as she pulls into the parking lot to the skating rink. 

"Wait, hold on. What are we doing here?" I ask.

Her head perks up as she searches for an empty parking spot. "Skating. What do you think?" I stare at her in confusion, trying to figure out if I ever told her Baker works here. "What? We used to come here all the time when we were kids."

I nod my head. "Yeah, when we were twelve. And if you remember correctly, I never skated. I hate skating."

She rolls her eyes. "You just don't know how. But it's actually really fun."

"What made you decide to go come here?" I ask, glancing around for Baker's car.

She shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. Spencer and I dropped of his little sister here a couple nights ago for one of those school skating things, and I just thought of all the times our parents did the same for us. Guess I was feeling a little nostalgic." She pulls into a parking spot and turns the car off before unbuckling her seatbelt and turning to jump out of the car.

"You know," I say as I sit frozen in place, trying to figure out how to get out of this. Because of course Beth would choose to spend the day where he works. "I think we should go bowling instead." She looks at me, her eyebrow quirking up in surprise as I nod my head. "Yeah. Bowling. It's much more fun than skating. And besides, they serve better food there anyway."

Beth watches me carefully for a moment before her lips curve up into a knowing smile. "What's the deal with the skating rink, Summer? Why don't you want to go in?"

"I-I just don't like skating," I stutter, doing a terrible job of hiding how nervous I feel. The truth is, I haven't seen Baker since that night either. I've barely even talked to him, since my grandparents were here, and I wanted to spend all my time with them before they left. So I don't really know where we stand, if we stand anywhere at all. "Come on, can we please just go?"

She shakes her head, smiling coyly as she says, "No way. I just had my nails done, so bowling is off the table. Besides, you're acting all cagey about this place, and now you've piqued my interest. So come on. Let's go." I don't move, and she sighs. "I promise you don't have to skate. We can hang out in the arcade if you want. Share a pizza. Just come on. Please?"

She sticks out her bottom lip, and I groan. "Fine. But, for once Bethy, can you please, please just... have some chill?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she replies before jumping out the front seat. Sighing, I follow her, hoping it's his day off. We walk into the building, and the first person I see, of course, is Baker, checking someone's name off what looks like a birthday list. Beth's eyes light up when she sees him, and I want to slam my head into a wall.

We approach the counter, and Baker, who looked somewhat bored two seconds ago, brightens up considerably when he sees me. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the elusive Lumen. How have you been?"

A smile forms on my lips. "Good. Just having a girl's day with Beth." Beth waves beside me, failing miserably at hiding her shit eating grin.

"Girl's day, huh?" he asks, and I nod my head. He sighs and leans forward, and I see what looks like a bruise on his upper cheek. "Damn. Was kind of hoping you were here to hang out with me again. I've missed you, and I'm really bored here today."

The butterflies begin dancing around in my stomach as I swallow and say, "Sorry to disappoint. How much to get in?"

"For you two?" he asks, and we nod our heads. "On the house. Give me a second and I'll get your skates."

Beth opens her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. "No skates." His brow furrows. I clear my throat. "I don't skate. Just here to hang out in the arcade."

He stares at me. "You came to a skating rink to play in the arcade?" he asks, and I nod my head. He looks at Beth, as if begging her to explain.

"She doesn't know how," she says, and I nudge her shoulder. "What? You don't."

His gray eyes flit back to mine. "You don't know how to skate?" he asks, and I shake my head, embarrassed. "Huh. Okay. Well...." He presses the button under the counter. The door buzzes and unlocks, allowing us entrance. "I guess have fun not skating."

I nod my head and give him a small wave. "Thanks. Um. Bye?"

"Later," he says, smiling as he greets the next customer, leaving Beth and I to walk in freely.

When we're out of earshot of Baker, Beth turns to me and says, "Is that why you didn't want to come here? Because lover-boy works here?"

I glare at her. "First of all, don't call him that."

She laughs. "Girl, did you see the way his eyes practically popped out of his skull when he saw you? He's totally in love with you!"

"And second of all," I say, interrupting her laugher. "I just didn't want it to be awkward." She blinks in confusion, and I sigh. "We haven't really spoken since the cheek thing. Not even really a text. Which is so not us, you know. So... I just didn't know how it would be."

She nods her head. "I get it. But he didn't seem bothered by it." She stops, thinking about the exchange, before saying, "Hold on. Wait. He said he thought you were here to hang out with him again. Have you been here with him before?"

I wince and look away. "Um. Once or twice. For studying." Her jaw drops, and I roll my eyes. "What?"

"So you guys talk all the time and hang out all the time too?" she asks, and I nod my head. "Jesus, Summer! You're practically dating already!"

I blush. "Beth, keep your voice down. He'll hear you."

She winces and turns to look at him, but he's helping a kid at the ticket counter now. "Sorry. Okay, you're right. I promised to drop it and have a girl's day. So let's get some tokens so I can school you at table hockey."

I breathe a sigh of relief and nod my head as we run over to the token dispenser. We each put twenty dollars in the machine and receive 80 tokens in return. Enough for a couple hours of fun. We blow through most of our tokens when Spencer calls and decides to crash girl's day by showing up with his own pair of skates. Beth asks if I mind, but I just shake my head. I really don't mind at all. It's nice seeing my best friend happy, even if it means I have to hand in all our tickets by myself.

But just as I'm going up to the counter to cash in my tickets, I see a little boy standing at the counter with a birthday hat on and a small handful of tickets. I walk over to him and tap him on the shoulder. He and his mom turn around, and I ask if he's the birthday boy. He nods his head, and without another word, I hand him my large armful of tickets.

"Whoa, really?" he asks me, and I nod my head. "Thank you! Mom, look at all these tickets! I can get the firetruck with these now!"

She nods her head, smiling. "Maybe. We'll have to see how many you have now." The mom looks back up at me and says, "Thank you."

I nod my head and walk over to the side of the rink, watching as Beth and Spencer hold hands and skate easily around the rink. I'm not jealous. Not really. I'm happy for them. But this is one of those times that I wish I was more like Beth. Graceful. Athletic. Brave. I'd do anything to be out there with Baker, but even when I was a kid I was afraid of skating. I can't even imagine skating with him out there like that. Easily. Flawlessly. In time with the music.

We stay until closing, sharing another pizza together before Beth asks me if I'd be willing to get a ride home from Baker. Spencer's car is in the shop, so he got dropped off, and she's hoping to take him home. Something tells me that this is another one of Beth's games, but this time I don't mind. So I nod my head and watch as my best friend leaves with her boyfriend.

When the last person leaves for the night, I walk over to the skate counter where Baker is hiding and say, "Hey, think you can take me home? My date left. I can call an Uber, but—"

"What size shoe are you?" he calls from the back.

I blink in surprise. "Um. An eight? Why?"

He comes out a second later holding a pair of rollerblades. Then he sets them on the counter between us and says, "Put these on." I stare at the skates, feeling my blood turn cold. Then I look back up at him and see he's absolutely serious.

"Baker—"

"It's unacceptable that you don't know how to skate," he says simply. Firmly. "Come on. Put them on."

I shake my head. "No, that's okay. I don't really need to—"

"I saw you watching Beth and Spencer tonight," he interrupts, and I bite my lower lip nervously. "You should've been out there skating too. So put those on, and I'll teach you."

"Teach me?" I ask, half-nervous and half-amused. "You're going to teach me?"

He nods his head. "I am."

"I'm okay," I say, pushing the skates away. "Seriously. This is not something I really care to learn how to do."

He smiles. "What? You afraid?"

My whole body tenses as I scoff. "No! It's just... stupid. Skating is stupid."

"Put the skates on, Summer," he says, and I shake my head.

"No," I say again, folding my arms across my chest as I push myself away from the counter. He stares at me, waiting for me to give him an explanation. I sigh. "I'm going to fall."

He nods his head. "Yeah, you probably are. But so what?"

"It's embarrassing!" I reply, my cheeks growing warm at the mere thought.

"Why?" he asks, and I glare at him. "Summer, look around you. Who's here to see?"

"You are," I answer, and his face softens. "I don't want to fall in front of you."

He reaches forward and grabs my hand, pulling me against the counter again. "Why not? I've been falling in front of you for the better part of a year now." My eyes widen at his words, and he blushes. "Just... put the skates on, Summer. Trust me. Do you trust me?"

I do trust him. I trust him with everything I have. That mixed with his words about falling leave me breathless. I grab the skates and sit down on the bench, sliding them on my feet before locking them in place. He hops over the counter and holds his hands out, helping me to my feet. I almost fall immediately, but he catches me. "Can we please not do this?" I ask, practically pleading with him.

"You're already up on your feet," he says, his eyes flickering down to my skates as he continues to hold my hands. "That's the hardest part." I nod my head as my heart races with fear. "Okay, I'm going to start walking backwards. Just kind of go with it. Let me pull you."

"Okay," I whisper, my voice shaking a little as he begins to pull me toward the rink. I feel myself starting to fall. "Baker!" I cry out as I lose my balance and fall forward. He catches me, holding me against his chest as I try to swallow back my fear.

"I got you," he says as he holds me up. "You're okay. Just breathe, Summer. Relax. You're going to be okay. Just... let me hold you." I suck in a breath and slowly release it before standing back up to my full height. "Very good. Okay, you balanced?" I nod, even though I'm not sure if I am or not. "Good. I'm going to pull you again. Pretend like you're in a marching band and just kind of march, okay?"

I lift my foot up off the ground just a tiny bit and set it back down, trying to do as he says. Sure enough, I'm able to move forward. He walks backwards again, and I lift my other foot and set it back down. Same thing. I move a little closer. Okay, maybe this isn't so hard. We do this for a while, him holding on to me as I lift one foot and then the other, sliding against the smooth wood of the rink. After about an hour, I feel like I'm finally finding my rhythm.

"You're doing great," he says encouragingly for the hundredth time as I fall forward again. "I got you. Just keep going." I don't talk too much. I'm more just focused on my feet and their movements, trying not to kill myself or him in this weird little private lesson. "Okay, now that you've got this down, I'm going to stand behind you. Same thing though. I'll catch you. And if you feel like you're going to fall, try to fall forward. Hold your fingers in. You don't want them to get smashed by the other skaters."

"I'd say this is harder than it looks," I say, panting, "but it already looks pretty hard to begin with."

He smiles. "Don't know what you're talking about," he says as he stands behind me, holding his arms out to catch me in case I start to fall. "You're a natural."

I laugh, which does cause me to lose my balance. And just like every other time, he catches me, setting me back on my feet. "Good. Very good. Just keep going."

We practice for several hours. And when I finally start to feel a little more comfortable, he runs over to the DJ booth and turns on some music. Just like Beth did earlier, I start skating to the beat. And, surprisingly, I find that I'm beginning to have some fun. A few minutes later, Baker comes back out on the rink, this time with a pair of skates on himself. He reaches for my hand and takes it, gently pulling me along with him. And it's just like Beth and Spencer from a few hours ago. Maybe not as graceful. But I imagine this is how they must've felt, the cool air brushing their hair back as they slide across the hardwood, trusting the other person to hold them up and keep them going.

I laugh, and Baker turns around to watch, a smile tugging on his own lips. "This is so much fun!" I yell over the music, and he nods his head, pulling me just a little faster. My stomach leaps, but in a good way. Like the first drop on a rollercoaster after such a long climb. We glide around the rink for what feels like hours as sweat beads at the top of my forehead.

When the music slows down, he slows down with it. Then he turns around and catches my elbows, forcing me to come to a stop. My eyes widen. "What's wrong? Why'd you—?"

And before I can even finish my sentence, he's leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. It's so surprising that I gasp, which gives him opportunity to deepen the kiss. Once the shock wears off, I find myself kissing him back, matching his movements with my own. He has me gently pressed against the wall to help me maintain my balance as we continue to kiss in the well-lit skating rink. His hands are on either side of my cheeks as he holds me to him, and as scared as I was to get on the rink earlier, now I'm just as scared of him letting me go. Scared that this is going to end, and I'll wake up to find it was all a dream.

When he finally pulls back, his eyes are glazed over and there's a smiling pulling at his lips. "Sorry. I didn't want to be interrupted again."

I nod my head, breathless as I say, "The only one interrupting now is you." He nods his head, and without another word, he presses his lips against mine again.

Author's Note:

FINALLY! You guys have no idea how long this scene has been in my head! MONTHS! So I really, really hope you enjoy it! Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Next chapter coming as soon as I can write it. Stay safe and healthy until then, my dears!
XOXO,
~Aly