I couldn’t help but smile. He was a good boy, and it was one of the things I loved most about him.
Whoa.
Loved?
Where had that word come from? A few months ago, I’d barely liked Henry. Honestly, I’d barely given him any thought beyond thinking he was boring. Now we were…
What? I had no idea what this was. But it was Christmas, and I had a present for him, and all elephants could proceed directly to the corner. Or I’d have to shoot them.
“Sorry to be such a pain. At least there’s no traffic on Christmas Day. Well, obviously there’s some traffic, but it’s a lot emptier than usual.” Heart racing, I jiggled my leg.
“Mm.”
Henry hadn’t seemed to mind driving out to the arena after we left his grandpa’s retirement home. I told him to go around the rear, blabbering as we went.
“The caretaker said he’d leave it at the back door. Like, who’s going to be all the way out here in the boonies on Christmas Day to steal it, right? It’s just my team jacket anyway. So stupid of me to forget it when I have to post a holiday pic today wearing it and tag the federation.”
“I don’t mind.”
I was sure he genuinely didn’t because he was so sweet. He’d always seemed icy cold, but he wasn’t at all once you knew him. And I still only knew part of him. There was so much more, and I wanted all of it. Now.
But no, I would be patient.
Did I mention I hated being patient?
“I don’t see anything.” Henry pulled up near the access door and put the car in park.
“Hmm, yeah. Let me check.”
Heart pounding, trying not to grin, I hopped out. My boots crunched on the fresh snow, my breath clouding the air. First, I tapped the code into the keypad on the wall. Then, pulling the key from my pocket, I put it in, unbolted the door, and pulled it open with a flourish.
Or I would have, but it stuck. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I tugged on the freezing metal handle. My gloves were in the car, because of course.
The Honda’s engine went silent, and Henry got out. “What are you doing?”
Tugging the stupid door, I huffed. Then jiggled the key since the caretaker had mentioned it stuck sometimes, now that I thought about it. There! I yanked and nearly fell on my ass as the door gave way.
“Um, Merry Christmas!” I motioned to the blackness beyond the door.
Henry stared at me, his brow and everything else furrowed.
“I thought you might want to get in an extra session.”
He still stared.
Oh shit. Was this the worst gift ever? “I just thought since you love skating so much you’d like to have the place to yourself. You know, because you love training. They practically have to drag you off the ice. But if you don’t want to, we can go. This was probably a stupid idea.”
My stomach gurgled. I felt sick. It had seemed like a good gift, but maybe I knew him even less than I thought.
“But we’re not allowed. The arena’s closed.”
“I talked the caretaker into it. I’m hard to resist.” I grinned, but that worried expression still creased Henry’s face.
He pursed his lips in the cutest way. He was twenty-four going on forty, and I wouldn’t have changed it for anything.
I said, “He gave me the code and the keys. It’s not a big deal. He knows you’re the most trustworthy person, like, in history.”
“But it’s against the rules. We’re not supposed to be here when it’s closed. And we have to pay for our ice time.” Snowflakes drifted into his dark hair, and I wanted to kiss him so much.
“It’s Christmas.” That admittedly wasn’t much of an argument. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“I didn’t get you anything.”
“Sure you have! It doesn’t—I don’t care about that. Do you want to skate?” I started to close the door. “Or should we go?”
“You did this for me?” A smile dawned over his face. With teeth! Victory was mine!
“Yeah.” Grinning, I shrugged nonchalantly.
“I don’t have my skates.”
“Duh, I snuck your stuff into the trunk. When I came down to borrow your plunger, I swiped the keys.” Trust me to make Henry think I’d taken a giant dump and blocked up my toilet, but I couldn’t think of anything else I could fake borrow that would be urgent. “I brought my stuff too, but only if you want to skate with me.”
He didn’t answer, just going around the car and opening the trunk with a beep of his fob. He was actually still smiling when he joined me at the door with our bags. We crept inside, the door shutting behind us with a clang.
Squinting down the dark hallway, I whispered, “He said the emergency lights would be enough, and this place is so old they don’t have motion detectors in here.”