Heartbeat Repeating - E.M. Lindsey Page 0,66
Alejandro as he passes the valet stand and marches to the ATM so he can get cash for all the vendors. He hangs back again, still feeling a little self-conscious. The stares from the people who pass by feel like a physical touch, and he gets antsy as Alejandro tucks his money away.
Luckily there’s not a line for the skates, and Avery follows behind with their gloved fingers tangled loosely together between them. The stares and judgment don’t feel as intense with Alejandro openly staking his claim on Avery, and after a beat, he starts to feel like himself again.
Alejandro looks miserable at the rental skates as they sit on a bench, and Avery smirks at him as he shoves his foot into one, and pretends like he’s not totally disgusted because it’s still warm on the inside. “Slumming it like the commoners,” he mutters.
Alejandro mutters something in Spanish under his breath, but for all the ways his mouth is tipped down into a grimace, his eyes are brighter than Avery’s ever seen them. “If I get some sort of foot fungus, you’ll be the one scrubbing them for me.”
Avery throws his head back in a laugh then stands up and attempts to keep his balance. It’s been so long since he’s done this, and he shuffles over to the wall to keep from falling as Alejandro comes up on his side. He glances at him and finds him staring with a frown like the ice just insulted his family.
“You know, if you hate this, we can go,” Avery says.
Alejandro just scoffs, takes him by the hand again, then pushes off from the wall. The ice is slick beneath him, and it takes him a moment to get his bearings, and it’s then he realizes Alejandro is gliding along like he’s been doing this every single day of his life.
“You can skate,” Avery blurts out, and Alejandro laughs softly. “You fucking liar. You had lessons, didn’t you?”
“I never claimed I was an amateur. My parents thought it was a good idea. I just didn’t enjoy it.” He pulls Avery into a small spin and manages to keep him upright as the world rocks and then rights itself. They link arms, and when Alejandro strokes his arm through his jacket, Avery wants to know what a picture they make.
He’s dressed nicely, but still himself. Still in his jeans, which are ripped on purpose this time instead of from over-wear. He’s got his leather jacket on and his black shirt. His hair’s in a low bun, and he’s nearly thirty years younger than Alejandro, and God—it shows.
And then Alejandro smiles at him, and he forgets to care again.
“I’ll make it up to you,” Alejandro says as they do a second loop around the rink. Avery’s getting more steady on his feet, and he’s not leaning on the older man as much. “This feels very Christmassy though.”
Avery rolls his eyes. “You fucking gentiles and your claim on everything. You don’t have a monopoly on winter.”
Alejandro points at the hot cocoa stand where all the cups are covered in red and green and Christmas tree themes and well, he knows he has a point, but Avery likes being stubborn.
“Winter is cold,” he says with a sniff. “And cold is suffering. And suffering,” he adds pointedly, “is Jewish culture. So technically, we have way more claim on winter moods than you.”
He laughs then when Alejandro drags him close and crowds him up against the boards and kisses him. And he knows that there are probably scandalized parents there who will complain, and not for the first time, Avery is really glad that Alejandro is too fucking rich to care.
They break apart, and Avery’s glad when Alejandro leads them to the exit. He hears whispers, but he doesn’t bother to look up at the people talking. What’s the point? Even if he wasn’t a sugar baby—even if Alejandro was his boyfriend or his husband—people would assume the same shit.
But he’s happy for the first time in so long, and he refuses to let anyone take that from him.
His legs are a little wobbly as they pass the cocoa stand, and he shakes his head when Alejandro offers to buy some for him. But there is a stand with roasted chestnuts, and he’s never tried them, so Alejandro buys a bag. They smell great, but the second he bites down, he regrets everything. Avery spits the first one onto the ground with an offended noise because the