Neve (Silver Skates #3) - Helen Scott Page 0,18

great. It gives me something to look forward to after going to the newspaper and meeting everyone.” I grimaced to show him exactly what I thought of that prospect.

He chuckled and gestured to the door we were about to walk past. The sign over it said ‘Yes, Now Bob,’ and it was a cute little diner…with a Ferris wheel in the lot next door. This town was so weird.

By the time Monday night rolled around, I was a bundle of nerves. I was never nervous with guys, but something was different between Rory and me. We’d exchanged numbers after our breakfast and had been texting all weekend, something which was new to me. However, having the weekend to myself meant that when I’d received the boxes my father had sent me of all my other things I’d had chance to unpack a little, meet the neighbors, and had even been to the grocery store to get some food.

I’d picked out what I was going to wear to the ice rink on Sunday, you know, just to be prepared, and had proceeded to obsess over the choice for the rest of the day. My apartment now looked a mess, but it wasn’t like anyone was going to see it.

As I’d expected, everything had been awkward this morning at the paper. I had barely made eye contact with Seren, still too hurt by his rejection to interact with him any more than necessary. I knew I shouldn’t take it personally that he’d probably just been offended by the bear calling him bunny, but there had been something else wrong, I just knew it, and every time I thought about it, I had the sinking feeling that it was to do with me. Samson, on the other hand, had been very pleasant to talk to, though he definitely didn’t inspire the same kinds of feelings that Seren did, which meant that it couldn’t be all supe men that were making me feel this way.

I shoved the thoughts aside though, like I had been doing all day. Even when I spoke with Seren about what he did at the paper, I treated him the same as everyone else, definitely not thinking about the way his lips felt against mine as he pinned me up against the wall of the rink.

Now I was heading to the rink to meet someone else though, and excitement was buzzing through me. Nothing had happened between Rory and I, other than some hot make-out sessions, and as I walked down to the rink, I hoped that would change soon.

My skirt ruffled in the breeze, and I was thankful for the leggings I wore underneath and the big oversized sweater I was wearing. I’d even put a tank and T-shirt under it to help with the cold, since the sweater wasn’t that thick. I was going for casual cute, plus if I wanted to show off some of my moves, my skirt would only accentuate them, which was honestly the primary reason I went with that over the leggings and not just the leggings and sweater. I had also managed to find a thick cowl-like scarf, which was now wrapped around my neck. I doubted I’d ever worn it before, but I was beyond grateful that it had somehow found its way into my suitcase.

I hurried through the parking lot, sure I was late since it had taken longer than I expected to walk here. When I crossed the last row of cars, which was the only row in the parking lot that actually had cars in it, I saw Rory waiting for me.

Nerves twisted within me, and I smiled genuinely when I saw him look up and relief wash over his features. Had he been expecting me to stand him up after we’d been texting all weekend?

“Hey,” he said as I reached him.

“Hey yourself,” I replied as we did the awkward, do we hug or kiss or do nothing dance.

Eventually, we landed on holding hands as we walked into the rink area where all the little shops were. My gaze landed on all the little buildings, each one looking cabin like in its own way before looking at the rink itself. As soon as I did, I knew our evening was not going to go to plan, but Rory had already walked away to get us skates.

“Sorry, the hockey team is practicing tonight, so no public skating,” the man behind the counter said to Rory as he approached.

“Are we