Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,52
kids our age in here who we end up making friends with, but at two o’clock on a Tuesday, it’s mostly dead—which is great for us. The others introduced themselves as Erin, Vee, Lilly, and Oliver. Erin and Lilly must be sisters, since they look almost identical with dark hair and chestnut eyes, and Oliver is Lilly’s boyfriend. He’s got wide shoulders and likes to overuse the word man. Vee is stunning, though, and the way she keeps looking over at Aiden makes my fingernails bite into the palms of my hand. Her face is perfectly symmetrical and unblemished, and her brown hair falls over her shoulders in effortless waves.
“Okay, okay. Me next!” Erin exclaims, getting in position between Julian and Chase at one end of the rink. “You better be sure to catch me, hot stuff!” she yells at Mason, who’s positioned at the other end of the rink.
“You got it!” he shouts back with a flirty grin.
Julian and Chase each grab one of her hands and skate forward while she keeps her legs still. Once they gain some speed, they fling her forward, and she flies across the rink at top speed, laughing and shrieking the whole way.
Mason’s arms are out, ready to catch her before she slams into the boards, but she’s still gaining speed by the time she gets there. To Mason’s credit, he does his best, but Erin crashes into him, and they go down in a tangle of laughs and screams.
“You guys okay?” Julian calls to them, trying not to laugh with the rest of us.
“We’re fine,” Mason replies, helping Erin up. “Her knee just missed my precious jewels. That would not have been okay.”
“Aw, really? I was aiming for them.” Erin smirks, and Mason gives her a playful shove.
“Can I go next?” I ask hopefully. “Unless Vee wants to go?”
“Why don’t we both go?” Vee suggests.
In the short time we’ve gotten to know her, it’s clear she’s a pretty wild one. In fact, I’m pretty sure she’s drunk at the moment, but I’m not judging. It’s her winter break, too, and she can spend it however she wants as long as she’s not driving. She’s a pretty loud person, someone who commands the attention of the room, but hands down one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met when she’s not making googly eyes at Aiden.
“How would that work?” Lilly asks, slightly less drunk than her friend.
“It’ll be a competition. Oli and Erin will toss me, and Julian and Chase can toss Amelia beside me at the same time. You have to throw her at the Kessler campaign sign on the boards, and the first girl to pass the cola advertisement on the boards wins!”
I look at the boys to gauge their opinion, and clearly their competitive side has already switched on. They’re ready to win.
“I’m game if you guys are,” Oliver says to the boys, a friendly challenge in his voice.
“Oh, you are so on,” Annalisa replies, a fire in her eyes.
“Is it okay with you, Amelia?” Aiden asks, eyeing my taped up finger.
I look over at Erin, Oli, and Vee, who are already talking strategy.
“Let’s win this thing.” I smile and skate over to my team.
Obviously, Lilly would not be strong enough to catch Vee as she whips toward her, so it somehow ends up being Mason who will catch her, and Aiden who will catch me. I’m definitely not complaining about the new arrangement, since it means Aiden putting his hands all over me, and no one in their right mind would complain about that.
From outside the rink Lilly and Annalisa are refereeing. It’s just a friendly little competition, but clearly everyone here is interested in winning.
“Remember, you have to let go of your girl by the campaign sign!” Lilly reminds us as we get ready to start. “In three, two, one, go!”
Julian and Chase skate forward and pull me along with all they’ve got, the wind against my face feeling refreshing and freeing. I laugh, having way too much fun with this compared to the seriousness on Annalisa’s face when she told us we better win.
We reach the campaign sign and they let go of my arms, throwing me clear across the rink. Vee is right beside me, having just been thrown herself, and we laugh as the boys cheer for us to pass the finish line.
I’m going so fast and laughing so hard I have no idea who passes the finish board first, but suddenly I crash into