me and pulls me in for a hug. I look down and see her waiting for a kiss, so I do it quickly, not feeling comfortable doing it in front of Felicity for some reason. When I pull away from our quick kiss, I turn to see her in the arms of Chad. She’s smiling and he has his hands on her hips, whispering something to her. I glance away just as she glances at me. Then when I look back, they’re kissing. Full-on kissing in front of everyone. Now I know why she looked at me. She was seeing if I was watching. Apparently she doesn’t feel right kissing someone in front of me either.
Christina pulls me toward the ice rink and our whole group follows. We skate for a while, talk with our friends, but then everyone kind of disperses and goes their own way. I notice Chad getting off the ice and Felicity is still skating around. I look around for Christina and find her behind me with a couple of her friends, so I quickly skate up to Felicity.
“So, Chad, huh?” I ask, annoyed that I can’t hide the disgust in my voice.
She looks up at me with raised brows. “So, Christina, huh?”
I wave her off. “Christina and I have been together for months. You know that.”
“I knew when you got together. I didn’t know you were still together. I never see you with her anymore.”
I shrug. “We’re busy.”
“When are you busy? You’re almost always with me.”
“Exactly. I’m always with you, so how is it that the subject of Chad never came up?”
She shrugs. “I didn’t think you liked him and I didn’t want to fight.”
“I wouldn’t fight with you. Him maybe,” I joke, but I’m also completely serious. Already I’m trying to figure out how to pick a fight with him.
“Why are you so upset by this?” she asks, coming to a stop on the ice.
I do the same. “Who says I’m upset. I just can’t figure out why you’d try hiding it.”
“I wasn’t hiding it. God, you sound like my mother.”
“Look, I’m just concerned, okay? Chad is a douchebag. He dates girls and gets what he wants from them and then dumps them. He’s older than you too. You know he’s going to have expectations.”
She laughs. “Expectations? Like what?”
I shrug.
“Sex? You mean he’s going to want to have sex with me?”
“Felicity,” I warn.
“Well…good. Maybe I want to have sex with him.”
I grind my teeth together. “Don’t talk like that. You’re not even fifteen yet.”
“So, how old were you when you had sex for the first time?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“So, you won’t tell me one thing, but I’m expected to tell you everything? Kind of a double standard, isn’t it?”
I roll my neck, looking up at the sky as I let out a long breath. “Just be careful. And let me know if he gets out of line. I’d love a reason to kick his ass.” I push past her and get off the ice. It’s not long before Christina finds me and I have to pretend to be in a decent mood again.
“You remember that fight we got into here?”
Her eyes grow wide. “Of course. We didn’t talk for like two weeks after that.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I was pretty pissed off.”
“You were jealous,” she points out.
“Of course I was. I couldn’t have you; I didn’t want anyone else to either.”
“What’s your excuse now?”
“It’s pretty much the same, but it’s easier to ignore when there is a country between us.”
She shakes her head slightly. “That works for you? It doesn’t me. I thought going to South Carolina for college would stop it, but it didn’t. I ended up just driving myself crazy wondering what you were doing all the time.”
“It did at first. But then I found myself wondering what you were doing. Who you were with. Who was touching you. That’s why I started calling more. I had to know that you were safe.”
She stops moving and I glide to a stop next to her. “You know, there’s one surefire way to know the answers to all those questions, right?”
“I know.”
“If you want me to stop, just tell me, Carson. We’re adults. If you want me to stop, I will.” Her sparkling green eyes meet mine as I think it over.
“Don’t stop, Felicity. Just give me some time.”
The corners of her mouth turn up into a smile as we stand there looking at one another, lost in our own world. I want to