Unless . . . Lauren stood up, holding out her hand to Eddie before dropping it again, figuring it was a babyish gesture he wouldn’t want any part of. “Let’s go see about ice skating,” she said. “Have you ever been?”
“No,” he said, still sullen even though he stood and seemed willing to follow her at least. “I went to a roller skating birthday party once. I was pretty good. My mom said I learned fast.”
“Well, I’m sure they’re the same,” Lauren said, not sure about that at all. “Come on, let’s try it out.”
She got Eddie outfitted with a pair of rental skates, and rented some for herself, too, even though she knew she’d end up clinging to the wall the whole time. Once she’d made sure Eddie’s were laced on tight, they walked gingerly together toward the entrance to the rink, trying to avoid getting jostled by the other, more confident skaters who pushed by to get onto the ice.
Asa was in the middle of one of his laps, but out of the corner of her eye she saw his blue hair as he broke away, glancing to see that the coast was clear before skating over to her and Eddie. “Hey,” he said.
There was so much weight to that one word, Lauren almost wished she could pause the moment and analyze every nook and cranny of it. Was he angry with her? Indifferent?
But there wasn’t time for that now, so Lauren gestured to Eddie at her side. “Asa, this is my friend Eddie,” she said. “He was hoping to ice skate, but I don’t really know how.”
“You don’t know anything,” Eddie said, but without any real bite.
Lauren pulled a face at Asa. “Last week I blanked and called Thor ‘the hammer guy,’ and this week I don’t know how cold it has to be to kill someone.”
“And they let you have a driver’s license?” Asa said, giving her a wink. “Give me a sec—I’ll get Saulo out here to take over so I can skate with you.”
“That’s not—” Lauren started to call after him, to let him know that wasn’t necessary. She hadn’t intended for him to focus his full attention on them, had only hoped that maybe he could give them a couple tips and keep his eyes open to make sure nothing happened to Eddie.
Apparently, Eddie wasn’t who she needed to worry about. He stepped out onto the ice with his skates and, although at first he was tentative and holding on to the wall, it was only a few moments before he was shuffling slowly in something that approximated ice skating. “I told you I could do it!”
Meanwhile, Lauren set one foot on the ice, and immediately her leg slid out from beneath her, landing her flat on her ass on the cold, wet surface.
Eddie turned his head but clearly had no idea how to change his current forward trajectory, drifting aimlessly away from her. “You okay, Miss Lauren?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Just my . . .”
A pair of skates came toward her so fast she flinched, but Asa came to an expert stop a foot away, sending little chips of ice flying into the air. He reached down a hand to pull her up, and she grasped his forearm, embarrassed when she had to cling to avoid falling again.
“Just your what?” Eddie prompted. “Your butt?”
“Ah, no,” Lauren said, although there was a dull ache in that region already. “My pride.”
“You got this,” Asa said. “Bend your knees a little. Stay low while you’re still starting out—it’ll help a lot with balance.”
“Like this?” Eddie crouched down slightly, gliding forward on the ice.
“Exactly,” Asa said. “This kid’s a ringer. Where’d you get him, a Russian hockey camp? His accent’s impeccable.”
“Miss Lauren is my guardian something,” Eddie said. “Not the one I live with. The one who’s supposed to help me get my mom back.”
“Well, that’s . . .” Lauren started, but Eddie was already shuffling farther ahead, and her voice trailed off. “。 . . an oversimplification.” She gave Asa a rueful smile. “Sorry about this. You can let go.”
He lifted his hand from her elbow, and she instantly felt her arms start to windmill, her balance tilt. Asa reached for her again, keeping her so close she could feel his body heat. “I don’t know that you’re ready for the big leagues yet,” he said. “You sure you don’t want me to get you one of those skate helpers?”
So she could look like she was pushing a plastic high chair around the ice? No, thank you. “I know I dented my pride with that spill back there,” she said. “But I do still have some left.”