Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Was she kidding?
“I’ve never been on ice skates in my life. I’m positive I’d fall flat on my ass within seconds.”
“I’m pretty good, actually. There was a rink near my house growing up, and I’d go there a lot. I could teach you.”
“I’d fall on you and crush you.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
“Nina, you know I’d do anything for you…but that…I just don’t think…”
“I’ll tell you what...I have two more exams before the end of the semester. These are the hardest ones. You know that. So, the chances are slim that I’ll get A’s. If I don’t, then you know the deal. I have to let you take me on an excursion. If I do, you let me take you ice skating. Come on, it’s only fair.”
She was right. Those last two exams were going to be killer. The odds were in my favor.
I rubbed my chin and reluctantly said, “Okay, deal.”
***
“Put these on.”
Nina returned from the skate rental booth and handed me my size twelves.
I still couldn’t believe I’d gotten myself into this. She had received an A minus on her most recent exam. When she first broke the news, I tried to get out of the ice skating by arguing that technically an A minus wasn’t an A, but the look of sheer disappointment on her face eventually caused me to cave.
So, the following Tuesday, we found ourselves at the rink at Rockefeller Center. It wasn’t as crowded as it might have been on a weekend, so that was a plus. Pretending to be sick, I left work early that day so that Nina and I could venture into the city for my Ice Capades debut.
The weather was clear, cold and sunny. It was an otherwise perfect day except for the fact that I was about to make a complete fool out of myself in front of the girl of my dreams.
Standing up on the skates made me feel about ten feet tall. Nina took my hand as I struggled to balance myself.
“Now, what you have to do first is get used to the feel of the blades on the ice. Gently move your feet back and forth like this.” Nina skated in front of me and demonstrated the move. “Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.”
I mimicked the movements, but my eyes apparently decided that watching her beautiful ass cheeks move back and forth was a lot more fun than paying attention to the foot technique. Nina was wearing fleece leggings that clung to her body, and holy hell it was hot. Needless to say, I ended up falling on my own ass as a result.
Two kids barely older than toddler age whizzed by me and laughed.
Great.
To make matters worse, now Nina was helping me up. “You need to dig into the ice, Jake. As soon as you lose that grip, you’ll fall.”
“I know. I just got a little distracted.”
By your fucking beautiful ass.
Gradually, I got my act together, and we practiced the back and forth technique for several minutes until I was able to move on the ice.
“Now, the next thing I’m going to show you is a basic movement called a swizzle.”
“A whatchamacallit?”
She giggled. “A swizzle. Watch.” Nina’s legs opened and closed in slow, gliding motions. “You push your skates apart and let them slowly come back together. Just like this.”
If I thought the other stuff earlier was making me crazy, seeing her legs open and close like this made my imagination run wild.
She continued to demonstrate as my eyes stayed transfixed on her body. “Open and close. Open and glide back together, see? That’s called a swizzle.”
Swizzle.
Me like swizzle.
That was the last thought I had before a heavyset man plowed right into me, knocking me on my ass again.
“Oh my God. Jake!” Nina yelled as she spun around.
“Sorry, man. You alright?” the guy asked as he reached out his hand and helped me up.
I needed to get the hell out of these ice skates before I completely lost every bit of coolness I’d ever built up in Nina’s eyes.
“Yeah…yeah, I’m fine,” I said.
“Did you not see him coming toward you?”
“I was focusing on your swizzle.”
Is that what they’re calling it now?
“Okay, take my hand. You need to practice. We’ll skate together. You’re gonna come forward in a swizzle, and I’m gonna move backwards. Hold onto me.” I started moving my feet in the way she’d demonstrated. “That’s right,” she said. “Apart and together. Apart and together.”
We were moving slowly across the ice. “I’m not sure this is a good idea, my holding onto you like this.”
“You’re doing fine.”
Miraculously, I’d finally found a rhythm that worked for me. I was going so slowly that it was nearly impossible to fall. Nina looked gorgeous as she looked up into my eyes while we held hands. She was wearing white earmuffs atop her golden hair that fell in messy waves over her matching white coat. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold air. She reminded me of a sexy ice princess.