Chapter 7
Kortni's P.O.V.
"Pav, can I see now?"
"No, not yet, hold on," he guides me, his hands covering my eyes. "Okay," he says, uncovering them.
They open to the ice rink.
"Why are we here?" I turn to Pav, standing behind me, to find him holding up a pair of skates, a smile plastered on his face.
"Really?" I ask, raising my eyebrows. "I didn't think that you would want to be here."
He shrugs.
"I like the ice. I feel at home here. It makes me forget about the acci-…never mind," he says, becoming even quieter than usual.
"Hey, Pav? Are you okay?" I ask, placing my hand on his strong shoulder.
He nods, smiling.
"Yeah. Should we get on the ice?"
"Don't judge me. I haven't been on the ice since I hurt my back and had to quit figure skating," I say, letting my shoulders drop.
"You used to figure skate?"
"Yeah. I mean until I was fifteen. But then, like I said, I hurt my back. Couldn't do it anymore, had to quit."
"Well, I won't. I'm sure you won't be that bad," he replies, chuckling.
"Thanks, Pav."
"Hey that's what you need! A nickname!"
"Well, most people just call me Kort-"
"No like a special one."
"Okay, you think on that and let me know when you come up with a really good one."
Pav's strong arms reach around my waist. His large, rough hands squeeze onto my hips, steadying me.
Shakily, I hold out my arms to steady myself. I giggle as I almost fall.
"UGH! See! I can't do it!" I say, placing my heads in my hands.
Pav chuckles warmly in my ear, his hot breath tickling my neck and cheek. Once I get the hang of it again, he spins me around to face him. I continue to skate forward as he skates backwards. His hands are still firmly gripping my hips as he smiles at me. I can't help but smile back and wind my fingers around his neck.
He leans down quickly pecks me on the cheek. I look up into his crystal blue eyes.
"Sorry," he says. "I don't know what got into me there. That was stupid. I'm sorry."
"You missed," I say.
"What?'" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
"You missed," I reiterate.
He gives me another confused look as I shake my head. I firmly pull his lips down to mine and press them together. After a couple seconds, Pav kisses back, pulling me even closer to him. When we pull back, I realize that we have stopped drifting.
"Wow," I whisper. "That was pretty cool."
Pav smiles, shaking his head. He pokes my nose with his pointer finger. I wrinkle it and giggle. We skate and laugh for the rest of the night, just drifting around. I even attempted a couple of my jumps.
In the middle of a laugh, I begin to yawn.
"I think that's our cue that it's time to go to bed," Pav chuckles as I nod tiredly.
We take off our skates and make our way back to my dorm. I kick off my shoes and climb into my bed.
"Pav, will you tuck me?" I ask, stretching my arms out towards him.
He shakes his head and smiles, making his way over to me. He pulls the blankets up to my chin. He sits on the edge of the bed and brushes my hair back, pushing it off my shoulder. He brushes his fingers along my cheekbone. I grab onto his hand and hold it to my chest, burying my cheek and nose in his warm hand. He smiles, leans over me, and kisses my forehead. I smile as my eyes close.
"Goodnight, Mark. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Goodnight, Kortney. See you tomorrow," and that's the last thing I hear before he kisses my cheek and exits my room, shutting out the hallway light.
