"I do not, I repeat, do not ice skate." Tom informed me with determined repetition about an hour later as Chris skated by with a small smirk on his face. I pulled insistently on Tommy's arm. He lived in Canada for God's sake! He had to have skated at least once in his life. The expression in his eyes told me he hadn't.
"What if I told you I'd hold your hand the whole time." I begged persistently as Tommy shook his head vehemently once again. I sighed. Jesus! The man was stubborn! If I could just get a pair of skates on his dead-blasted feet…
"Not intimidated by a little bit of ice, are you Quincy?" Chris asked on a laugh as he whirred by us again. I saw Tommy's jaw clench. That did it.
"Hand me the damn skates, Harrison." Tommy demanded as I grinned. Kudos to Chris! Nothing more effective than a jab at a guy's manliness. Now, I was interested to see how long I could manage to keep the man out there with me. I watched him lace the skates quietly—trying not to laugh as he silently cursed creation in general underneath his breath before standing up precariously. I held out my hand with a winsome smile—thanking the heavens for the gloves that kept his splotched skin from touching mine although Tom looked almost back to normal and I was pretty sure his hands hadn't been affected by the poison ivy. At least, I didn't remember a rash there.
"Gives a whole new meaning to skating on thin ice, doesn't it?" I asked on a chuckle before biting my lip when Tommy glared down at me pointedly.
"If God had intended for people to walk on frozen water, don't you think he would have made us adaptable to that sort of thing?" Tommy asked as he grabbed onto my shoulder—hard—as his feet shook from underneath him. We spun as I tried to keep him upright.
"Isn't that what skates are for?" I asked on a laugh as Tommy narrowed his eyes. He wobbled again.
"No, that was some misguided inventor's idea of playing at overcoming nature." Tom commented mildly as I tried not to laugh again. I couldn't help it, I chuckled and we both had to grab for the walls as Tommy almost lost his footing yet again. Chris skated up to us soberly.
"I'm enjoying this new installment in the Quincy icecapades. Should we be looking for upcoming ticket sales?" Chris asked on a small smile as I shrugged to keep from laughing.
"Don't tease the man, Chris. He's suddenly very religious." I proclaimed with a straight face as Chris lost it—laughing so hard that he had to grab onto the wall too to keep from ending up on the ice. Tom just grumbled as Chris moved away again.
"If I didn't depend on you to get me off this ice, I'd tell you to go to hell, Harrison." Tommy stated simply as I smiled before skating away from the wall—bringing him with me as I did. He grabbed for my shoulder again as we moved until he finally seemed to become confidant enough I could let go. He speeded up as he went, and I followed him on a laugh until I saw him glance back at me in horror.
"You forgot to tell me how to stop." He cried out as I sped up to catch up to him before he hit the wall—grabbing him by the shoulders only to send us both into an immediate spin. I laughed as we tried to stay upright only to land indecorously right into the middle of the rink in a jumble of elbows, knees, and flying hair. Boy, what a mess. I didn't realize how close our faces were until I tried to get up only to crack foreheads with him. We both quit moving as our noses touched. It was like the world stood still. I didn't even care if I caught poison ivy from him although I was pretty sure I wasn't allergic to the stuff. I had fallen into a patch of it as a kid and hadn't broken out.
"I should move now." I remarked faintly as I started to move away only to have Tommy grab me by the hand. He removed the glove I was wearing so that our naked palms touched.
"I'm going on tour with you." Tommy uttered on a whisper as my eyes grew wide. He was what? Really? Sharing a tour bus with Tommy and the gang. What a wonderful yet awful idea. Could an idea be both of those things simultaneously? A tour of America with Tom—a collection of old hotel rooms and convenience stores—of corny tourist attractions and late evenings. It was…wow.
Author's Footnote: Hey guys! Here's the three chapters I wrote for this story this weekend. Hope you enjoy and more coming up today, I swear, or you can shoot daggers at me through the computer (laugh). Thank you so much for the reviews and I hope you love where I take this story. You guys are fantastic! I really miss you guys so much on the weekend! I really do. Lots of hugs to you all. And please R&R. Angel422.
