“Hey, you’re Ashley Lawford.”
Ashley smiled. “Hi.” She sensed Scott on her heels and couldn’t ignore that she immediately felt more secure with him nearby.
The girl jolted upright, her eyes bright. “And you’re Scott Mettle.”
“Hi.” He looked down at Ashley’s feet. “What size are you?”
The teenage girl said to him, “That’s what I should be asking you.” She pulled out her phone. “I’ve got to tell my sister you’re here. When I was little, I accidentally found one of her dirty magazines and you were on the cover.”
Ashley blanched, putting her hands to either side of her face, only now recalling that Scott had appeared in a well-known female pornographic magazine. “Yeah, what size are you, Scott?” It was good payback for his borderline offensive joke about holding the bowling balls in his hands.
“I never revealed that,” he said in a serious tone. “It was a tasteful shoot.”
The girl laughed. “Wearing only a Santa hat and a long red stocking on your…” She spun her index finger in a circle, directing it at the space between his legs. “That was tasteful? Because I had nightmares about Santa Claus for weeks after that!”
Ashley broke out in laughter. She turned to find Scott’s face as red as that stocking had probably been.
He stood in place, pouting. “I did it so I could pay for time in a recording studio. We didn’t have a label at that time.”
“Hello, Stacey,” the teenage girl said, talking on the phone. “You’ll never guess who’s in Bedford Falls.”
Scott whipped out his wallet. “Hey,” he said, getting the girl’s attention by pulling out a fifty dollar bill. “It’s all yours if you hang up now and don’t tell anyone we were here.”
She thought about that prospect. “Sorry,” she said into the phone. “Talk to you later.” She hung up.
“I’ll take a size twelve.” Scott turned to Ashley. “How about you?”
“Six.”
The girl grabbed the fifty-dollar bill. She got the skates and put them on the countertop. “And it’ll be seventeen dollars for the skates.”
Scott plunked down a twenty and grabbed the skates. “Keep the change.”
Ashley led Scott towards a bench, where they changed into their skates. “I forgot that I was in the presence of a big porn star.”
“It’s not porn if I wasn’t nude.”
“You call a Santa hat and stocking regular attire? Let’s see a Santa Claus try to get away with that one at the mall.”
A moment later, he followed her out onto the ice and immediately swung to the right to avoid a couple little kids who zoomed past them.
So many factors told Ashley not to spend time with him. The two biggest: humiliation and enthusiasm, both of which could turn to disappointment in a moment’s notice if she didn’t keep things platonic.
Then again, she didn’t want to get ahead of herself and begin making grand plans like she did as a teenager.
Ashley tried to shake off that possibility, but enough electricity sparked between them to power an industrial plant. Even now, while clawing her skates against the ice to close the two-foot distance between them, she felt an invisible force pulling her towards him.
As a child, she often went ice-skating on this same pond. But fifteen years without practice left her more than a little rusty. She tried not to think about how she swung her arms in windmill fashion to maintain her balance. Or that at least six people on either side of her were pointing and/or laughing at her while she did so.
And only one distraction allowed her to block them out… Scott’s smile.
It welcomed her like a lighthouse beacon as it searched for that one ship in a sea of darkness. But rather than swaying from left to right, the sparkle in his eyes remained with her, guiding her toward him.
Because she worked in the entertainment industry, which meant the people she interacted with were often arrogant and vain, she hadn’t seen a sincere expression like the one now directed at her since… she left Bedford Falls.
Or just as accurately…since she left Scott.
That realization horrified her because she’d met so many men with one or more of the following attributes: egotistical, narcissistic, selfish, crude, and childish. She could fill a three-ring binder with ugly characteristics. Only now did she even consider what it felt like to see an honest expression of affection.
Looking at him now, Scott’s eyes shined with such confidence and warmth and compassion that she lost focus. That upended her concentration and poise. Her breathing staggered in her throat, and she struggled to maintain her balance. Soon enough, she swung her arms every which way, unable to control which direction her skates went.
The grin on Scott’s face faded into…alarm.
Because she slipped and tripped straight toward him.
But a moment later, exhilarated by the fact that she would slam into him, Scott’s assured smile returned. He pivoted on his skates with ease, opened his arms, and took her into a warm embrace.
Somehow those strong arms locked her in place, stopping her from bashing into him.
“Ever thought about joining the Olympic figure skating squad?” he asked.
Out of breath from trying to regain her balance and feeling that she’d prove too much to handle in his arms, Ashley tried to set the tips of her skates into the ice to lock her in place. But doing so swung her legs in one direction and her chest and arms in the other.
“What’re you…” Scott asked, unable to finish his sentence because she’d forced him to regain their equilibrium. Only he failed to do just that, and they fell to the ground.
Scott twisted his body so that he’d take the brunt of the impact by landing on the ground underneath her. The blow knocked a gust of air from his chest. A moment later, she fell on top of him, forcing his eyes open wide as even more oxygen rushed from his mouth.
“Oh my God,” Ashley said in fright, feeling guilty that Scott took all of the punishment from the accident she set in motion. “Are you okay?”
Wincing, he sucked in a breath and nodded. “I’m great,” he said, but just saying those words made him grimace. “You?”
“Liar,” she said, eager to relieve some of his pain. “How can I help?”
“I’m having a hard time breathing.”
“What can I do?”
“For starters? Get off my chest.”
She gasped, annoyed with herself for being so oblivious. Rather than waste time apologizing, Ashley shifted position, moving off to her right.
With amazing speed, Scott nestled his arms around her back, pushed off the ground, and spun around. In doing so, Ashley curved beneath him as he hovered above her.
Shocked at the ease with which he whirled her around, not to mention lowered her to the ground as though she rested on a pillow rather than ice, Ashley lost her breath and watched as Scott heaved for air above her.
“Is this what I should expect from every intimate encounter?” she asked with a smile. “You’re out of breath before we even begin?”
He met her grin with one of his own. “You should only be so lucky.” Within moments, however, his labored breathing returned to normal. “Especially for someone who orchestrated this whole thing just so I could get you in this position.”
“Is that what you think?” she asked, incredulous. “That I planned this?”
“It’s classic Ashley Lawford. You’re frazzled that I caught on, so you repeat what I said, hoping to buy yourself time to come up with a sarcastic remark… all to pretend you don’t care.”
“Who said I don’t care?”
He raised an eyebrow, examining her gaze. “You are a good actress. You almost had me there for a second.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“No, I don’t. Because if you really cared, you wouldn’t need to rely on tricks. You’d rely on…” He drew back a few inches, searching her eyes.
This unexpected intensity made her anxious to hear
what he’d say next. “What?” she asked, wanting to prod him to continue. “If I really cared…”
Motionless, now searching her expression with tenderness, Scott closed his lips. It seemed that whatever he had to say, he didn’t want to do it with words. He lifted his right hand from the ground, holding himself up on his left hand alone, removed his glove, and brushed the back of his palm against her cheeks.
This alone made Ashley’s heart race. Part of her knew that neighbors she once knew swept past her every few seconds, zipping in one direction or another. But with each passing second that awareness drifted into the background as she felt helpless to do anything but focus on the only man she’d ever loved.
Ashley’s affection for Scott returned with unexpected force, and she let her guard down quickly. She soon realized she felt as comfortable on the cold, hard ice as she would have felt resting on a hammock during a perfect summer day.
Scott lowered his gaze to her lips.
The fragility and wonder with which he stared at her made her want to feel his lips on hers. Wanted to feel his hot breath on her neck. Wanted to feel his fingers resting on her hip before slowly tracing their way down her thigh, slipping between her legs, and caressing the spot that grew warmer with each passing second.
“This is just like the old days,” Scott said, a warm smile coming to his face. But within moments, his eyes grew as frigid as the ice she lay on. “But that doesn’t change anything. You don’t feel the same. Not like you once did.”
Aware that his demeanor changed, but uncertain why, Ashley had been so caught up in Scott that she needed a few seconds for those words to develop meaning in her mind. And when they did, she felt cheated. Even worse, she felt offended, betrayed, violated.
She’d allowed him into her heart, and Scott not only turned his back on her, but he insulted the depth of feeling that had begun sinking into her body and mind.
Scott looked curious by his last statement. “I guess we never stop wanting our first love to hold a special place in our hearts.” He reflected on that remark before drawing a deep breath, letting it out, and appearing renewed by his admission.
Scott’s reverent view of their time together so long ago caught Ashley by surprise. Her cheeks flushed.
“But we can’t live in the past, now can we? Otherwise, we’ll miss the future. A smart woman once told me that,” he said, bestowing her with a knowing nod. Then he hopped to his feet, all notions of lingering romanticism tossed aside.
Ashley wanted him to backtrack, to remain in yesteryear so she could understand how he felt about her. She looked into his eyes for some hint that his words betrayed his heart, but it seemed that he trusted every word he said. An invisible weight fell onto her shoulders, pressing her downwards. But with more thought, she realized that the pressure crashed onto her heart for one reason: the man who’d once adored her, the man who’d believed in love even when she hadn’t, the man who’d never stopped looking for love… no longer loved her. He hadn’t lied to her after all. He’d simply given up on her.
The uneasiness that twisted her stomach into knots each time she crossed paths with him now dissolved, making her question if she still had feelings for him and if she simply hadn’t been honest enough with herself to admit it.
“Are you okay?” Scott asked, his tone worried but not exactly concerned. Like he wanted her to feel good, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to make it happen.
Based on the way he just responded, Ashley now understood why her stomach and heart felt restless. As much as she’d wanted to believe otherwise, she still cared for Scott. Nevertheless, she didn’t love him. How could she?
If that had been the case, she’d have returned to Bedford Falls at some point soon after she’d left and confronted him about what happened the day they graduated. Only to discover that it had all been a misunderstanding. And they would have gotten back together, that ridiculous misinterpretation bringing them even closer than before. Eventually, they would have gotten married and had children. And Ashley would have eluded all the frustration and self-flagellation that accompanied one lonely night after another over the course of the last fifteen years.
But like Scott, she’d also had a decade-and-a-half to contemplate their breakup. And while he’d eventually moved on, while still believing in the possibility of finding a love as strong as the one they’d shared, Ashley had been subconsciously too heartbroken to move on. Her unshakable belief that she and Scott were soul mates prevented her from giving her heart away again.
So while Ashley didn’t expect to feel sparks between them, she’d wanted to spend time with Scott to see if her heart tugged in his presence. After all, if she’d failed to make a connection with other men over the past fifteen years, what better way to find out if she could recapture that long-lost magic by hanging out with the only person to have triggered that type of response from her?
And based on how her chest and stomach tightened in his presence, Ashley had tested her hypothesis and discovered that her heart had mended, since she definitely felt her soul pulling her in Scott’s direction. On one hand, she was gratified to feel that she hadn’t lost all interest in men. But at the same time, why did she seemingly only feel chemistry with just one man on the planet? This conflict frightened her into inactivity. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, couldn’t even think. She just stared at Scott.
“You may have gotten a concussion,” Scott said, his words coming in a quick burst. “I thought I’d stopped your head from hitting the ice.” Scott winced in uncertainty, and he slid an arm around her back, leading her off the ice. “I’m so sorry, Ashley. I was showing off a little, trying to… oh, never mind. It was stupid.”
Showing off? About what? And why?
“Let’s get to the emergency room. They’ll do a CT scan or something to see if you’re okay.”
“No,” Ashley said, finally finding her voice. “I’m okay.” She turned to watch Scott lead her off the ice. She moved her skates alongside his to show that she had some mobility, but she didn’t move too quickly and risk sending them both to the ground again.
The thought of looking up to see him lingering over her again sent a shiver through her. But she explained that away as an affectionate relic from the past that had no bearing on the present.
Scott looked undecided and remained quiet until they reached a plastic bench at the edge of the rink. He lowered her until she took a seat. Then he got down on one knee in front of her.
“What are you doing?” she asked, startled by his stance.
“Huh?” He looked down as though he’d spilled something on his coat but recognized his posture and chuckled. “Your sense of humor’s back. Good. Maybe you’re all right after all.” He removed one skate before moving to the other. “And don’t worry. I have no intention of proposing anytime soon.” Then he gave his comments further thought. “Or maybe not.” He notched an eyebrow. “I can be pretty unpredictable.” A sneaky grin appeared on his lips.
She opened her mouth to say… what exactly?
“No smart-aleck remark?” He removed the other skate.
“Um,” she said, looking at her socks, “they’re getting cold.”
“Getting cold feet already? But I haven’t even proposed.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean—”
“Chill,” Scott said, grinning at his impromptu pun. “I’ll be right back.”
He took powerful strides to the little shed where they’d rented their skates so he could return them and grab their shoes.
She sat there, trying to regain her wits. But considering that her heart fluttered whenever she was at his side, Ashley couldn’t get over what that meant for her future.
“How are you feeling?” Scott asked, taking a seat beside her. He held out her shoes.
She snatched them. “Thank you. I’m fine.” She plugged her foot into one shoe after the other.
“You don’t look fine. You look confused.”
&nb
sp; “I’m not. I feel great.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” she said, getting to her feet. “I’m in tip-top shape.”
“Maybe you should lay low with winter sports for a while though.”
“Are you kidding? I’m great at all kinds of winter sports.”
“Oh, yeah? Other than your obvious talent and grace on the ice, what else are you a prodigy at? Bobsledding? Snowboarding? Luge?”
“I’ll have you know I’m a good skier.” Unfortunately, based on his widening smile, Ashley realized that she’d actually said those words out loud, rather than just thinking them.
“Sure you are.”
“I am.” Why did she keep speaking? “Well, I’m pretty good at it.”
“You don’t sound very confident. Plus, you don’t talk like someone who skis.”
“Oh, yeah? I’ll prove it to you. Meet me at Winter in Serenity this weekend.”
“You realize that you’re asking me out on a date, right? Because it doesn’t get any clearer than that.”
“Definitely not.”
“Sure it is. You’re asking me out.”
“You’re way off. You just attacked my character. I’m going to prove you wrong.”
“Oh, really,” he said, a mischievous smile lifting one corner of his lips. “And how does that work?”
“How does what work?”
He closed the distance between them. “Putting me in my place.”
Seeing those playful eyes and that flirty grin, Ashley couldn’t deny the truth: no matter what Scott had said about separating their past from their future, a small part of his heart sought to revisit the relationship they once shared. Goosebumps prickled her skin. “I guess you’ll just have to see,” she said. “This Saturday afternoon.”
Scott stepped closer, leaving only six inches between them. The humor in his expression disappeared, replaced by an unreadable gaze while he looked deep into her eyes for a long moment. “Till Saturday afternoon.” Then he turned around and walked away.
Ashley watched him go, unsure how she’d inadvertently invited him to showcase her great skills on the slopes. Only one problem existed. She’d never skied a day in her life.
One More Chance (A Bedford Falls Novel Book 3) Page 18