Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty

Kissing her is intoxicating, better than any drug I've ever taken. I would give up everything to have this feeling one last time, and I would give up the world for her to be all mine again.

"You need a haircut. It's gotten long," Blossom whispers against my mouth.

Overwhelmed in the feelings, in the way my heart is racing a million miles an hour, I just nod and pull her back to me for another kiss.

🌸🌸🌸

"This was a stupid idea, Bryce. Remember when we went ice skating together? I almost died. Are you trying to kill me? I thought you loved me," Blossom pouts.

I roll my eyes and offer her one of my hands. "Ah, damn, baby. You've uncovered my secret. I've been wanting you dead all along."

Blossom huffs and emphatically crosses her arms against her chest. She tries to further emphasize her annoyance by crossing her legs, but as soon as one of her feet leaves the ground, her other foot rolls out from beneath her thanks to the roller skates strapped to her feet.

She squeals, arms flailing as she tries to grip the wood of the bench on either side of her. Once her feet stop rolling around on the ground, she glares right up at me. "Wow, Bryce. You're so funny."

I skate a few paces backwards. "And you're so dramatic. Up you go, Miss Brooks."

She shakes her head. "I don't think I can do that, sir."

I roll a few paces back towards her. This time, when I offer my hands out, she places her much-smaller hands on top of my palms.

I link our fingers and squeeze her hands firmly. "Come on, babe. You'll be okay. I'll hold your hand the whole time. I promise."

Blossom's eyebrows furrow. "Pinky promise?"

I release my hold on one of her hands and close all of my fingers into a fist except my pinky. Blossom links her pinky through mine, and I lean in to kiss her forehead. "Pinky promise."

I take both of Blossom's hands firmly in my grip and gently pull her to her feet. She loses her balance, legs flailing helplessly beneath her, but I crush her against my chest to hold her tight until her legs straighten.

"You ready, my love?" I whisper into her hair.

She nods, and so I unwrap my arms from around her tiny body and reach down to take her hand. Slowly, with Blossom practically wrapped around my arm, we skate through the benches and towards the outdoor rink.

During the months other than winter, the outdoor skating rink her and I went skating at together all those years ago is converted to pavement and roller skates are able to be rented rather than ice skates. I knew I needed to get Blossom out of the house for some fresh air and do something that would take her mind off of the situation with her dad, and I figured that having to put all her focus on staying upright and not falling on her cute little ass would distract her well enough.

Together, we slowly roll onto the concrete, circular rink. Blossom uses one hand to hold onto the barricade around the outside of the rink and her other to hold on to my arm, and even though it makes me snort, I roll along beside her at the slowest pace possible as she gets acclimated to the roller skates.

"How are you so good at this?" Blossom asks through gritted teeth. Her knees are wobbling like mad.

I shrug. "We used to go roller skating back in Florida. Me and my friends. I'll let you ask me more questions about it if you let go of the rail and only hold on to me."

Blossom whines, but then releases her grip on the railing. She stumbles, and her legs begin to slide out from beneath her until I slide an arm around her waist and pull her back upright. We begin to skate along the edges of the ring together, and now that Blossom isn't dragging herself along the wall, I'm able to get us skating at a steady pace.