Wesley turned to me with a wry grin, like he thought I was being adorably obtuse. “Would you, though?”
Frowning, I said nothing. Surely I’d be able to pick up on an emotion as heavy as love. But... maybe not? I mean, it’s not as if I was experienced in examining emotions at all, so how the hell would I know what to look for? So far the only ones I’d been able to pick out with accuracy were anger, worry, frustration, and amusement. Sometimes arousal but even then I had to second-guess if it was coming from me or him. God damn, sexy-ass motherfucker.
Still, the idea of Austin in love with me was laughable. Right?
“Ice skating?” I squeaked, half excited and half terrified as we got out of the taxi in front of the Harbourfront Ice Rink.
“Yeah, I thought it was a cool kind of date activity.” Wesley shrugged and blushed, like he was suddenly nervous. “They have a café area for food and a bar for drinks... seeing as it is my twenty-first after all.”
Winding my arms around his neck, I pulled him in for a long kiss and then grinned at him.
“I love it. It’s so...”
“Normal?” he finished for me, and I nodded. Exactly that. Normal.
He smiled back at me, the pink flush in his cheeks subsiding. “I thought after all the craziness lately, normal was exactly what we needed tonight. So, food first or skating? Wait, do you know how to skate?”
My teeth worried at my lip as I watched the skaters out on the ice, and I shook my head. “No. Do you?”
Wesley’s grin spread wider, and he pecked a quick kiss on my lips. “Yup, so I can teach you.”
Excitement rushed through me. This really is a normal date!
“Skate first then,” I decided, snaking my arm around his waist and leaning in to him as we headed over to the little cabana of rental skates. Wesley’s arm over my shoulders pulled me in close to his warm body, and I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.
“Dragon!” someone screamed, and we both tensed.
My heart racing, I scanned the crowd and relaxed only when I saw some kids come laughing and screaming out from behind a car. One of them wore a plushie dragon head and was chasing the other kids, to their extreme amusement.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered under my breath, willing my pulse to slow the fuck down as I cuddled back into Wesley’s side.
“Yep,” he agreed, running a hand through his blond hair. “Doesn’t look like the dragon hysteria is dying down any time soon.”
Ever since the video footage of Cole and Vali in their dragon forms had been aired all over the international news, the world had been going nuts for dragons—Toronto being the worst for it, seeing as this was where it had all happened.
Street vendors were selling dragon masks and wings and all sorts of merchandise like coffee cups and snow globes. It was insane. If I wasn’t so damn concerned about what would happen if the existence of magic was outed, it’d probably be funny.
“Surely they’ll get sick of it eventually. They’ve already had that guy ‘debunking’ the video. It won’t be long until everyone believes it was a hoax.” I was trying to sound confident, if for no other reason than to convince myself.
Wes shrugged and placed a soft kiss on the side of my neck as we moved forward in the line. “Here’s hoping. Now all those scaly bastards need to do is stay out of sight.”
I groaned. It sounded easy. Just don’t turn into a dragon in public. But both Cole and Vali had confessed to me privately that every day the urge to change was becoming stronger, and we all knew it was only a matter of time before they couldn’t hold it back.
It was why we were in such a hurry to reach a base in the wilderness. Somewhere they could safely change and not worry about ending up dissected for scientific purposes.
“Come on, ignore it,” Wes coaxed as we reached the front of the line and collected our skates. “So long as none of the boys go blowing our cover—”
“Again,” I growled and Wesley smiled.
“—again, then people have no reason to suspect us as anything other than human. Right?” He spoke softly so that no one would overhear, even though the chatter from the hundreds of people around us was enough white noise to drown us out.
“Right,” I murmured back, sitting on a bench beside the ice rink to swap my shoes for skates. “So why does that feel like a famous last words moment?”
“Because that has been par for the course in your life lately and you’re still coming to terms with the fact that you’re not alone in this mess anymore? Because you’re still learning to lean on the six of us rather than shouldering all the guilt and worry and hurt yourself?” Wesley sat up from tying his own skates on and met my startled gaze seriously. “Or something like that.”
“Damn, Wes,” I breathed. “Way to get deep and meaningful on me without warning.”
He grinned, then tucked my shoes next to his under the seat and stood up in his skates. Confidently. He stood really confidently.
“Come on, we’re supposed to be having a normal date remember? No more talk of magic or dragons or... whatever the fuck I am. Agreed?” He held his hands out to me and I took them, standing then almost falling on the thin blades.
“Fucking shit,” I cursed, clutching at his strong forearms as he held me steady. “Agreed. But uh... I’m thinking my healing will come in handy before this night is over. How the hell are you making it look so easy?”
Yes, I was aware we weren’t even on the ice yet. So was Wes apparently, as he snickered.
“You’ll be fine, sweetheart,” he reassured me, releasing one arm to cup my cheek and kiss me gently. “I won’t let you fall. Ever.”
Butterflies erupted in my stomach, and my body washed with a warm tingly feeling that I only ever got around my guys. My guardians.
“I think I rather like being able to feel your emotions.” Wesley grinned, but a delicate pink blush staining his cheeks told me he was still a bit awkward about it all. Not that I blamed him. Most of the time, I was still awkward as hell about the fact that I couldn’t hide what I was feeling, even though there was nothing that needed hiding around Wesley.
That man had me hooked, well and truly, and I didn’t even care if he knew it.
Biting back a goofy smile, I squeezed his hand and nodded to the ice. “You ready to watch me flail around like a baby giraffe on... well, like a baby giraffe on ice?”
He snorted and helped me over to the edge, stepping carefully—confidently, damn him—onto the frozen water, then turning to guide me.
“You couldn’t look anything less than perfect if you tried, sweetheart,” he murmured, and my heart clenched. Damn him. I was falling hard and fast, and I was totally okay with it.
The night flew past in a blink of an eye, and I would have loved to say I took to ice skating like a duck to water... but I didn’t. My skills on skates were nothing short of horrendous.
Wes was true to his word and never did let me fall, despite my uncoordinated legs best attempts otherwise. It was after about the seventh person I almost mowed down that we decided to call it quits, though.
With cold fingers, I unlaced my skates, exchanging them for my boots once more while I watched Wesley making his way through the crowd back to me. He’d gone to grab us food and drinks, but I was taking full advantage to admire my date.
Not much had changed since we met half a year ago... He still wore loose jeans and a hoody that was at least two sizes too big for him. His blond hair was still surfer shaggy, and he still blushed on cue when anything embarrassed him or made him uncomfortable.
And yet, so much had changed. He held himself with more confidence, didn’t dodge eye contact, and was much quicker to speak his mind. At least, he was with me.
“I got us,” he announced, setting the huge tray down on the table, “nachos with extra cheese, cheesy fries, and hot dogs with ketchup, mustard, and cheese. Then to drink... frozen margaritas from one of those slushy machines.”