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            Logan couldn’t stop thinking about Brittany despite their meeting being so brief.  He couldn’t restrain his thoughts from reading all sorts of positive implications from a simple thing like her giving him her name.  Those pleasant assumptions helped him sail through the organic test next morning.  He was confident that he scored well and Tuesday during organic lecture that was verified by a B+ in Professor Crandall’s choppy writing at the top of his test paper.

That euphoria carried him through to Friday night when he returned to the ice rink.  He almost hoped Mr. Speedster would injure him again.  The weather wasn’t quite as cold as the week before as he got the rental skates.  A home basketball game had taken most of the crowd.  It wasn’t difficult to see that Brittany wasn’t working tonight.  A man sported the whistle and Mr. Speedster must be at the ballgame.

Disappointment pierced Logan as he skated toward the man who was working.

“I thought Brittany worked tonight.”

“She only fills in for me when I’m out of town.”  He put the whistle in his mouth and skated away.

Logan started a slow lap and felt someone was keeping pace with him from behind.

“Did I hear you mention my name?”

Logan risked a daring move on skates and turned to skate backward.  He made the maneuver successfully and stared into Brittany’s face.  He tried to hold back his jubilation, fearing he made his feelings too obvious.

“I . . .I just wondered why you weren’t here.”  Logan knew that didn’t fly with her.  She subdued her smirk, wrinkled her nose and skated away.  His shoulders sagged as he watched that woolen skirt flap.  She glanced back.  He bowed his head, did a few more laps and headed for the bench to sit awhile and watch Brittany do several jumps and spins.

Brittany headed his way, made her typical stop and gracefully sat beside him.  She glanced at him and spoke, making direct eye contact.

“I can tell when someone doesn’t give me a straight answer. Want to try again?”

“Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“I’m always sure.”  Logan tried not to squirm and hoped his blush wasn’t visible at the night rink session.

“I wanted to see you again.”

“There, now that wasn’t so hard was it?” She said.

“I guess I feared your reaction.”

“I’ll let you off the hook and not ask you why you wanted to see me again.”  Logan subdued his sigh, but hoped for the opportunity to answer that unasked question.  He felt awkward and launched to another subject.

“I can roller skate better than ice skate.”

“You do rather well on ice skates.’

“Thank you.  I enjoy doing the circle waltz on roller skates but that would be out of the question on ice skates,” Logan said, dreaming of doing that waltz with Brittany.

“Oh, I don’t know.  You could learn.  Say, how did you do on your organic chemistry test?”  Brittany reached down and checked one of her shoe laces.

“How did you know I had an organic test?”

“Well, Dad talks too much, especially to me.   I mentioned you getting hurt and he recognized your name.”

“Crandall.  I should have made the connection.  I’ve been struggling but managed a B+ on the last test.”

“Let’s get some more skating in.  There’s not much of a crowd.  I can give you some instruction on that waltz if you’d like.”

He inwardly bit his lip to keep from coming out with a resounding, “Oh, I’d like that very much.”  Instead he said, “I’m afraid I might cause you to stumble and get hurt.”

“Oh, come on.”  She extended her hand and expounded on how he could turn more effectively.  Logan wasted no time in accepting her hand.

They made several rounds and Brittany took care of him, keeping him vertical instead of horizontal on the ice.  It reminded him of the roller rink owner’s daughter keeping him from falling.  He was flawless, thanks to Brittany and enjoyed the contact with her.

Their eyes met as they faced each other.  He knew he swallowed several times to accompany his smiles.  Her expressions mirrored his but without the swallowing.  His heart melted and he wanted this night to go on forever.

It happened when he was going backward during a turn.  Their skates got entangled and they went down.  He fell on his back, sliding, and Brittany tripped and landed on top of him.

“Oh, Logan, are you alright?”  She asked as they slid to a stop, her still on top of him.

“Knocked . . .the breath. . .outta’ me is all,” he managed, as he began regaining his breath.

Time seemed suspended as he stared into her beautiful face.  Her hair fell forward from under her lose toboggan and touched his face.  The soft silky strands took his recovering breath away.  She centered her gaze on his lips and he pulled off his right glove and moved her hair to her ear and gently pulled her to meet his lips.  She responded by resting her gloved hand on his cheek during the kiss.  Tender, yet passionate was that union.  When they parted, numbness took Logan as he feared he’d stepped way over his bounds.

“Oh, Brittany, I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have. . .”  She touched his lips with her forefinger.

“Shhh!”

She initiated another kiss, this one stretching longer.  That was interrupted by cheers and clapping from skaters who had formed a ring of observation around them.  Brittany rolled off him and they both laughed as they helped each other up.  They stood face to face with hands clasped.  Skaters resumed their circuits around the rink, whizzing by them.

“I guess this removes all doubt that I’m crazy about you,” Logan said.

“You broadcast that the night you got hurt.  You shouldn’t make such quick judgments about somebody you don’t know.  Maybe I’m a spoiled brat,” Brittany said.

“I know better than that.  Okay, hypothetically let’s say you have feelings for me.  I’d also have to say you don’t know me at all.  I might be a rotten scoundrel.”

“Based on my first impressions, I know you’re not a scoundrel.”  Brittany’s smile shined to his very core, but her remarks called for a warning from him.

“Many times first impressions are wrong.”  Logan tugged on her arm and they skated toward the bench.  It was close to quitting time for the night session.

“True.  That’s where my gabby dad comes in.  Based on his and teaching assistants in the lab, they speak very highly of you.”

“But I’ve not done anything outstanding that I know of.”  Logan searched his mind even after he stated that.  They reached the bench and sat down.

“I’ve heard terms to describe you.  Courteous, kind, honest, hard-working for starters.” Brittany reached over and squeezed his hand.

“I’m not worthy of those compliments.”  Logan looked down at her gentle gesture.

“Oh, I forgot humble in that list.”

“Now, you’re really making me blush.”

The man with the whistle skated up and informed them it was closing time.  Logan hoped the conversation would continue after the rink closed.  He followed Brittany to the rental counter where they deposited their skates.  Outside the rink they faced each other again.

“You must have a whole string of boyfriends.  You’re so nice and so pretty.  Where do I fit in that string?”

“No string for me.  What about you?”  Brittany turned Logan so that she could thrust her arm through the crook of his arm.

“No.  Would you give me a chance for you to get to know me?”  Logan stopped their walking and dared to cradle her head in his hands.

“Yes, we need to dispose of the spoiled brat and rotten scoundrel assessments.”

Brittany pulled him down for a kiss.  Everything felt right to Logan.  He tingled inside and out, hardly noticing a frigid wind had started.

THE END

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