“I’ve never been Ice skating,”

Actually, I have. I love it, but it’s been a long time since the last time I went. I think I was a teenager. Another trip is long overdue.

But Jay  Mathews has not – because he’s been in prison for six years. So now that he’s out of prison, he intends to change that, as well as, experience a whole bunch of new things he’s never done before. Not only that, but it sure makes for an excellent first date.

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 6 of Second Chances.

🙂

Her face shone smooth, with hints of color highlighting her cheeks and eyes; her genuine smile warmed his heart. When she stared up and locked eyes with his, he dared to reach a hand out and push some of the hair from in front of her face, again wishing he could run his hand all the way through. Instead, he pulled out an extra beanie from the pocket of his sweatshirt

“I brought you an extra hat. Sorry, the only color I have is black. But I thought you’d like it since we didn’t get a chance to stop back at your place.” He surprised himself, reached down, and pulled it over her head gently; his gaze never left hers, locked on her beautiful eyes.

“Thanks,” Her voice was quiet, shy.

To keep things from becoming awkward, he pulled out his own hat and stood up, immediately wobbling wildly, causing Lacey to laugh.  He tried not to groan in embarrassment.

“I warned you,” She chuckled in response.

“I’ll go get a locker for our stuff,” she told him once he steadied himself against the table. She gathered up their shoes and other belongings in a bundle in her arms and wobbled over to the lockers on the other side of the gated skate park, weaving in and out of families and groups of teens.

He still wobbled terribly, but managed to meet her halfway at one of the entrances to the rink. Christmas songs blasted from several speakers set up in each corner of the rectangular rink. Gigantic plastic snowmen, reindeer, and Santa Clauses stood tall around the ice rink, decorated with blinking white, red and green lights.

“You ready for this?” She grinned at him. He was too busy admiring the way the lights shimmered and danced through her hair to answer. This is absolutely perfect, He decided. “Hey, you okay? You ready?”

“No,” He laughed, causing her to laugh too.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” She stepped out without looking back. He took a breath, and followed her out onto the ice—where he promptly slipped and fell on his back. She laughed so hard she fell down next to him.

“Stop laughing. I told you I’ve never done this before.” She was still laughing. He took his hat and slapped her playfully on the arm of her padded jacket.

“How old are you? It’s time to learn!” She grabbed his wrists and helped pull him up until they were standing next to the wall. After he put his hat back on, she said, “Here, take my hand.”

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Please feel free to let me know what you think.

Blog shout out: Thank you to Hallee Bridgeman and Alana Terry for hosting Christian Fiction Friday, which gives me and other readers and writers the opportunity to build community and share what we’re working on!

Happy reading!