Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (73 page)

“All right,” he says, his
front foot coming down and he’s about halfway down the slope when he comes off
the board again, though he somehow manages to stay on his feet as he runs out
of it.

I’m really at a loss
here.

I’ve tried everything
short of blowing him before he takes a run at it and nothing seems to be doing
any good. There’s the old adage that you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to
be helped, but psychology’s supposed to short-circuit all that. He’s supposed
to be my lump of clay.

He’s impervious.

When he gets to the top,
this time, I don’t give him any advice. I don’t talk to him or even look at
him.

“One more and I get my
reward, huh?” he asks.

I don’t answer. I pretend
like he’s not there so maybe he can pretend I’m not here. Exactly how that’s
going to translate into him forgetting that there are about two dozen people
waiting and hoping for blood, I don’t know, but I’m doing what I can.

“Fair enough,” he says,
and I can hear him get the tail set in position.

When I hear the clap of
his front wheels hitting the concrete, I turn to look and my eyes find Ian just
in time to see him come off his board, only this time, he’s pitched way too far
forward to get his feet underneath him and he crashes with the sick noise of
air being forced from lungs by impact.

I make my way down the
ladder, trying to block out the laughter coming from across the way as I try to
get down to Ian.

When I’m finally down to
ground level, he’s already up and walking toward me, but it’s easy enough to
see that he’s just done for right now.

“Can we go?” he asks. “I
know I have to get this if I’m going to compete, but I really think I’d do
better without all the—”

“Yeah,” I nod, “yeah.
Maybe take a quick street run to clear your head and remind yourself that you
know what to do on a board, you know, maybe help remind some of the other
people around here of that as well so you don’t have that look on your face
like you want to punch a baby.”

“Yeah,” he says. “Hey,
thanks for sticking it out with me on this. I know it can’t be that rewarding
seeing me come off my board every single fucking time I try to—”

“It’s okay,” I tell him.
“We all have our gaps. Don’t even worry about it, all right? Just go clear your
head and, if you want to take another run or two down the vert ramp, that’s
cool, if not, we can go.”

“All right,” he says.
“Thanks.”

He leans forward a little
as if to give me a kiss, but hesitates, his eyes wandering in the direction of
the thickest part of the group that had been watching him, but they’ve all lost
interest.

Still, he’s indecisive,
so I pop my head forward a little, give him a quick peck on the lips and send
him on his way.

He’s got a sheepish smile
on his face as he rides off, and I’m taking a deep breath.

He’s screwed.

Unless everyone else in
the competition has at least one area they can’t score in at all, there’s no
way mathematically that he can make any kind of positive showing at the
competition.

I’m not sure if there’s
any way to justify him competing if he’s going to risk becoming known as “that
guy who fell on his face repeatedly.” That can’t be good for a career, even if
he were to never go near another vert ramp or anything resembling it again.

He wants it so bad,
though.

It’s good to see him
where he’s more comfortable, though. He just makes everything look so strange,
but achievable. It really is a sight to see.

Ian’s coming off a 5-0
grind with a shove it when I hear someone else calling my name from close by. I
turn to find one of Ian’s friends—a guy about my age, maybe a year or two older
with long blond hair, whose name I don’t readily recall at the moment—skating
toward me.

“Hey,” he says, rubbing
his open palm over his nearly bald head. “You’re Mia, right?”

“Yeah,” I answer. “I’ve
seen you around.”

“I’m Rob,” he says. “I’m
Ian’s friend.”

“
Rob
,” I respond. “All right, yeah, Ian’s told me about you.”

“He’s told me about you,
too,” he says. “You must be one hell of a woman.”

I can feel my face
growing hot. “Why do you say that?” I ask.

“You know, with Ian’s dad
the way he is and all,” Rob says. “That can’t be too easy.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I tell
him. “We seem to be hitting it off pretty well, though.”

“That’s good,” Rob says,
and I take a moment to clap and cheer as Ian tre flips on the flat of the fun
box, landing in a manual on the downward slope and riding it all the way out.

“Why am I getting the
feeling you’re trying to tell me something?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” Rob says.
“Ian said you were smart, though.”

“So, what is it?” I ask,
watching Ian get some speed and roll all the way up the vert ramp, planting his
nose on the top and riding all the way down without any problem whatsoever. “I
seriously don’t know what it is in his head that isn’t clicking, but he
basically just did what’s been making him crash for who knows how long.”

“I just wanted to make
sure you knew what you were doing,” Rob says.

“What do you mean?” I
ask, but before he can answer, I’m shouting, “See, you got that, Ian!”

All right, now I’m
starting to embarrass myself.

“Ian isn’t exactly in a
position to go without his dad’s help right now,” Rob says. “I don’t know,
maybe he’ll get his shit together by the competition, win the thing, and never
have to worry about it again, but…” he trails off.

I really don’t know if
he’s trying to be helpful or if he’s just trying to be a jerk, but I really
wish he’d just say what he’s going to say.

“Well,” I tell Rob, “I
know that Ian’s dad doesn’t necessarily think I’m right for his son, but he’ll
come around.”

“He didn’t tell you, did
he?” Rob asks.

“Tell me what?” I respond
and finally turn to look at Rob.

“His dad cut him off last
night,” Rob answers. “He called me right after it happened. I guess the old
man’s giving him a week and then Ian’s gotta be outta the house. The guy’s
smarter than he lets on and everything, but I don’t think he’s really cut out
for a normal job, you know?”

“What do you mean his dad
cut him off? He’s kicking Ian out of the house, too?” I ask.

Somewhere in the
distance, there’s the loud slap of four hard wheels coming down together on
concrete and a couple of people interject various non-lingual sounds of approval
and I just know it’s Ian bringing everyone back around to his side.

“Dad kicked him out of
the house,” Rob says. “No more money for college, no more money for, well,
anything, really.”

“This is because of me?”
I ask.

“Don’t take it the wrong
way,” Rob says. “Like I said, you must be one hell of a chick. Now, that boy
doesn’t get his shit together and actually win that competition, he’s going to
end up living in my basement, and you know what the worst part about that is?”
he asks.

“What’s that?” I return.

“I don’t
have
a basement, so he’s going to end up
sleeping on my couch, and you know, I’m more of a morning person, he’s more of
a night person—I’m glad to have him and everything, ‘cause that’s probably
what’s going to have to happen. I just hope we don’t end up killing each
other,” he says.

“Well, at least he’s
going to have a place to stay,” I tell Rob, who is definitely not just telling
me this as a courtesy. “You’re a good friend.”

“Well, it’s not really
decided as far as all that yet, exactly,” he says.

“What do you mean?” I
ask. “I thought Ian wasn’t going to have anywhere else to go. I’d let him stay
with me if I didn’t think my dad would have a conniption, the kind of which
would likely yield a body count.”

“I was just giving you a
glimpse into Christmas future,” Rob says. “His dad’s made the threat, but Ian’s
still hanging in there by a thread. I just don’t want to see the guy’s life
fall apart, you know?”

“The problem I’m having,”
I tell Rob, “is that I’m not sure if you’re telling me this because it’s
actually the truth or because you’ve got something against me. Have I done
something to offend you?” I ask.

“No. We haven’t met, but
you seem nice enough and I know Ian’s got it out to about here for you,” Rob
says and illustrates his meaning by holding his hand about a foot and a half
straight out from his crotch.

“How romantic,” I say.

“Just, I don’t think it’s
really that cool for someone he’s only known for a few weeks or however long
the two of you have known each other to come in and try to make his life
difficult, you know?” Rob asks. “Ian’s not meant to be just another skater bum
until nobody invites him to competitions anymore. He’s smart. He’s got a lot of
things he could do, but you’re just riding all in and putting yourself in the
place of all that.”

“That’s not what I’m
trying to do,” I tell Rob.

“I know, I know,” he
says, his palms up and facing me. “Like I said, I’ve only heard good things,
but I’m just tellin’ you how it is. So, unless you’re really looking to stick
it out and be there after his old man’s cut the cord, I think it might be
better for both of you if you just called it a day.”

Hearing this from my dad
is annoying. Hearing it from Ian’s dad is somewhat frightening. Hearing it from
one of his friends, though, I don’t know that I can really keep ignoring what
everyone except Ian and I are seeing.

“Hey,” Rob says, “You all
right? I’m not trying to be a dick here. I’m just tellin’ you how it is.”

“Yeah,” I answer quietly
and look away from Rob.

This isn’t right.

Ian and I have known each
other for a few months, but as far as any relationship goes, it hasn’t even
been a day. I can’t be the wrench in the gears of his life.

“Don’t worry about it,”
Rob says. “You’re a pretty girl. I’m sure you’ll find someone else in no time.”

All right, now he’s just
being a dick to be a dick.

I turn away from Rob in
time to see Ian skating in this direction.

Rob’s on his board and
skating away by the time Ian gets close. Ian says, “Hey,” to his friend, but
Rob doesn’t answer.

I guess he’s leaving it
up to me now.

“I’m feeling a lot
better,” Ian says. “I think I just needed to let loose and just have a good run
where I’m not worried about anything but pulling shit on my—”

“Hey, I’m sorry, but I
really should be getting going,” I interrupt.

“What?” he asks. “Why? I
thought we were hanging out.”

“It’s Abs,” I lie. “She’s
having a thing with her brother and she needs an ear right now. I’m sorry,” I
tell him. “I hope you understand.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ian says.
“I hope everything’s all right.”

“Yeah, I’m sure
everything’s going to be fine,” I tell him and only continue to pile on the
lies from there. “This sort of thing happens between them from time to time.
They’re super close and everything, but you know if you’re around anyone
enough, you’re going to find a reason to argue and eventually, you’re going to
need a little bit of… time. Anyway,” I continue, feeling a little off-center in
my existence at the moment, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“All right,” Ian says.
“I’ll give you a call after I go home. I think I’m going to hang around here
for a little bit and just skate, you know, get back into a positive headspace
or whatever.”

“Okay,” I smile. “Bye.”

I walk away.

He doesn’t know
anything’s wrong yet, but this is for the best.

Last night and every
moment since, right up until Rob came over here and shattered the illusion, I’d
done an excellent job of discounting my dad and his dad’s concerns as being the
result of a sad sack, lonely guy being overprotective (my dad) and a real
hemorrhoid of a person (that would be Ian’s dad) being a real hemorrhoid of a
person, but Rob’s got no reason to come over here out of the blue, much less as
he happened to have told me a slightly different version of the same story I’ve
been hearing from the sad sack and the hemorrhoid.

I guess from here I just
file my time with Ian into the fantasy section of my brain and go on with my
life.

I just wish I could get
this stupid sun out of my eyes, it’s really making them water.

For a while, I just walk
around, but eventually I head home.

This is just going to be
one of those vicious days that just never seems to end until it ends.

I’m walking in the door
when my phone starts to ring.

I pull it out of my
pocket and look at the caller.

It’s Ian.

As much as I wanted to
spare him at the park, I can’t lead him on, either.