Read Online Walk on Water by Laura Peyton Roberts - Free Book Online Page A

least you understand. Jenni is being impossible.”
    Bry grinned. “Which is different because. . . ?”
    Lexa laughed. “You know you love her.”
    “I do. That doesn’t make her low-maintenance.”
    “Too true.”
    “So what are you doing here? Are you going in?”
    “No. I just came by to say hi to you guys.”
    He squinted suspiciously. “In the parking lot at dawn o’clock? Did you forget how to text?”
    “I wanted to see you.”
    “I’m flattered, but . . .”
    A wreck of a red Jeep drove past them into the lot. Lexa’s eyes tracked it even as she tried to pretend she hadn’t noticed. Bry followed her gaze.
    “Okay,” he said, laughing. “Suddenly I feel a lot less special. Good luck with that seduction.”
    She winced. “That’s not what—”
    “Whatever you say!” He waved as he headed for the front door, where the top edge of the sun was just creeping over the roofline. “When you wish upon Blake’s star. . . ,” he sang as he went, making Lexa want to slug him.
    Deal with Bry later, she told herself, turning toward Ian as he climbed out of his Jeep. There was no way to pretend she had just bumped into him this time. Gathering her shredded nerves, she headed straight for him. “Hi, Ian.”
    “Hi,” he said, clearly surprised. “Are you—”
    “No, I just want to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”
    He glanced at the rising sun. “More like a second. What’s up?”
    The direct light in his face was harsh, making the circles beneath his eyes as dark as bruises. His chest and biceps looked hard enough to crack eggs on, though, and he was still a foot taller than she. “How are things at the gym?” she asked, diverted from her real question by all the new muscle filling his UnderArmour.
    Ian shrugged. “I work out for free and they finally moved my shift to nights. Can’t complain.”
    “It’s got to be tough, though, losing so much time from training. At least you’re not going to college, too.”
    “Yeah. I didn’t have much choice about that.”
    Lexa sensed that she might have stepped wrong, but she plunged ahead anyway. “I just left school myself.”
    He looked her up and down as if starting to suspect an agenda. “I heard.”
    “I’ve got a new tutor who covers all the subjects. I’m going to be skating in Cleveland, so I’ll need the extra time.”
    Ian’s brows rose. He obviously hadn’t heard that part. And now Blake was certain to hear it too.
    He’d have found out anyway, Lexa told herself, trying not to panic. He’ll know everything, sooner or later.
    “Cleveland, huh? That’s a long way to go when your dad owns a rink right here.”
    She nodded and took a breath. “I’ll be training with Candace Zaharian.”
    “Holy crap!” He didn’t even try to hide his amazement. “Does your dad know? I mean . . . you’re not skating pairs ?”
    She swallowed nervously. “That’s the plan.”
    “And Blake is letting you? I don’t believe it! What about your invitation to nat—”
    “My grandmom is letting me. Blake is not involved.”
    “Holy crap,” he said again.
    “So I won’t be skating this nationals—not in singles, anyway. But there’s a chance my new partner and I . . .” She read the unbridled skepticism in Ian’s eyes. “Okay, maybe not this season. But next season for sure.”
    He shook his head. Grabbing his skate bag, he slammed the Jeep’s door. “I’ve got to go,” he said, walking away.
    Lexa had never felt more dismissed in her life, and she still didn’t have what she’d come for. “I need a partner,” she called to his back. “I came here to ask you.”
    He turned toward her in slow motion, as if he might have misheard. “Ask me what?”
    “I want you. To skate with, I mean.” She rushed ahead, the words she’d rehearsed tumbling out. “Candace Zaharian is a top coach, way more respected than Blake, and Cleveland Ice Arena puts this rink to shame. You and I are perfectly matched physically, plus