Lessons in Love by Clarissa Carlyle Page A

so bad,” Alex whispered. She pulled away slightly so she could look into his eyes. Their faces were only inches apart. Alex found her eyes drawn to his lips. She began to feel breathless.
     
    “Get a room!” a young, obnoxious skater yelled as he sped past them. His words instantly broke the spell of seclusion, and Mark pulled away from Alex with such velocity that she lost her footing and went tumbling down to the ice. 
     
    Her body bumped awkwardly against the hard ground. Her knees connected first, taking the brunt of the pain, and then her palms came crashing down. Wincing with pain, Alex tried to get up but couldn’t. Tears clouded her eyes from both shame and discomfort. Her knees and hands felt hot with pain and the promise of bruising.
     
    “Alex! I’m so sorry!” Mark came to his senses and helped her up.
     
    “You pushed me,” Alex snivelled, wounded.
     
    “I didn’t,” Mark objected helplessly, knowing that he had.
     
    “You pushed me away from you like I was a leper!”
     
    “I…that kid, he made me panic. I’m sorry.” Mark looked genuinely pained by what had happened as he glanced up and down Alex’s body for signs of damage.
     
    “Are you hurt badly?” he asked, his voice full of concern.
     
    “My knees and hands.” Alex raised her palms to him, and he could see how red and sore they were becoming.
     
    “Okay, we’re done skating for today,” Mark decided, wrapping an arm around Alex and helping her back towards the edge of the rink.
     
    “What do you say I get you a consolation hot chocolate, and you can berate me for pushing you while licking your wounds?” he suggested.
     
    “Sounds good.” Alex managed to smile through the throbbing pain.
     
    ****
     
    The warmth from the hot chocolate felt good against Alex’s sore hands. She held the mug between them, letting the warmth soak through onto her pained skin.
     
    “I thought you’d order a coffee.” She nodded towards Mark’s own mug of hot chocolate. “I thought all teachers drank coffee.”
     
    “True.” Mark nodded in agreement. “Most teachers are caffeine fiends. It’s one of the only legal vices you can entertain in public without being a pariah these days,” he joked. “But I’m not into coffee. Never have been.”
     
    “How come?” Alex asked before picking at some of the marshmallows sitting on a fluffy mountain of whipped cream atop her drink.
     
    “My dad is a doctor,” Mark admitted. “He brought me up to eat and drink healthily, and I guess it stuck.”
     
    “It’s good advice.”
     
    “Yeah.” Mark shrugged before taking a sip of his drink.
     
    “Your dad still around?” Alex asked awkwardly. She’d yet to meet someone who had also lost a parent.
     
    “He’s still up in Canada, yeah.”
     
    “You see him much?”
     
    Mark squirmed slightly at the question. “Not as much as I should.” He sighed.
     
    “You should see him more.”
     
    “It’s not that simple. He’s a complicated man, and we, well, never mind.”
     
    Alex noticed the distant look in Mark’s eyes and decided not to question him about his father further.
     
    “So do you think I’m a natural skater?” She smirked, changing the topic.
     
    “Totally!” Mark laughed. “I mean, I think there were at least a couple of seconds out there when you were skating unaided!”
     
    “I don’t think falling counts as skating.” Alex smiled.
     
    They sat in a Starbucks that was adjacent to the skating complex. It was relatively quiet, with only a few patrons occupying the seats in the lounge area. Alex had picked a comfortable-looking leather couch for them to sit on, which overlooked the parking lot. It was interesting to watch people come and go. The area was a hive of activity even on a Saturday night.
     
    “So what’s a normal Saturday night for you?” she asked Mark suddenly. She realized she was also vetting him to see if he regularly went on dates.
     
    “Hmm, let’s see…” He ran a