Chapter 7: Gemma

       "Come on, Marcus, stop being a lame, boring person," I said, trying to pull my boyfriend up from the couch. Ever since we got to the ski lodge, he has been staying in our suite, either laying on the couch, laying in bed, or eating food in the kitchen.

       "Nooooo," he whined. "It's too cold outside."

       "That's the point of being at a ski lodge during winter break," I said. "You could have stayed home in Miami."

       "And spend Christmas with my family?" he asked. "No thank you."

       "And that means you're here spending it with me and my brothers, and since they're off doing whatever it is they do, can we please go ice skating in the village?" I asked.

       "But it's too cold," Marcus whined again. "I could get frostbite on my fingers."

       "That is why there's this thing called gloves," I said. "Please, Marcus? You know I'm going to keep asking until we go."

       "And I'm going to keep refusing until you stop asking," Marcus said.

       "Fine," I said. "I'll just go down there by myself. You know, some boys there might think I'm single and flirt with me because I'll be there. All alone. With nobody to protect me."

       "You're a black-belt, Gemma, you don't need protecting," Marcus pointed out.

       "You're right," I said. "But Seb always says it's for self-defense, so I can't do anything if all they do is flirt with me. Just imagine, all those cute boys offering to help me skate because I haven't done it before."

       Marcus stared at me for a bit. "And we're are my gloves?"

       I smiled and kissed his cheek. "There's the spirit."

       "Not so much a spirit, but you forcing me to go," he said.

       "I'm not forcing you," I said. "Forcing would be pushing you to the door."

       "You're forcing me and you know it," Marcus said.

       The two of us got ready to go into the village, something I haven't done yet because my boyfriend was as lazy as they come.

       When all our winter clothing was on, we left the ski lodge and I led him to the ice rink Dax told me about when he was in the village. I paid for the ice skates rental for me and Marcus and we sat down on a page to tie up the skates.

       I actually have ice skated before. I was just saying anything that would make Marcus want to get off his lazy ass and ice skate with me.

       Once my skates were on and tied, I stood up with my boots in my hands. Marcus took a while and as soon as he stood up, he almost toppled over. "Holy shit, how do you stand in these?" he asked.

       "It's not that hard," I said. "Here, give me your shoes. I'm going to place them in one of the lockers." He gave me his shoes and I walked to the lockers. I placed them inside before closing it and heading back to where Marcus was.

       I had to help him walk to the ice rink because he couldn't get the hang of walking with ice skates on.

       We stepped on the ice and Marcus almost lost his balance, so he quickly grabbed the side railing. "Why the fuck did you want me to come here?" he asked.

       "To spend time together outside of the ski lodge," I said. "Skating isn't that hard."

       "It is for me," he said. "And I thought you haven't done it before."

       "I lied," I said. "Just hold my hand and I'll lead you through it."

       "Fuck no, I'm not letting go of this railing," he said.

       "You swear too much," I said.

       Marcus snorted. "Funny coming from you. I'm surprised you have gone five minutes without swearing. Now leave me alone to hold on to this railing until you decide you want to get off the ice rink."

       "Which won't be for another hour," I said.

       "Great," he said.

       "Just let go of the railing and hold my hand, you scared little bitch."

       "Why am I dating you? You're so mean to me."

       "I'm not mean, I'm the nicest person alive," I said. "Now stop being so scared and hold onto my fucking hand."

       Marcus glared at me before letting go of the railing and holding onto my hand. He was getting the hang of skating pretty fast, so I didn't know what he was complaining about.

       Well, I realized it soon when I remembered he was a complete klutz as soon as he started slipping for no reason other than he was klutzilla.

       When he fell down, I crouched down beside him. "Are you okay?"

       Marcus shook his head. "Now my ankle hurts. This is why I didn't want to go ice skating."

       "Well, sorry for forgetting that you're the world's clumsiest person despite being a black-belt," I said, taking his hand in mine and helping him up. I carefully led him off the rink and to the bench. "I'm guessing you're done ice skating?"

       "No shit."

       "Okay, okay," I said. I went to the locker and pulled a quarter out of my pocket to unlock it. I got my boots and Marcus's shoes and walked back to him.

       We took the skates off and when Marcus's was over, I noticed that his ankle was a little swollen.

       "You should probably put some ice on that," I said.

       "Do you always point out the obvious things?" Marcus asked.

       "Yup," I said as I put on my boots. I returned the skates and walked back to Marcus, helping him stand up.

       We walked back to the ski lodge with Marcus limping the whole way. Seb and Artemis were in the lobby with their kids and when they saw us, Seb raised an eyebrow. "What happened to you?"

       "Gemma was being pushy and made me go ice skating," Marcus said as I helped him to the couch. "I fell and my ankle hurts."

       "I'll get you some ice," Artemis said as she stood up from the seat she was on. Marcus thanked her before she walked away.

       "Gemma's always pushy, isn't she?" Seb asked.

       "I am not," I said. "I just wanted to go ice skating and I forgot that if you look for clumsy in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of Marcus."

       Marcus gave me a sarcastic laugh. "I don't like you anymore."

       "I know," I said. "You love me."

       "Unfortunately," Marcus muttered.

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I love these two. cx

I AM UP TO IDEAS FOR THIS. I'm serious, I want this book to last all the way to Christmas, so I will take ideas for any character --excluding the children, so please no Ryder POVs. I love him and everything, but he's nine so there's not much to tell for him besides him doing pirouettes in the kitchen. :D I can't guarantee I'll use all ideas, but I'm up to hearing them. :)