Hutch

6

Daisy

"Absolutely not!"

Hutch sighs dramatically, but I'm determined. He is not buying me skates. These things are like five hundred dollars. I can't afford that and I don't think he can either, but he's determined too. The sales guy has been laughing for the last five minutes without the good grace to at least turn away when he does it.

"You have to have skates to get on the ice." He takes on this mulish expression that just makes the sales guy cackle louder.

"I can rent a pair."

He looks like I told him he had to eat tofu for the rest of his life.

"That's how people end up with broken bones. Skates have to be molded to your feet properly which means you try them until you find the right pair. If you rent a pair," he spits out the word "rent" like its a dirty work, "then you end up with a pair that doesn't fit right."

"I'm only going to wear them once," I try to reason with him. "Why would either of us spend this kind of money on something I will never put on again? If I put them on to begin with. I'm not sure I want to get on the ice."

"You do." He nods like it's gospel and all but pushes me to sit down on the little wooden stool. "Its like nothing you've ever done."

"I don't get the appeal of freezing my ass off."

"You're from West Virginia. Doesn't it get cold there?"

"I'm from the coal fields. We're anywhere from five to ten degrees warmer than most of the state."

"But it does get cold and it snows?"

"Sure, but..."

"No buts." He shoves three sets of skates at me. "Try these on. If they're too tight or too big they won't work."

"Are you not listening to me?" I all but growl.

"I am, but I want to show you why I love hockey so much. It's not about the sport, not really. It's about the ice and the feeling I get when I'm on it. You sounded like you had a bad day and when I feel like shit, the ice always makes me feel better. I want to do that for you."

That's actually kind of sweet, but he and I are not the same person. I don't see any bonus to getting out on a slippery surface on shoes with blades attached. Blades that could potentially do me serious harm.

"I'm not going to let you fall." He smiles slightly at my hesitation. "I swear. Now, will you please try on the skates? I promised my mom I'd come over for dinner later, but I want to show you this too."

"These are too expensive."

"These are cheap compared to mine."

"I can't afford these."

"But I can." He waves away my protests. "I have tons of scholarships. My mom made sure I got good grades in high school for that reason alone. She wanted to make sure I wasn't just an athlete. She wanted me to get an education and I did. I clear more money a semester than most people do in a year from scholarships and grants. Trust me, I can do this for you."

Even if he can, I don't like it. Granny raised us to only rely on ourselves and not others. You can't be beholden to anyone if you never ask them for anything. Maybe it's pride, maybe it's something else. Either way, I'm not comfortable letting him buy skates that cost five hundred freaking dollars!

When I don't move, he sighs and gets down on his knees in front of me and starts removing my shoes.

"Hey!"