Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Blog Hop, hosted by Jaycee DeLorenzo and Victoria Smith. You might remember my Oh My Hero! Blog Hop post a few months ago, where I interviewed my swoon-worthy hero Sergei from LIFE ON THE EDGE. Well, the girls from EDGE want a chance in the spotlight, too!

Emily is a nineteen-year-old figure skater from Brookline, Massachusetts. She moved to Cape Cod two years ago to learn pairs, and while achieving success on the ice with her partner Chris, Emily has also found love with her twenty-five-year-old coach Sergei. Their relationship has some complications, however, mainly because the U.S. Skating Federation doesn't approve of coach-student relationships. So, Em and Sergei have to keep their involvement on the down-low.

Aubrey is Emily's best friend and roommate. She's the same age as Em but much more experienced in the dating arena. Aubrey grew up on the Cape and is also chasing the Olympic dream as an ice dancer.

Read what happens when Aubrey and Emily are stuck inside on a rainy day and Aubrey quizzes Em on her romantic life! (this is an extra scene created for this blog hop and not included in the book)

Thunder cracked over the townhouse, rattling the large picture window in the living room. Emily jumped and shot Aubrey a wide-eyed look. “I don’t think the beach is happening today.”

“And just when I wanted to wear my new bikini,” Aubrey said, curling her legs under her on the opposite end of the chenille couch. 

Emily stood and walked over to the window, where sheets of wind-blown rain washed over the glass. “I would’ve gone to Sergei’s if I knew I’d be stuck inside all day.”

“So you could snuggle together and listen to the rain?” Aubrey said in an artificially sweet tone.

“Just wait until you find ‘the one’ and you’ll be doing all the stuff you make fun of.”

“I’m not looking for ‘the one’ anytime soon. I’m enjoying free agency.” Aubrey picked up the magazine from her lap and flipped through its glossy pages. “Ooh, there’s a quiz in here. Let me ask you the questions.”

“Fire away.”

“Question one–how would you describe your perfect guy?”

“Well, I can just describe Sergei.” Emily smiled as she returned to the sofa.

Aubrey rolled her big green eyes. “Maybe we should skip this one.”

“Nope. You asked, so you’re getting an answer. I’ll give you the superficial stuff first. My perfect guy has to be in good shape, but not overly muscular. You know I don’t like bulky guys. And he has to be a great kisser.”

“Since that’s as far as you’ll go.” Aubrey gave Emily a teasing grin.

“Sergei and I do more than kiss. But he knows my boundaries.”

“And somehow he hasn’t self-combusted yet.” Aubrey laughed.

Emily tossed one of the green throw pillows at her. “He’s amazing, which reminds me of another quality in my perfect guy–patience. Also, he has to treat me with respect.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Next question." Aubrey smoothed the page. "What’s the best date you’ve ever had?”

“Oh, that’s easy!" Emily slapped the back of the couch. "It was last weekend. I haven’t had a chance to tell you about it since you’ve been out of town.”

“What’d you guys do?”

“We actually had a date out in public! We drove to Newport because we figured we wouldn’t run into anyone we know there, and we had dinner at this romantic little bistro. It had a bunch of tables secluded in their own separate alcoves, so it was perfect for us to stay kinda hidden.”

Aubrey peered at Emily over the magazine. “Don’t you think maybe there's something wrong with having to drive almost a hundred miles to go out to dinner?”

“Please don’t start on that again." Emily frowned. "I thought you weren’t going to give me any more grief about dating Sergei.”

“I was just making an observation.”

Silence fell between the girls. Only the whooshing of the rain against the window provided noise. Emily tugged on the end of her ponytail and cleared her throat. “Well . . . moving on . . . dinner was awesome, but the best part was after dinner. Sergei always said he couldn’t dance, but I convinced him to go to a club, the Boom Boom Room.” She laughed. “There were some interesting people there. No one that looked like they'd recognize us.”

“You didn’t get carded?”

“Sergei said I looked twenty-five in my dress.”

Aubrey's forehead wrinkled. “Which dress?”

“I got a new one. I’ll show you later.” Emily waved her hand. “Back to the date . . . so, I managed to get Sergei on the dance floor, and holy smokes. He didn’t full-out dance, but the slight hip-shaking he did do was seriously hot.”

“So, he does have some moves in him.”

“Oh yeah. He’s got moves.” Emily smiled to herself, remembering Sergei’s body pressed against hers, swaying in rhythm to the pulsating music. His breath had been hot in her ear as he'd mouthed the words to the song. A slow warmth spread through her just thinking about it.

“Did you go anywhere else?” Aubrey asked, snapping Emily out of her daydream.

“After the club closed, we went to the beach. Sergei was so sweet and let me sit on his jacket so I wouldn’t get sand on my dress, but I ended up lying on the sand, so that didn’t quite work out.” Emily laughed.

“Lying on the sand, huh? Doing some of that ‘more than kissing’ stuff?”

Emily’s smile grew bigger, and she played with a loose thread on the couch. “Maybe.”

“I think we should go to the next question before you completely swoon over.” Aubrey tucked her blond hair behind her ear. “What’s the worst date you’ve ever had?”

Emily scrunched up her mouth as she pondered the question. “I haven’t really had any terrible ones, but I didn’t have very many dates before Sergei. You should answer that one.”

“You can quiz me after I finish with you. Next one–what attracts you to a guy the most?”

“Hmm . . . I think if he’s a genuine listener. It’s one of the reasons I fell for Sergei. He remembers things I tell him weeks, months earlier, even trivial stuff like a book I’m interested in reading or a song I love on the radio.”

Aubrey scanned the magazine page. “Is there a question on here about listing your boyfriend’s faults? I’m drowning in the sweetness.”

Emily poked Aubrey’s leg with her foot. “I’m telling you–you mock me now, but when you fall in love one day, you’ll see how incredible it feels. And I’m going to be so happy for you.”

Aubrey set down the magazine and gave her friend a deep stare. “I know I give you a hard time . . . and I worry because your relationship is so complicated, but I am happy you’ve found something so special.”

Emily scooted across the sofa and gave Aubrey a tight hug. Aubrey embraced her in return and then broke away. “Okay, sappy time over. Back to the quiz!”

For a little additional insight into Emily, I've included a song below that says a lot about who she is. Emily had a tough time as a competitive skater in the past, but she's learning every day how to be more confident on the ice. As her confidence grows, so do her dreams . . .

Hope you enjoyed getting to know the ladies of LIFE ON THE EDGE! You can check out lots more fun characters at the other blog stops listed here!