Chapter 25
twenty-five
*LEO*
Robin and I are clad in thick jackets and sip at our hot chocolate. Overnight brought fresh snow, a perfect miracle for the snowball fight as Valentina claimed. I watch her running over the field, targeting a tall, bulky guy with three snowballs at once.
Then my gaze wanders to Aspen, who is currently hovering behind a shield. Several of them are placed all along the playfield so that players can take shelter from snowballs.
I am not sure what I expected when I heard about the snowball fight, but certainly not this.
It’s insanely entertaining to watch. Next to Robin and me, there are a bunch of old ladies, screaming profanities towards the players, and I am not sure if they are insulting our players for not playing well enough or the other team.
It’s a wild mess.
“Hey Robin—" My eyes now wander towards Soren, who is holding a snowball, ready to hit his target. “How again did Aspen and Soren end up participating in the snowball fight?” I ask. “Soren said he'd never join, and I know that Aspen denied them every year.”
“Remember that emergency meeting? They guilt-tripped them,” Robin grins. “You helped organize the festival, and Valentina was all, ‘Your boyfriend, your brother did this and that, why don’t you play your part in the festival?!’”
“Funny,” I chuckle. “Because they both did plenty for the whole event.”
“I know,” Robin exclaims, before linking our arms and waving at the snowball fighters. Both Aspen and Soren look up at the same time, both waving back at us. “I think they might secretly enjoy it.”
“It looks like they are having fun,” I agree. “But don’t tell them I said that.”
Robin grins. “Let’s keep them in the delusion that they hate doing it, and need to be convinced to help.”
“They only helped because they are so gracious and kind,” I add.
Robin and I exchange a look, bursting into laughter. It feels so good, so freeing, to stand here with him and enjoy the day, the silly, funny event, and just have this experience.
“Say, are we winning or is the other Sunhaven leading?” I ask.
“I have no idea,” Robin says. “I never got the rules. But they will soon be having a break. We can ask them then.”
“Should we buy them something hot to drink?”
“Oh, good idea!” Robin beams, handing me his cup with hot chocolate. “Hold my cup. I will hurry and buy them something. Or do you want to go?”
“Nah, I am fine,” I say, my cheeks flushing slightly. “I like watching Soren play.”
“Of course you do,” Robin smiles, his face lighting up. “I can’t believe Soren finally has a nice boyfriend! The last one sucked.”
His words pique my interest. I have heard that before, and Soren said it too, but I don’t want to be too pushy and ask questions, especially not of Robin.
If anything, I want to ask Soren himself, and as someone who has kept his own past wrapped up for a while, I know that there are things that are hard to talk about.
While I am caught in my thoughts, Robin dashes off to buy a warm beverage. He takes longer than expected, due to the amount of people who came to watch the snowball fight. But I don’t mind. I just keep watching Soren. Whenever he turns to look at me, I make sure to wave.
“Jeez!“ Robin’s voice is next to me again. “That was more of a hassle than expected, but I made it back in time.”
I help him hold the cups, noticing how he has also bought some snacks, a humongous bucket of caramel-flavored popcorn and a cup with chocolate-covered fruits and waffles. “You are amazing!”
“I know,” he grins.
“And you really made it just in time.” There is a short alarm echoing through the area, and the snowball players take off in different directions.
Both Aspen and Soren make a beeline for us.
“You are a lifesaver,” Aspen exclaims when he sees the tea in our hands.
“But please tell me you also got some beer.”
Robin chuckles, angling for a bottle of beer in his bag. “Here you go, but it’s ice-cold. Be careful.”
“Thanks, Robin.”
“Actually, it was Leo’s idea to get you something to drink,” Robin says.
“A joint effort,” I argue. “Robin was the one who went to the trouble.”
Two arms pull me into an embrace, and before I can even grasp what’s happening, Soren pulls me into a kiss.
His lips are icy cold, but the kiss is still searing.
And he doesn’t mind that we are in public.
My heart makes a jump of joy. I don’t have any free hands to hug him back, but I make sure to answer the kiss with all I have.
“Excuse me,” Aspen groans. “You have people watching.”
Soren draws back and grins. “Who cares, and since when do you mind?”
“Since it’s my own brother!”
Soren nods earnestly before winking at me. “Let’s continue this later.” I turn around in his embrace, leaning my back against his chest. “Leo, do you know what the left leg says to the right leg?”
I blink. “No.”
“The guy in the middle is a dick.”
Robin and I exchange a gaze before bursting into hysterical laughter, while Aspen just tosses Soren a disgruntled look.
“I liked that one,” Robin giggles. “Usually your jokes suck, but this one…”
“This one sucked in particularly,” Aspen says.
Soren moves from one leg to the other with me in his arms, swaying us that way. “Talking about sucking—"
“No, you don’t,” Aspen warns.
“I kinda wanted to hear the joke,” Robin complains. “Don’t ruin the fun!”
Aspen ignores him. “If you don’t stop, you won’t want to face me on the playfield after the break.”
“We are on the same team,” Soren grins.
“I will betray West Sunhaven and fight for the other town!”
“We don’t want to see the fallout from that,” I say.
Soren squeezes me and kisses the top of my head right when the bell chimes again. “Time to go back to the warzone,” he says.
“Good luck,” I smile.
“You better win this!” Robin exclaims.
“Don’t worry, we have this in the bag,” Aspen says with Soren nodding confidently.
I have no idea if that’s true or just their egos speaking. Nothing about this so-called snowball battle makes sense to me, and I have no clue how the referee even counts the points. Robin and I keep watching and listening to the group of old ladies who comment on every move.
At the end of the tournament, the ladies next to us cheer, so Robin and I do too. “Looks like we won?” I whisper.
“Seems like it,” Robin whispers back. Soren and Aspen high-five each other, and two of the guys next to them. “Yeah, definitely, we are on the winning team.”
“Oh, look,” I say when Soren comes running towards us.
He grabs me and twirls me around before kissing me. “We won!”
“You won!” I say, hugging him. “Congrats!”
“We have no clue what you did, but you were amazing,” Robin says.
“Aspen and I are just going to take a shower and change into fresh clothes,” he says. “Then we’ll catch up with you.”
“We can go over to the stand with the mulled wine,” Robin suggests. “They have tables there. We’ll make sure to save some seats for the four of us.”
Soren nods. “Good idea. Order us something to eat.”
“What do you want?” I ask.
“Anything, really. We are both starving.”
“I saw they have truffle fries,” I say. “I know they aren’t for Aspen, but—"
“But I want them. You got me there,” Soren smiles happily. “Get me a large portion.”
“And the chili cheese ones for Aspen,” Robin concludes. “I know the man.”
Not long ago, these words would have given me a twinge of jealousy because somebody else knows so much more about Aspen than I do. But now I don’t mind anymore. I can get to know Aspen again and rediscover who he truly is, far away from our parents and our past, which held us back.
A gust of wind brushes past us, and Soren shivers slightly. “Go and get changed, and get warmed up properly,” I tell him. “Robin and I have it covered.”
We wait for him to dash away before we make our way to the food and wine stalls. It’s crowded already, but to our surprise, Valentina has saved us some places at her and Hector’s table. “You are a gem,” I say. “Thank you.”
She smiles. “Anything for you, Sweetie.” She stretches slightly. “I will order us something. You two stay here and make sure no one steals our seats.”
Robin nods, making sure to tell her Aspen’s and his own order.
I have more difficulties. I thought I was all good again, but moments like these are proof that I am still overthinking and not sure what I truly want.
Something as simple as ordering food and trying something new can be a challenge.
“I think I want to try the pulled pork fries,” I say. “I have never had that before.”
“Oh, loaded fries!” Valentina nods. “I can make them add cheese and jalapenos to it. It’s amazing soul food.”
"Yes, please."
Valentina smiles at us and approaches the food stalls, leaving us to ourselves. I can’t help but let out a sigh.
“It’s fine,” Robin reassures me.
“I am such a nutjob,” I mutter.
“No, you are not!”
“I should be much better by now—"
“You are better,” Robin says. “A lot better. You were so anxious when you came here, and you are already doing so well. You helped Hector and Valentina and the whole town, despite your trauma.”
“You noticed?”
“When we went decorations shopping,” he admits. “I am not that clueless.”
I nod tentatively. “And you are not just saying that because you are being nice?”
“I would never,” he says, smiling warmly. “I would comfort you in another way, but definitely not lie to you. Besides, you did make a choice, just now. It just took you a bit.”
He has a point.
“You need to cheer up, or I will tell Soren,” Robin threatens.
That makes me grin. “What do you think would happen if you told him?”
“I don’t know! Maybe he would do something sexy to you.”
I wiggle my brows. “Is that supposed to scare me?”
Robin leans closer. “Does that mean you went all the way already?”
“Much farther than Aspen probably thinks we did,” I say seriously.
Robin laughs. “That’s awesome! But yeah, let’s not tell Aspen.”
“Definitely not,” I say. “I don’t need to horrify him with that type of information.”
“You know—"
I don’t get to hear what he knows, because my eyes suddenly wander to a tall figure approaching us.
Where did he come from?
When?
When did he arrive?
My heart stops beating for a moment. I have difficulties grasping that this is being real, that he is truly here.
He is clad in a stylish long coat, his legs in black jeans, his black hair is gelled back. As usual, he looks like he jumped right out of an ad.
“No way,” I mutter, my heart stopping for a moment. What is he doing here? And why? A whirlwind of emotions catches me, about to pull me completely under. I can feel a piercing sensation in my chest and in my head.
Why… why…
“Wow, who’s that?” Robin asks.
“Michael.” I feel the old dread gripping my heart again, at the same time cursing myself for it. Michael had nothing to do with what happened to me, in fact, he always had my back. It’s because of him that the truth even came to light. I should be thankful, not terrified. “My old boss.”