Chapter 16 #2
A soft ball of snow hits me on my shoulder, and I look up in surprise. Leo is grinning at me from ten feet away. “What’s the matter?” He asks in a teasing tone. “A little snowball got you down?”
I narrow my eyes at him as I gather a handful of snow. When I launch it at him, it’s almost completely fallen apart by the time it’s reached him, since it’s not packing snow, and I growl in annoyance.
“Is that the best you got?” he asks as he bends to scoop some more snow.
I quickly bend to gather my own snow, and when I glance up at him, I see Asher rush past him, dropping a large handful of snow on his head as he passes, before running over to my side as he laughs in victory. “Ash! You traitor!”
“I can’t be a traitor if I was never on your side,” he replies. He quickly looks at me and winks before gathering more snow. We both launch our sad attempts at snowballs at Leo as he runs to hide behind Grant.
“Hey! I’m not your shield!” Grant groans half-heartedly as he eyes the three of us.
“They’re ganging up on me! Come on, help a brother out and at least make it two on two!”
“I think since you started this, you deserve to face us three-on-one,” I tell him factually.
He peeks out from behind Grant and narrows his eyes at me. “That’s how it is, huh, shortcake?”
I launch my snowball at his head, but it misses him completely and hits Grant in the chest.
“Whoops! Sorry…” I bite my lips, trying to hold in my amusement at the look of exasperation on Grant’s face as he looks down at the snow on his jacket.
His head tilts up towards me slowly, his eyes connecting with mine. I feel something spark between us, and before I can name it, he suddenly lunges, running straight for me.
I let out a shriek as I try to turn and run, but the snow and my boots slows me down and before I know what’s happening I’m flying through the air as Grant tackles me. He manages to twist us in the air so he takes the brunt of the fall, although the snow softens it a lot, anyway.
Before I can even react, he’s pushing to his knees, hovering over me with two handfuls of snow and a huge grin on his face.
“I didn’t mean to!” I plead, raising my hands in defense as I eye both hands nervously.
His eyes narrow right before a snowball hits him in the back of the head.
He whips his head around, looking over his shoulder to see who threw it. I take the distraction and grab his wrists, shoving his hands towards his own face.
He tries to fight back at the last second, but he still ends up with a face full of snow. I giggle at the look of shock on his face as I try to climb to my feet, but he quickly pulls me back down and lays over me, his face inches from mine, the cold snow dripping from his face onto mine.
“Eee!” I shriek as the cold drops touch my skin. He shakes his head quickly, raining down more snow as I wiggle underneath him, trying to get away.
“Can’t take what you dish out?” he says, a huge smile covering his face.
“You’re supposed to be on my side!” I complain with a small pout.
He chuckles and leans down further, whispering in my ear, “I am.”
Then he jumps up and runs towards Leo, who’s so taken off guard he trips over his own feet, landing on his ass as Grant lifts up armfuls of snow and drops it on his head.
I laugh so hard at the two of them that my side hurts. A hand appears in front of me, and I take Asher’s offered help to pull me to my feet.
“As fun as this is, what do you say we go get some lunch and warm up?” I nod, and he slings his arm over my shoulder and starts to lead us out of the field.
“Hey, wait up!” Leo calls a minute later as he jogs after us. I glance back and see Grant following at a slower but steady pace. When we reach the courtyard, we all take a second to brush the snow from ourselves as we decide what to eat.
After lunch, which included a cup of hot apple cider, we find a gingerbread man decoration station where I ice three cookies to look like each of them.
Leo decorates one that’s supposed to look like me but turns out to be more of a hot mess than I think even I am, and we eat them as we stroll through the market stalls.
A table of ornaments and Christmas angels catches my eye, and I stop to admire them.
“You like these?” Grant asks, stepping up to my side, placing his hand on my opposite shoulder.
I nod slowly. “Every year my mom would buy a new Christmas angel. She had dozens of them. Every December she would place them all over her home, and we’d talk about where she got each of them.”
His hand squeezes in comfort. “Where are they now?”
“I couldn’t keep them all; there were too many. But I did keep one. It’s…” I trail off, not sure how to tell him I left it along with everything else I own back in Parker Heights and Scott. For all I know, he’s burned it or thrown it out as revenge for me running. “Gone.”
“Well, why don’t you carry on the tradition?”
I look up at him in confusion. “But I don’t have any left.”
He shrugs. “So what? You start it right now. Every year you buy one in memory of her.”
I glance at the large twelve-inch angels. I would eventually amass a collection as large as hers, with nowhere to keep them all. My eyes roam the table, and I see a couple of small angel ornaments. I pick one up and eye it with interest.
“What if I started a different tradition? Each year I get an angel ornament for the tree? That way it doesn’t take up so much room and is easier to store.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“But does it count?” I ask in worry.
“Count? What do you mean?” he asks, turning us to face each other.
“It’s not the same as what she did.”
“I don’t think that matters. What’s important is that you are doing it to remember her. I didn’t know her, but if she’s anything like you, then I’m sure she would have appreciated the gesture.”
I nod. “You’re right.” I look up at the lady behind the table and pass her the angel ornament. “I’ll take this one, please.” I pay her, and she packages it up gently, and I take the bag with a smile.
“Thanks, Grant,” I tell him, grabbing his hand and giving it a small squeeze. He squeezes back and guides me towards where the other two are waiting behind us.
“You found something you like?” Leo asks, eyeing the bag.
“It’s an angel ornament, to honor my mom. I want to get one every Christmas I’m without her.”
They both give me sad smiles, and I roll my shoulders back, not wanting to bring the pleasant atmosphere of the day down.
“Okay, where to next?”
“I actually had an idea, but it would mean stealing you for myself for half an hour,” Grant says before glancing at the other two. They seem to have a silent stare-off for a few seconds before Asher nods.
“There was actually some shopping I wanted to do anyway,” Leo says, trying to play in cool.
“Thanks, guys, I owe you.” I wave goodbye as Grant leads me to the edge of the fair. I want to ask where we’re going but decide to just be surprised.
A forest starts to loom ahead, and I eye Grant nervously. “You aren’t leading me into a forest, are you?”
He chuckles. “Just wait and see.”
It doesn’t take long to reach our destination, and when I see the horse-drawn sleigh, my jaw literally drops open. I’m in stunned silence as Grant speaks to the man who, based on his appearance, must be the driver.
I don’t listen to what they say as I take in the sleigh. It’s pure white with a plush blue bench and a few matching blankets piled at the sides. The two horses are also white and look bigger than other horses I’ve seen. They must be Clydesdales.
“Clara?”
“Hmm?” I look up at Grant’s amused face, realizing he’s been talking to me but I’ve been too preoccupied staring.
“I said, would you like to go on a sleigh ride with me?” The way he says it makes it feel like something more. Like we’re not just two friends doing a fun activity together.
After I nod, he grips my waist and lifts me right into the sleigh, skipping the steps altogether.
I take a seat, and he sits right beside me, pressing his side and leg right against mine.
Grabbing the blanket, he pulls it over us as the driver climbs up front and the sleigh starts to move through a trail in the forest.
I glance around at the beautiful scenery and, as the sound of the crowd fades, we’re left in a magical winter silence. The whole thing is incredibly romantic, and I wonder if Grant knew that when he decided to take me here. I glance up at him and find him staring down at me.
There’s something akin to heat in his storm-gray eyes. He doesn’t turn from me as I sense him pulling his gloves off. He reaches for my hand and pulls mine off, dropping it in his lap, and I instinctively offer him my other hand as he takes off my second glove.
He grabs my hands and raises them to his lips, softly kissing my fingers.
“Grant? W-what are you doing?” I’m barely able to get out the words, feeling breathless and nervous all at once.
“Showing you I’m interested, too.”
My eyes widen in shock as he smiles softly as he leans down and presses his lips to mine.
I’m unable to silence the sigh that escapes from him finally kissing me and he takes that as permission to push forward, his tongue seeking mine as he wraps his arms around me, one large hand holding the back of my neck as I tilt my head.
It feels like his tongue is massaging mine, shooting tingles straight to my pussy. He moans, the vibration turning me on even more, and I whimper, my hands roaming his jacket, wanting to find skin to touch.
He pulls back slowly, placing a soft kiss on the tip of my nose, his eyes searching mine.
“Was it okay that I did that?” he asks with a hint of worry.
I swallow heavily and lick my lips, savoring the taste of him there. I definitely was okay that he did that, but the problem was I kissed Leo earlier today, and Asher had told me he was interested, too.
I nod slowly. “But?” he asks nervously, knowing there’s more I wanted to say.
“I like you, Grant. A lot. But…” I trail off, terrified to say the names of his best friends. But then his words come back to me. Showing you I’m interested, too.
“You said too,” I say, a frown knitting my brow.
The edge of his lips tilt up in amusement. “I may have overheard what Leo said to you earlier.
My hands shoot up to hide my red cheeks. “Oh, my God! You know?”
He gently pulls my fingers away from my cheeks and kisses them again. “Yeah, sweetheart, I know. That’s why I brought you out here. I wanted to take my shot before you made your decision. I know they’re both interested in you, too.”
“Grant, I—”
“It’s okay; you don’t have to say anything now.” He moves his arm around my shoulder and pulls me to his side as he turns to enjoy the scenery.
I rest my head on his shoulder as my mind spins at a hundred miles an hour. Do all three of them know? The worst part is I had no idea how to choose between them. How could I choose one then live and work beside the other two every day? It would be torture.
The only possible outcome is that I don’t choose any, and we stay friends only, but I have a feeling the moment I say that, things will change between us. It’d break my heart if they turned cold towards me.
What the hell have I got myself into?