Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
CHARLIE
YOU CAN DO BETTER
“ W e can totally beat you.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. You’re old.”
“Old? We’re not that old.”
I watch the argument between Brooks and two teenage boys as we stand at the top of Farmer Dan’s hill. Every winter, as soon as the first, thick snow blankets the town, everyone comes out here to go sledding. It’s a tradition that goes back as long as I can remember.
If we’re really lucky, Dan’s wife will occasionally set up a hot chocolate stand at the bottom of the hill to help warm us up. One of the many reasons I love this small town of mine.
That and the fact that Brooks is arguing about who can go faster down a hill right now.
“Okay. You’re on.” Brooks extends his gloved hand for a quick shake before trudging back over to me.
“What did you get us into? ”
Brooks scoffs at me. “They can’t just tell us we’re old and get away with it.”
Glancing behind Brooks, I see the two snickering kids can’t be older than thirteen. Then again, all kids looks younger than they probably are. “You realize we’re close to two decades older than them?”
“It doesn’t mean we’re old.”
I shift the blue, plastic sled from one hand to the other. “So you challenged them to a sledding contest?”
“Yes,” Brooks says matter-of-factly.
“And what happens if they win?”
“I owe them twenty bucks.”
“And if you win?”
Brooks smiles at me. “Bragging rights.”
I burst out laughing at how ridiculous my best friend is. Even though things might be changing between us, some things will always stay the same. Like the things Brooks ropes me into.
“You ready, sir?” the kid asks as he drops their sled so they can get ready for our competition.
“Sir. I’m not a sir,” Brooks mumbles. “C’mon, Charlie. Time to go.”
“You know you can take them on by yourself.”
Brooks grabs the sled from my hand and drops it down a safe distance from the kids and settles on it. “No, I can’t. You’re my best friend which means you’re here to make sure I don’t look like an idiot alone.”
“As long as we’re in agreement about that.”
“That I’m an idiot?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t be saying that when we beat them.” Brooks laughs.
Settling behind Brooks, I scoot in as close as I can. The plastic groans under my added weight as the two of us try to fit onto this tiny sled .
“We can barely fit on this.” I shift again, making sure my ass isn’t hanging off the back. I don’t think Brooks would appreciate that being the reason we lose.
“You mind being close to me?” Brooks turns to look back at me. This close, I can see the playfulness lighting up his hazel eyes. The ends of his auburn hair stick out from under his black hat.
I steal a quick kiss and wrap my arms around his waist. “I don’t mind at all.”
“On the count of three!” the kids shout from next to us.
“On three, or on ‘go’ after three?” I ask.
“On three,” Brooks and the kids all shout back at once.
“Sorry.” I bury my face in Brooks’s neck as the countdown is on and wait as Brooks shoves us to a slow start.
“Why aren’t we moving?” Brooks huffs, scooting back and forth to try and get the sled to tip over the lip of the hill. The thrust of our hips as we move back and forth has me holding back a groan at the visual.
I can think of more enjoyable things to be doing with our hips than trying to sled.
Leaning back, I push off the ground as we finally gain a bit of traction, but it’s useless. The kids are already halfway down the hill by the time we get any momentum.
As the cold wind whips around us, it’s hard not to laugh. I can’t remember the last time I’ve come out here to go sledding. With the bar being my main priority, things like this always got pushed to the side.
I would ignore every responsibility if I got to do this with Brooks every day.
Even if we’re sliding down the bottom of the hill well after the kids.
“Yes! Told you we’d win!” The kid eggs Brooks on as he hops off his sled and walks over to us. “We’re better.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Brooks reaches into his pocket and pulls out a twenty to hand to the kids. They pump their fists in excitement as they trudge back up the hill.
“I can’t believe we lost,” I tell Brooks, wiggling off the sled. “I thought for sure our weight would make us go faster.”
“I got too cocky, thinking we’d get off faster.”
“You want to get off faster?” I waggle my eyebrows at him.
“Charlie!” Brooks looks around to make sure no one is around us. It’s busy, but no one is paying us any mind. “You can’t say that out here.”
“You started it.”
“Oh yeah?” Brooks bends down and before I know what happens, a thwack of snow is hitting me square in the shoulder. “What do you have to say about it now?”
“It’s on.”
Brooks tries to run from me, but I pelt him in the back with my own snowball. He fires one back and it nails me smack on the side of the neck.
“That was low!” I shout after him, scooping up more snow and lobbing it at him. Brooks deftly dodges it.
“You just need better aim.” Brooks winks at me.
“It’s going to be hard when I’m freezing already.”
I can already feel the snow melting, trickling down my neck and soaking the collar of my sweater under my jacket.
“C’mon, Charlie. You can do better,” Brooks teases when I throw another ball at him and it misses him again.
Not thinking, I make a move and tackle Brooks to the snow. Grabbing a fist full of snow, I shove it in his face. “How about that?”
“That’s not fair!” Brooks sputters. “You’re supposed to throw the snow at me.”
“And you keep dodging me!”
“Because I’m that good.”
Pink blooms over Brooks’s cheeks. Ice sticks to his eyebrows as a smile graces his beautiful mouth .
I can’t help myself. I lean over him and press a warm kiss to his cold lips. They fit perfectly in mine. Like Brooks’s mouth was made for kissing me and only me.
“What was that for?” he whispers, breath hot against my own mouth.
I smile down at him. “Because I can.”
“I like that you can.”
Brooks pushes off the ground to kiss me again. It’s chaste. Nothing like the ones we shared the other night.
There’s a buzzing of energy between the two of us. Something that is new and different. This time, when Brooks pulls back, I see the blatant need in his eyes.
It’s how I feel around him all the time. I can no longer resist this man.
“You said something about getting off fast?” I nip at his jaw.
“I’d prefer it if we got off slowly.”
“Then let’s get home fast so we can take it as slow as we want. Preferably several times.”
Brooks’s answering smile is all I need to light the fire under my ass.
I can’t wait to take this slow with him.