Chapter 11 #2
‘No.’ She blinks a few times as snowflakes fall on her eyes.
I yank my glove off and touch her face, wiping the wet snow from her cheeks.
‘I must look terrible,’ she says with a laugh as she looks away. ‘My face is all wet and I’m sure my nose is red.’
‘I think you look beautiful,’ I say, my hand pausing on her cheek.
‘You do?’ She looks back at me, her breaths speeding up.
Sliding my hand to the side of her face, I pull her closer.
I pause, giving her a chance to pull away.
When she doesn’t, I kiss her, and keep kissing her, because I like the way her lips feel, and because I’ve been wanting to do this since last night and this may be my only chance.
She parts her lips and I take the kiss deeper.
I’m so damn turned on. I’m sure Kate can tell since her body is pressed against mine.
But she shouldn’t be surprised. It’s just what happens when a guy kisses a hot girl, especially when the girl showed up in his dreams last night, an x-rated dream that was totally inappropriate to have about a roommate.
Kate’s going to be living with me. For three weeks. How is this going to work? How are we going to stay away from each other when we’re kissing after only a day?
‘Who’s out there?’ I hear a lady yell.
I pull away from Kate, my head dropping back in the snow. ‘It’s Mrs. Greenfield. She lives in the blue-and-white house. Is she coming over here? ’
Kate looks back at the house. ‘I think so. She’s standing at her door, putting on her coat.’
‘We better get up.’
‘You two are going to freeze to death!’ Mrs. Greenfield yells.
‘She’s coming over,’ Kate says, moving off me.
‘We’re fine, Mrs. Greenfield,’ I yell so she’ll hear me. She’s 70 and doesn’t hear well.
‘Brody?’ She makes her way over to us. ‘Is that you?’
‘Yeah.’ I stand up, brushing the snow off me. ‘Hey, Mrs. Greenfield.’
She puts her hands on her hips and gives me a disapproving scowl. ‘What are you doing out here?’
‘Just taking a walk.’
‘In this weather?’
‘You know me. I like the snow.’
Mrs. Greenfield looks at Kate. ‘Are you okay, dear?’
‘I’m fine.’ Kate smiles. ‘I’m Kate. I’m staying with Brody.’
Mrs. Greenfield looks back at me. ‘I thought you were seeing that little blonde girl.’
‘Kate’s just a friend. Her car went in a ditch and she needed a place to stay.’
Mrs. Greenfield loves to gossip. There’s a good chance this will be all over town by tonight. Brody Kanfield has a girl living with him and she’s not from around here. That’ll have people talking for weeks.
‘You two need to get inside.’ Mrs. Greenfield shivers. ‘This wind is bitterly cold. You could get frostbite.’
‘We’re heading in soon,’ I tell her.
‘You better, or I’ll be calling your mother,’ she huffs, before hurrying back to her house.
I hear Kate snickering and look over at her. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘That lady saying she’ll call your mom. Doesn’t she know how old you are?’
‘To her, I’m still a kid. She was my kindergarten teacher. She still sees me as a five-year-old.’
‘That lady was your teacher?’ Kate pauses. ‘I don’t think I’ve seen any of my teachers since I was in their class.’
‘I see my teachers all the time. That’s just how it is in a small town. You’re always seeing people you know.’ I dust the snow off my jeans. ‘We should go inside and put on some dry clothes. You must be freezing.’
Kate’s looking up at the sky, smiling, as big snowflakes land on her face.
‘C’mon. Let’s go,’ I say.
‘Just give me a minute.’ She twirls around, staring up at the falling flakes.
‘You really like snow.’
‘It’s magical,’ she says with a dreamy sigh.
‘Are you always like this when it snows?’
‘No. I’m usually annoyed by it.’
‘So what’s different about it now?’
‘I’ve never let myself enjoy it. I didn’t know it could be this fun.’
A strong gust of wind blows, sending a chill through me.
‘Let’s get inside before we freeze to death.’
Kate races in front of me as we head back to the house.
I stay behind her in case she falls, which is possible because the sidewalk is really slick.
Just as I’m thinking that, Kate slips on a patch of ice.
I race up and catch her, but then slip myself and fall sideways into the snow with Kate in my arms.
‘You okay?’ I ask.
‘Yeah. Are you?’
‘I’m good. It’s really slick out here. You gotta go slow.’
‘I was, but I wasn’t looking where I was going. I was too busy looking at the snow.’ She gets off me and stands up. ‘Need some help?’
‘No, I got it.’ I get up, completely covered in snow.
Kate’s laughing. ‘You look like a snowman.’
‘Thanks to you,’ I say, brushing myself off.
‘Sorry.’ She frowns. ‘I didn’t mean to do it.’
‘I’m just kidding. I’m used to being covered in snow.’
‘Can I have some help walking back?’ She holds out her hand.
‘Sure.’ I hold her hand and we continue to the house.
I like holding her hand. And I liked feeling her body over mine. And I really liked kissing her.
If Kate lived in town, I could see us dating, which is odd because we’re total opposites.
She’s smart and organized and likes things all neat and tidy, and I struggled to get through high school, am completely disorganized, and don’t care if my house is a mess.
But getting to know her the past day, I’m seeing Kate’s also a really nice person who’s caring and eager to help.
I get the feeling she’s someone who does too much for others and forgets about herself.
She’s only here a few weeks so I shouldn’t be thinking of her as anything more than a friend. I shouldn’t even be thinking of her as that. She’s a roommate. A renter. That’s it. And nothing’s going to happen between us.