Snowed In

It was semantics of course, but it was no less hilarious. Very often I shirked my duties when it was my night to cook. I did it by ordering in, trading off, or somehow ‘persuading’ one of the others to take my turn.

And oh, could I ever persuade them…

“Tonight’s specia

l though,” Jeremy protested. “Tonight’s supposed to be—”

“I know what its supposed to be,” I replied. “And don’t worry baby. It’ll be everything you ever wanted… with a bonus.”

I kissed him on the way into the kitchen, and it was one of those long, hot, end of the day kisses I’d grown to love so much. He squeezed my ass through my bathrobe as I twisted away, my hair still wet from the shower.

“Shane?”

“On his way,” I said.

He picked an egg roll out from its noisy wrapper. “We don’t have to wait for him to eat do we?”

I smacked it out of his hand. “Of course we do,” I smiled. “Special night, remember?”

Grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge I walked over to where Boone sat sprawled on the couch. He pulled me into his lap, eliciting a startled gasp as he began sliding his hands into my robe. I set the beers quickly down on the coffee table, before fending him off.

“Dinner first,” I said, pushing his hands away. “Remember?”

He settled for a kiss, one that was no less hot or passionate than the one I’d just gotten from Jeremy. Somewhere deep in the folds of my robe, I felt a flutter in my tummy.

“You’re such a tease.”

“Am I?” I asked sweetly, intentionally hooking a finger into my mouth.

He twisted the cap from his beer with one big hand. “At times yeah.”

“Well then its a good thing I always follow through in the end.”

I looked at the clock. It was still early. Shit, I wasn’t even hungry. But we’d promised to have dinner together for once — all four of us — despite our busy schedules. And so…

“A year,” Jeremy swore, bouncing into a chair. He turned his attention to the television, which was playing nothing in particular. “I can’t believe it’s been a whole year.”

“Not just a whole year,” I said, pouring a glass of wine. “A great year.”

“An interesting year,” Boone chuckled. “That’s for sure.”

The wine tasted wonderful as it slid down my throat, warming me from within. It was our anniversary. Or as Jeremy had dubbed it, our ‘avalanchiversary’. One year since being buried on that mountain. One year since we’d all met at the hotel…

And oh what a difference a year makes…

“You getting dressed?” Boone asked casually.

“I am dressed.”

He laughed. “You’re eating dinner in your bathrobe?”

“Maybe I want to be comfortable,” I shrugged.

The door flew open, and Shane stepped inside. He was still wet from the rain.

“You guys waited?”

I threw my arms around him and kissed him, long and hard. His hands instinctively went to my hips. They slid upward, along my ribs…