“It’s a good thing I like you,” I said, relinquishing my hold on the bit of blanket I had left so I could relight the fire.
I’m not sure when we nodded off, but considering the amount of light coming in through the windows, it must’ve been rather late. Even after we reclined on the sofa and went over all of the what-ifs circling in my head—things like what if it didn’t work out or what if she decided to stay overseas—
we’d talked for hours.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d broken a few bones in her lifetime. Sam had actually broken her arm ice skating when she went to do one of those twists and landed on it wrong. I still couldn’t believe she was a skater. Out of all the times she’d teased me for playing pool, soccer, or working out in the gym we had back on campus, I honestly didn’t think she was the type.
Sure, ice skating might sound fancy, but it isn’t any easier to accomplish. Same with ballet. My sister actually took lessons for years, and the amount of stress it put on her body was insane.
I couldn’t imagine how that compared to skating, but I had a feeling the latter was a lot worse.
With Sam buried under the covers so I could only see the top of her head, I got to my feet, then rummaged around for the box of matches.
“Looks like we’re almost out of wood,” I said to her as well as myself.
“Do we have some more?” she asked as her head popped out of the blanket.
“Outside. If you want, you could go out and dig under the tarp to get some from the pile.” No doubt it was covered in half a foot of snow.
I’d actually meant to wake up during the night to keep the path clear outside, but then I got distracted and—
“I’ll get breakfast started,” she said, oblivious to my thoughts. “We should have enough supplies and leftovers for me to come up with something.” She was already pushing the blankets aside, yawning as she did. “What time is it?” she asked as she looked out the window.
“We don’t have a clock in here, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s close to ten. We slept in.”
“On Christmas morning,” she said with a huge grin on her face. “There’s no better day to do it.”
I had to agree with her there. Aside from attending the gift exchange later on at the house, there wasn’t much we needed to do. It was a lazy morning, and I planned to make the most of it.
After placing the screen in front of the fire to keep any stray embers from jumping out, I gathered yesterday’s clothes from the drying rack and ducked into the back room. In my rush to get back here, I’d completely forgotten to grab a brush.
The one we had sitting in the supply room must’ve been twelve years old, but thankfully, it did the trick.
I could worry about the frizz later as it honestly didn’t matter once I put my hat and earmuffs on.
Sam was smiling as soon as I walked back into the main room, her lips hidden behind one of her hands. “That’s a good
look for you,” she teased from her place on the sofa.
“You know, if you really want, we could trade. I’ll reheat the leftovers and you can go outside and shovel a path so we can use the bathroom.”
Her expression was a mix of amusement and disgust. “I’m fine in here, thanks. Besides, you already have all of your stuff on. It’d be a shame to waste it.”
Given the fact we didn’t have the proper clothing for her to go out there and do it herself, I smiled and left it at that.
“So what’s the plan for the day?” she asked as she walked me to the door, pausing just inside to kiss me on the lips. The kiss was feather-light and barely there, but it was still enough for me to take her in my arms and do it again.
Much like last night, she stiffened in my embrace, her reaction mimicking my own when she’d kissed me then. It was so sudden and so out of character for her that it took me some time to realize what had happened. Once I did, I met her in another kiss, followed by another and another.
But now, with the sun shining outside and the snowfall finally over, I had to pull myself away from her so I could tend to the fire.
“Once I get the fire sorted,” I said as I pulled out of her embrace, “we can lounge a bit, then maybe head back to the house after lunch. We can’t really go anywhere seeing as it’s Christmas.”
“Some places are still open,” she said, taking my hand in hers as I reached for the door with the other one.
“Yeah,” I said with a laugh, “but I’m not a nut-job. I’ll wait until after the holidays are over, thank you very much.”
She gave my hand a squeeze, then let it drop to my side.