Page 127 of The Pinkie Pact

"Were you with a ton of other people when you did it?" I asked him between my giggles.

"I was, yeah, a bunch of big guys, and we all helped each other up."

I shook my head. "That might have been good to know," I teased. "But you know what? I'm not so sure I even want to do it anymore."

"Really? Why not?"

"Isn't it some kind of federal crime?"

He nodded.

"So I'm not that kind of girl anymore. And going to jail isn't exactly high on my list."

Laughing, he grabbed me, pulling me close, but a loud shout outside distracted us from whatever he was about to do. We walked back out to see two boys with sleds practically flying down the snow-covered steps of the memorial.

"That looks like such a blast," I said while we watched them having the time of their life.

"Hey," one kid said, out of breath, as he made it back up to the top again. "Wanna try?"

"For real?" Kieran said.

"Yeah. I need a break. And my brother can bring it back up." He pointed to the other kid who was trying to make snow angels at the bottom of the steps.

"What do you say?" Kieran asked me, grinning. "Have you ever even been on a sled?"

"Never." I laughed. "But I'd love to try it."

"Come on then."

We both thanked the boy who handed us the big sled. Kieran surprised me by laying down flat on his stomach.

"Lie on my back," he instructed.

"Wait, we're going down face first?" I asked.

"Yeah! Yeah!" the boy shouted excitedly as Kieran kept laughing.

"Come on, babe. Just try it," Kieran said when I hesitated.

Taking a deep breath, I did as he said and gripped the hell out of him as he pushed us off before I could even think twice.

I might have screamed in his ear while we flew forward, accelerating at a crazy pace, dashing down all eighty-freaking-seven steps, crashing into the snow at the bottom in a big heap of tangled limbs as we laughed our cold asses off.

"That was awesome!" the kid shouted from the top as the other boy came over to take the sled.

"I'm gonna try that," he said, hurrying back up, now loaded down with both sleds.

Kieran and I scrambled to get up, brushing off the snow, still laughing. "We better get out of the way," Kieran said, grabbing onto my arm and helping me walk away.

"That was so much fun," I said as we fought our way through the snow and back to the dense trees surrounding the reflecting pool.

"Way more fun than sitting on Lincoln's lap," he said.

"Definitely," I agreed, the boys' shouts slowly fading in the distance until it was back to just the two of us and the never-ending amount of snow that seemed to fall around us even harder.

Something about the trees we were entering protected us, making the moment feel incredibly intimate as we passed through. I thought about Kieran running here nearly every day, one of his favorite places in the world, and I could see why. Something about it was so peaceful, like a huge chunk of nature in the midst of this amazing city.

I remembered that time at the beginning of the semester when I'd seen Kieran running shirtless, how I couldn't even speak to him that morning, and how far we'd come since then... every crazy thing we'd been through together.

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