Page 38 of One Last Run

Pete laughed at Danica’s playful tone. "Done." Pete pulled her shirt over her head, only tensing her ab muscles a little bit as she did. She slowed her movements, feeling Danica's eyes on her. This was an interesting game they were playing, but one that Pete didn't want to concede. "I could have said naked snow angel," Pete said.

"Frostbitten vulva isn't on my bucket list." Danica began to lift her shirt, then paused, pointing at Pete with mock-confrontation. "No funny business.”

"Sure, Wendell," Pete said with a smirk. She shimmied her pajama pants over her hips, hooking her thumbs in her underwear to pull them down, too.

Danica turned around to pull off her shirt, but if she thought that would stop Pete’s eyes from roaming every inch of her shoulders and back, she was woefully mistaken. She tugged off her pants in a quick and inelegant maneuver, and Pete tried very hard to remain appropriate and not stare at Danica's ass, but, well, she could hardly be blamed. She'd seen Danica naked so many times before, but it had been fifteen years. Now, her body was lush, all soft curves.

"Don't forget a towel." Danica cleared her throat, grabbing one from a pile. She wrapped it around herself quickly, then grabbed a beanie from the table next to the door, pulling it over her head. "Ready?"

Pete nodded, not even trying to cover herself with her towel. It would only slow her down from getting into the warm water as fast as she could.

Danica's gaze trailed downward, but snapped back up to meet Pete's eye. "Ready?" Pete nodded, and Danica opened the door to let her go out first. She shut the door as quietly as she could, and they raced barefoot and bare-assed across the patio and rushed to take the hot tub cover off.

"Fuck, it's way colder than I thought it would be," Danica said, her teeth clenched as she held her towel with one hand and worked to remove the cover with the other one.

"Way colder," Pete agreed with a chuckle, shoving the cover aside unceremoniously. "Okay, get in, get in, get in." They dropped their towels and climbed into the hot tub, sinking down so only their heads were out of the water. As the water stilled Pete could hear the gentle shushing of the snow falling around them.

Danica was looking up at the sky, a soft smile on her face as snowflakes landed on her cheeks. Seeing her smile, completely enthralled by something so simple and lovely, caused a painful yet tender feeling to bloom in Pete's chest. Snowflakes landed on the wool of her beanie, the fluff of the pompom on top. Danica looked at her and smiled her soft, heart-melting smile. "It looks like you have a halo."

Pete reached up to touch the snow landing in her dark curls, then shook her head and watched the tiny droplets fly.

Danica laughed, a sound like bells in the winter night, her voice fogging the surrounding air. "I'm glad you made me do this."

"Me too," Pete said, leaning back against the side of the hot tub, finally warm enough to consider not being entirely underwater. She propped an arm up on the edge and watched as Danica's gaze trailed down to where the water covered the top of her chest, then back up again.

"I'm sorry I've been so..." Danica gestured in the air between them.

Pete raised an eyebrow. "Warm and welcoming? Bright and bubbly?"

"Awkward and standoffish?" Danica said.

Pete dipped her chin in acknowledgement. "Ah, that."

"I didn't know what it would be like to see you again," Danica said, her voice lower. She looked down into the water, tendrils of hair free from underneath the beanie and brushing against her cheeks.

"And? What is it like?" Pete asked, her heart thumping with expectant hope.

"I think sometimes I forget you were one of my best friends," Danica said, still looking down at the water where she was swaying her arms back and forth.

Pete made a sound of understanding and nodded. Maybe it was their proximity and their nakedness, but Danica still had a nervous energy about her. Pete remained still, watching the way Danica’s brow wrinkled as she seemed to weigh her words.

"I mean, things did end badly between us, but this week made me realize how much I've missed..." Danica paused again, looking up at the falling snow again. She squinted, as though looking for the right word.

Pete had never wanted to hear the word 'you' so badly in her life. She wanted to hear that Danica missed her, that she'd never stopped thinking about her.

"Our friendship," Danica said carefully and slowly.

Ouch. Pete tried not to let the sting of the words show on her face. But she had missed their friendship, too. And if all Danica wanted was friendship, it might hurt, but she'd rather have Danica in her life as a friend than not at all.

"I've missed you, too," Pete said, the words tumbling out in a rush, betraying the carefully constructed composure she'd tried to maintain.

"Where have you been for the last fifteen years? I feel like you just disappeared," Danica asked, her voice thick in the cold night air.

Pete held out her hand to catch a few snowflakes as she contemplated what to say. There was just something reallylame about saying that she'd been experiencing the world, or exploring, or that she was working tirelessly on building her nonprofit into something that would actually help vulnerable and parentless children.

"You don't have to tell me, unless you're a super-secret spy or something. Then you definitely have to tell me," Danica said, watching her closely.

"Not a spy. I've just been traveling and working," Pete said as honestly as she was comfortable with.

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