Page 22 of My Pucking Life

I gently set her back on her feet and take her in again as she rearranges her clothing so they're lying just right. Thankfully, the temperature dropped again with a cold front, making my plans even more perfect if we get a few snow flurries later.

She's wearing a white long-sleeve shirt under a fluffy pink vest that you can barely see under the pink, white, and silver plaid blanket scarf wrapped around her neck. Her legs are covered in black, fleece-lined leggings with fuzzy pink leg warmers scrunched from her white tennis shoes to just below her calves. The colors all complement her hair and complexion perfectly.I have to remember to thank Zoey for helping me get it all right.

Her silver hair looks like it's sparkling…wait, it is sparkling; it looks like she sprayed some kind of glitter in it after she curled it, pulling the top half to the back of her head where a large pink bow is settled. All of it combined with her makeup makes her look every bit the princess she is.

“We gonna do something, Big Guy, or are we just going to stand here and gawk at each other all day?” she taunts, her eyes traveling down my body again. “Not that I'm complaining.” I hold my hand out to her. She accepts it without an ounce of hesitation, and I pull her into me. “We are definitely going to do what I have planned for us. It took too much work not to.” I laugh at the adorable, puzzled look on her face. “First, I packed a picnic of sorts. It's mostly snacks and finger sandwiches, but we have about a three-hour drive ahead of us, so I thought it would be nice to snack the whole way there.”

She claps her hands in excitement, rolling onto her toes. “This already sounds perfect!” she squeals in delight.

Taking her hand and leading her towards the door, I grab the picnic basket and thermoses Matilda and I prepared, as well as my coat. Everything else we need is already in the trunk of the SUV or already at our destination.

When we approach the vehicle, I release Leera's hand to open her door and help hoist her into her seat. She playfully swats at me, complaining that she can do it herself, but I can't help myself. Smiling at her antics, I place the basket in the space just behind the center console so that she can reach the basket and have all the snacks she likes.

Rounding the vehicle, I reach my door, lean in to set the thermoses in the cup holders, lift myself into my seat, and start the motor. I turn on Leera's seat warmers to take off the chill and let her pick the music we listen to as we settle in for our drive.

Intentionally making a few stops—claiming I needed to use the restroom, needing to put gas in the car, and wanting something cold to drink—I ensure we arrive at the familiar entrance to the pack lands just as the sun begins to sink below the horizon. You'd think I had some kind of control over nature itself with the way the sky is painted in the perfect pinks and purples filling the sunset sky with cotton candy clouds perfect for my sweet little mate.

When I pull into the familiar lot where we left the car last time, she smiles because I'm sure she believes her surprise is just being with the pack, but we won't even be seeing them on this visit.

17

Ugh, this stubborn man. He gets me all excited for a surprise. Then he tells me it's going to take about three hours to get here, but after multiple stops, it was much closer to four hours. Now I'm stuck in the car until he's finished loading things into the tiny bed of the side-by-side.

He finally makes his way back to my door, popping it open and holding out his hand for me to take, pulling me out of my seat and into his arms, and setting me on my feet, my feet crunching in the light layer of snow.

The SUV's tinted windows were definitely muting the gorgeous sky. It looks like someone used cotton candy to watercolor the clouds, and I've never seen a more beautiful sunset. The trees of the forest, dusted with the fresh glittery snow, all framing the sky, it’s…it's like something out of a movie, and I still can't believe this is real life. Ever since I met this man, so much of my life has felt like a fever-dream. The good and bad kind, but today is about the good.

When he's let me have my fill of the view, he pulls my mother's camera from behind his back and hands it to me. “I figured you'd want to snap some shots while we're here. I remember how much you loved it.” He smiles down at me, and I always worry that one of the times he makes my heart stop dead in its tracks, it won't be able to restart.

My eyes crinkle with what probably looks like a borderline psychotic smile, but I can't contain how happy I am that he thinks of these things. It tells me that he really sees me. Not just the mate bond. Not the fact that I'm the reincarnation of someone else. He sees Leera. Just Leera.

I choke out a small, “Thank you,” and gently accept my mother's camera from his outstretched hand, immediately rushing to capture the perfect colors of the sunset before they continue to darken and fade altogether. When I've taken a bajillion pictures, I secure the strap around my neck, still cradling the camera with one hand. I find Roman leaning against a tree, and it takes serious conscious effort not to drool at the sight of him. He's dangerously handsome every day, but the way he's leaning against that tree right now looks downright sinful.

He has on black shoes that look like a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of hiking boots had a baby. His pants trailing up his thick, muscular legs are tighter than usual denim and almost look to have a gray hue to them, with a few worn areas and small rips struggling to contain his quads. Under his lightly fur-lined gray suede jacket is a tight white Henley t-shirt with the button undone. He styled his hair, gently pushing it out of his face but in that simply stunning kind of tousled way men do. He has one leg on the ground and one on the tree he's leaning on. While he's distracted by whatever he's thinking, I allow myself a moment to capture a few shots of him.

I suddenly want to climb him…like the poor unsuspecting tree he's leaning against. He finally catches me gawking at him, but before he can say anything, I crook my finger at my hunky hockey playing werewolf.

A smile full of mischief and love lights up his entire face. “You beckoned, Your Majesty,” he purrs, and my body shouldn't enjoy the way he says that.

When he's within reach, using my free hand, I latch onto his shirt and pull him into me so that I can kiss him. Cutting the kiss short so we don't get swept away, I rest my forehead against his and whisper a breathy, “I love you.”

He growls and holds my face in his hands, raising his chin to kiss me on the forehead where it was touching his. “I love you, too.”

“Thank you for such a sweet surprise,” I sigh as I melt into him, and he laughs so hard it shakes my whole body. “What, pray tell, is so funny about me thanking you?” I huff.

His smile somehow widens even further as he leads me to the side-by-side. “That wasn't even part of your surprise. We're headed there now,” he finishes as he lifts me into my seat and fastens my safety belt.

I wrack my brain for what he could possibly have planned but come up blank as he plops into the seat beside mine, foregoing his own safety belt, I notice. He starts the motor, and the rumbling below me does not help the already slowly rising burn in my core.

We've been lightly bouncing through the woods for a few minutes now, and I'm just about to ask him where we're going when I see unnatural lights up ahead. As we get closer, I see twinkle lights, just like the ones from the rooftop, strewn between and around the trees. When he parks the side-by-side, he smiles over at me before dashing out of the vehicle to unbuckle me and show me what he's put together.

As we approach the sight before us, I gasp, and tears immediately fill my eyes. They are…just wow…it’s not just some random twinkle lights strung along the trees; he has wrapped trees and spread the lights between them, in two lines, creating a twinkle-light-lit path through the forest.But wait, there's more, folks.“R-Roman, what is that?” I ask, staring at the forest floor of the path.

“Ice,” he beams at me in the glow of the tiny lights.

“I know it snowed a little, but why is there a trail of ice on the forest floor surrounded by twinkle lights?”

“Well.” He kicks at the snow by his feet, looking suddenly unsure of himself. “I thought it would be fun to take you ice skating, but I wanted it to be more magical…like you.” He shrugs like it's no big deal, and there's a light blush on his cheeks that I wouldn't be able to see without my wolf's vision upgrade I received.

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