Page 13 of Snowed in at Santa's Lodge
“That’s good enough for now. It’s different for a human. I’m a patient man, Aspen. Take all the time you need. Just know that I’m here, caring for you until you decide what’s best for you. I’ll always want your happiness and the best even if that means not being with me.”
“Really?” I leaned my head over his heart.
“Absolutely. You and your happiness are my priority.”
Chapter Eleven
Ragnar
I hadn’t been keeping an eye on the road condition reports as much as I normally would have. It was selfish of me, but I didn’t want Aspen to leave, and if I didn’t know they were open, then he’d be staying. But this morning, when I went to make breakfast, it was woefully obvious that it was time for some groceries.
Sure, there was plenty where we could make do, but some of the things that I really wanted weren’t there—like fresh milk. So I called a friend in town, and, sure enough, the roads were open, but they were shit.
I found Aspen looking out the window.
Some birds were eating the discarded bread we had thrown out there the day before. It had seen better days and it was a tradition my grandfather had started that I wanted to keep going. He loved to watch the birds all year long, but especially during the winter.
They were beautiful. I’d been thinking of putting up some bird feeders come spring, maybe the kind that attached to the window so we could watch from inside. I could see us sitting on our bed and watching them as we talked about our plans for the day.
There I was again, already deciding Aspen was staying here forever. I needed to be careful about getting too far ahead of myself. We’d talked about mating and what that meant, but the details of what that would look like for us? We still needed to have that talk.
Ideally he would live here with me. But if that wasn’t what he wanted, I’d pack this place up and start my new life wherehe wanted to be. He was mine, and I was his. I couldn’t picture moving forward with life without him by my side.
“Morning.” I wrapped my arms around him from the back, resting my chin on his shoulder. “They’re something, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, I didn’t expect there to be birds. I thought they all went south.”
“A lot do, but some stick around, and they tend to like freebie food.” I chuckled, rubbing my cheek against his neck, loving the way he shivered right down his spine. “My grandfather loved the birds. You’d have liked him.”
“It sounds like.” He turned his head enough to give me a quick peck on the cheek.
“The roads are better. Ish.”
He froze beneath my touch. “Understood. I can be out today.”
Aspen very much did not understand. He missed the ish part completely. I wasn’t kicking him out.
“Better ish, as in they’re not good, but useable to an extent. Your car wouldn’t make it a half a mile, even if it did have heat, which it doesn’t. So there’s that.” The thought of him riding anywhere without heat had my alpha instincts kicking in.
He leaned back into me. “Oh,” was all that he said.
“But I have a truck here with chains on the wheels. It’s not optimal, but around here, it’s pretty necessary. Why don’t we go into town? I’d like some more milk. I was thinking of making a banana cream pie.”
“You bake?”
“I bake with a side of ish. I need a box or a very easy recipe to have half a chance, but banana cream pie is one of my specialties, and we have some bananas that are perfect for it.” I brought my lips to his ear and whispered, “I buy the crust.”
His chuckle wrapped around me like a hug. “Then I’d love to go into town with you.”
He was going to be a little disappointed when he saw what “town” entailed. There was a general store, which was as close as we came to a grocery store and a hardware store and a clothing store all combined. A gas station with an attached garage where I was hoping to eventually get his car so that he could be up and running with actual heat. And there was a diner slash bakery slash coffee shop. That was pretty much it. We didn’t even have a town hall, just a town office above the diner and next to Thomas’s, the diner’s owner’s, apartment.
It wasn’t far to get to someplace bigger if we needed more, but not in this weather. We took the roads very slowly and didn’t see another vehicle the entire way.
“This must take some getting used to,” Aspen said. “Being stuck home all winter.”
It wasn’t all winter, but he had a point.
He held onto my leg tightly, as if it would protect him from any truck slippage. I rested my hand on his.
