Page 34 of An Undisputed Christmas
The guys, with their superior arm strength and tactical minds, should have dominated completely. But they were handicapped by their love for us, which meant their throws were more playful than punishing.
The same could not be said for their attacks on each other, though.
Connor nailed Jax in the back of the head with a snowball so perfectly aimed he could have been a sniper.
Jax retaliated by tackling Connor into a drift, both of them disappearing in an explosion of powder and masculine grunting.
"Divide and conquer!" Sierra yelled, lobbing a snowball at Adrian while he was distracted by his brothers’ wrestling match.
Her aim was terrible this time—the snowball sailed wide and hit me instead, exploding against my coat in a shower of ice crystals.
"Hey!" I protested, immediately bending to gather my own ammunition. "I'm on your team!"
"Friendly fire!" Sierra called back, already running as I took aim. “Noooo!”
The battle lines shifted constantly.
One moment, it was girls versus guys. Next, it was everyone for themselves. Then suddenly, Sierra and Connor were allied against the rest of us, working with wordless coordination that spoke of a deep connection.
Adrian proved to be a master of psychological warfare, using his considerable ridiculousness to distract us before launching surprise attacks.
He sidled up to me with that innocent smile, leaned in like he was going to whisper sweet nothings, then stuffed a handful of snow over the back of my coat.
"You're evil!” I shrieked, trying to shake off the snow while simultaneously plotting revenge.
"You love it," he replied with that insufferable grin, dancing away before I could retaliate.
Jax, meanwhile, had turned snowball fighting into strategy. His throws were precise, powerful, and effective.
He could hit a target from thirty yards away and make it look effortless. The problem was, his primary target seemed to be Adrian, and their exchanges quickly escalated from playful to downright aggressive.
"Boys," Estelle called in exasperation as a particularly vicious throw from Adrian sent Jax tumbling backward into a snow bank. "This is supposed to be fun, not deadly combat."
"Thisisfun," Jax called back, emerging from the drift with snow in his hair and murder in his eyes. "Isn't this fun, Catalyst?”
"Loads," Adrian replied cheerfully, already packing anothersnowball like a threat.
Connor ended their escalating war by slamming both of them with simultaneous throws that were so powerful they had to be murderous.
Both Adrian and Jax went down in a tangle of muscles and cursing, while Connor stood over them with the satisfied expression of a man who'd just solved two problems with one solution.
"Show-off," Sierra accused fondly, grinning.
The battle raged for what felt like hours, though it was probably only thirty minutes before we were all breathless, soaked, and giddy with exhaustion.
We ended up collapsed in a circle on the snow, tangled together, steam rising from our overheated bodies in the cold air.
"I can't feel my toes," Estelle announced to the sky, her voice muffled by her scarf.
"I can't feel my face," Sierra added. "But in the best possible way."
"This is perfect," I sighed, letting my head fall back against Adrian's shoulder, where he was sprawled behind me. “So perfect."
Above us, the first stars were beginning to appear in the darkening sky, and the Christmas lights along the cabin looked even more magical against the twilight.
Snow fell in lazy flakes, dusting our already-white clothing and adding to the dreamlike quality of the moment.
"We should get inside," Connor grunted eventually, standing first and helping Sierra up.
