Page 6 of An Undisputed Christmas
"Holy shit," a teenage girl whispered to her friend. "Are those guys for real?"
"That one looks like he could bench press a car," another woman murmured, staring at Connor.
"The blonde one's going to give me a heart attack," her friend replied, eyes locked on Jax.
"And the one with the bells looks like he'd be trouble," a third voice added, clearly referring to Adrian, who was currently adjusting his Santa hat and grinning at the attention.
Jax caught the remarks and flashed a slow, dangerous smile. “I’m a taken man, ladies."
The group of women actually giggled and waved, making Estelle roll her eyes.
“Indeed,” she huffed, swatting Jax's arm before pulling it to her chest. "You're spoken for."
"Damn right I am," he agreed, pulling her into him possessively and kissing her right in front of them.
A father herding his kids toward the hill did a double-take at Connor's imposing figure. "Jesus, what do they feed you guys?"
"Protein and violence," Adrian answered cheerfully, earning nervous laughter from the crowd.
"Adrian," Isla giggled, trying not to smile.
"What? I'm being friendly!"
The tobogganing hill was steeper than I'd expected, with different tracks for different skill levels.
Families with small children stuck to the gentle slopes, while teenagers and adults braved the more challenging runs that disappeared into darkness before curving back into the light.
"We'll start easy," Connor instructed, his hand protective on my back as we climbed toward the beginner slope. "Work our way up."
"Define easy," I muttered, eyeing the hill that looked anything but.
"Trust me, sweet girl. I won't let anything happen to you."
I kept getting distracted by how Connor’s breath steamed in the cold air and how his dark eyes kept finding mine with promises I didn’t fully understand yet.
The first run was us girls together, just like we'd planned on the drive over.
"Okay, girls," Adrian announced, gesturing to a large, flat sled. "All aboard the estrogen express."
"Did you just call us the estrogen express?" Isla asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Would you prefer the lady locomotive?"
"I would prefer you to hush and push us down this hill," Estelle laughed, sliding onto the sled with surprising dexterity for someone who'd never done this before.
I climbed on behind her, my heart hammering as Isla settled inbehind me. The sled felt flimsy and unstable, nothing like the solid ground I was used to.
The guys pulled down each of our snow goggles and tugged our scarves up as we peered down the drop.
"This is either going to be amazing or we're all going to die," I announced.
"Both," Isla chirped. "Ready?"
Before I could answer, Adrian gave us a mighty push, and we were flying.
The world became a blur of white, speed, and terrifying joy. Wind bit my face despite the goggles, my hair probably whipping Isla, but I couldn't stop laughing.
We hit a bump and went airborne for a heart-stopping second, all three of us shrieking with delight and terror.
