Page 37 of Catch Yourself a Snowmance
“I didn’t expect you either,” I feel my smile. It’s unrestrained. “Or that kiss.”
“No?”
“Well, not really. Not that I’m complaining.”
“Good.”
Carson steps back, extends his hand and I take it. We walk down the trail for a little while in silence, glancing over at one another occasionally, and grinning like fools, even giggling.
We don’t talk about the kiss, or the future, or what we are, or what we think we might do when reality hits at the bottom of the mountain. We walk along. The only sound is the crunch of snow beneath our feet.
When we get back to the cabin we walk up the steps to the porch hand in hand.
Carson looks down at me. “Should we make an announcement?”
“What did you have in mind?” I smile at him because I can’t do anything but smile right now.
I’m not usually a super-smiley person. I’m fun-loving, the instigator of adventure and good times in our friend group. Butto sit around smiling like I’m practically loopy with giddiness. That’s not me.
Right now, I can’t stop.
Carson winks at me and I know his smile is a mirror of my own.
“I was figuring we’d walk in there and I’d just say something like,I just kissed Alyssa out near the path into the woods. You know, something like that.”
“Really?”
Our eyes lock.
“No. Not really. I’m just wondering what we say. If anything.”
I lean into Carson, wrapping my arms around his waist. It feels natural, yet new.
I look up into his eyes. “They’ve seen us, dancing around one another all weekend.”
“Is that what we were doing?” his eyes twinkle with amusement.
“We’re getting to know one another … and, yeah.”
He nods. Then he reaches for the door handle and we walk in together. We’re not holding hands now. Nothing seems different, and yet everything is. Noelle and Liam are in front of the fire, his arm is draped over her shoulders, and she’s leaning into him. Tori and Jennifer are in the kitchen cooking. I don’t know where Mitch and Gage are.
Noelle’s head turns and she smiles at us. “Hey, you two! How was the walk?”
Carson looks down at me and smiles. “Best ever,” he says without letting his eyes drift away from mine.
“Yeah. Best ever,” I say gazing back up at him.
We may not have made an announcement, but you’d have to be blind, deaf and half-dead not to notice the way we’re looking at one another.
Dinner is barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad. Carson and I are at the corner of the table right next to one another again. He places his hand over mine under the table briefly right in the middle of the meal. It feels clandestine and sweet. Also, a little foreign. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had a date, let alone whatever it is we’re doing.
After dinner, I’m exhausted.
“Do you want to stay up a little bit after everyone goes to bed?” Carson asks me while we’re washing dishes.
Everyone else has either already headed to bed early or is sitting in the living room around the fire.
I yawn and we both laugh.
