Page 44 of Seeds of Christmas
“So am I!”
She’s laughing so hard she can barely breathe. I’m laughing too. We’re both covered in snow, both breathing hard, both?—
She goes very still.
I know why a second later.
I’m still holding her. My arms are around her waist. Her back is against my chest. I can feel her breathing, feel the rise and fall of her ribs, feel the way she’s frozen in place like if she doesn’t move, this moment won’t end.
Or won’t mean anything.
Or won’t be real.
I should let go.
I don’t let go.
“Rhi,” I say quietly.
“Yeah?” Her voice is barely a whisper.
“I’m going to put snow down your hoodie now.”
“Don’t you dare?—”
But I’m already doing it, scooping up a handful of snow and shoving it down the back of her jacket.
She shrieks—actually shrieks—and whirls around, hands scrabbling at her back trying to get the snow out.
“You are theWORST?—”
She lunges at me with her own handful of snow, and I try to dodge, but the ground is slippery and my boots lose traction and suddenly we’re both going down.
I twist at the last second so I take the impact, landing on my back in the snow with Rhi landing on top of me.
For a second, neither of us moves. We’re both breathing hard. Her hands are braced on either side of my head.
Her knees are on either side of my hips.
Her face is inches from mine.
Snow is melting between us, cold and wet, seeping through my jacket.
But all I can feel is HER.
The weight of her. Her eyes are so bright. Alive. Happy.
She’s so close. Close enough that I can see the ring of darker brown around her pupils. Close enough that I can count the freckles scattered across her nose—seven, I think, though I’m having trouble focusing on counting when she’s looking at me like that.
Her lips are parted slightly, pink from the cold, and I want to taste them so badly it’s actually painful.
She’s breathing hard. I’m breathing hard. Her body is pressed against mine in ways that are making it very difficult to think about anything except how perfectly she fits.
“Hi,” I say, because I’m an idiot.
“Hi,” she whispers back.
Her hair has come completely loose and is falling around us like a curtain, blocking out everything but her face.
