Page 89 of Spark

“Then stop arguing and put the damn hat on,” he said darkly and began to lead me away from the closet and out into the hallway.

“But why does it have to be this one?”

“So I can easily spot you, that’s why; now, let’s go before I change my mind.”

I huffed and begrudgingly slid the hat on over my head, trying to ignore the heat in my cheeks from irritation. Why couldn’t I just have a plain black hat like his? Why did everything I wear have to stick out with color and impractical designs? He could easily spot me wearing a bright red hat just as well.

Ignoring my evident resistance, Darren escorted me downstairs to the sliding door that led out to a stone patio. It looked like someone had shoveled a path outside, revealing a slated pathway for us to follow. But I wasn’t interested in following someone else’s path. Naturally, I wanted to lay out my own, and naturally, that wasn’t allowed.

Darren slid the door aside and allowed me to walk out first. The chill of the air kissed my face, and I watched enthralled as my breath left behind a misty trail from my mouth. God, I missed the snow. Fall was my favorite season, but winter always seemed to bring a little bit of magic with it—magic that reminded me of home.

Not bothering to wait for Darren, I walked off on my own, observing everything and taking in every square inch of the land around me. The grounds weren’t as big as the estate in California, but everything was still gorgeous nonetheless. An area had a tall stone fireplace with benches and chairs all around, while snow-covered pine trees bordered along the property. A covered hot tub near the house settled into the wood patio while a few stone benches were scattered across the property here and there. But the best of all was the array of mountains that surrounded the grounds. I couldn’t stop looking up every few seconds to admire them all over again. Even the exterior of the cabin itself was something to praise.

Turning back around, I suddenly caught sight of myself in the window with the stupid frou-frou purple hat. I immediately scoffed and snatched the damn thing off my head, pulling the hood of my coat up over my head instead.

“Hey, put that back on,” Darren said as he came toward me.

“No way. It looks ridiculous,” I replied as I tried to stuff the thing in my coat pocket. “Hey!”

Darren’s hands seized the hat halfway into my pocket, pulled my hood back, and roughly slid the hat back over my head.

“Keep it on. I don’t need you getting sick out here,” he admonished. “Now, let’s go.”

Darren continued our walk, expecting me to follow him, but I had different plans now. Bending down, I grabbed a handful of perfectly packable snow and quickly formed a good-sized ball in my hand.

“You’re such a bully!” I yelled and threw the snowball right square into Darren’s back. The snowball exploded all over his jacket, causing him to immediately halt in his tracks. Slowly turning on his heels, Darren’s expression was that of confusion and amusement.

“Did you just throw a snowball at me?”

“Yes,” I admitted standing tall and firm.

“Big mistake,” he replied, a playful glare on his face. He then bent down, grabbed a heap of snow in his giant hands and hurled his own snowball at me. It came so fast, I’d barely been able to dodge it, hunching my shoulders and taking the light impact to my upper arm and shoulder. Shaking the snow from my arm, I squared my shoulders and scowled at him.

“Okay. Now, it’s on!” I shouted, and soon, a full-out war ensued.

For a good twenty minutes, Darren and I hauled snowballs at each other like we were both seventeen again. We ducked and dodged each other, hiding behind trees and parts of the cabin, and though he was able to hit me several times, I think the only time I actually hit him was the first shot fired. He was such a big target; I didn’t understand how I could miss him. His snowballs overshadowed mine by twice the amount of snow and flew far faster than mine did. He really was a mutant.

Throughout the entire snowball fight, I couldn’t help but find myself actually enjoying it, even though I was sharing the experience with Darren. I knew I wasn’t the only one sharing the same feeling. I swore I could hear Darren laughing. Whether it was at me and my shitty aim or the fact that he was actually having fun, I didn’t know, but either way, it had to count for something.

I’d been crouched behind the fireplace packing several snowballs when I suddenly noticed the rain of fire had stopped… how long ago had it stopped? Panic took over as I grabbed two snowballs, one in each hand, and peeked my head around the fireplace. No Darren in sight. Oh, fuck, where did he go? He couldn’t hide very well behind anything. Nothing was big enough to conceal him. I kept my body crouched low, my eyes scanning in every direction, searching everywhere for him, but he was nowhere to be found. I felt myself straighten. Maybe he went inside to take a call?

And that was when I felt myself get tackled to the snow-covered ground. I groaned aloud and quickly fought to regain my composure, but with the winter jacket and snow, there wasn’t much room to give. I still somehow managed to wrap my arm around the back of his neck. He lifted his hips just enough for me to squeeze my legs through and wrap them around his waist to keep myself stationary and as close to his body as possible. I wasn’t about to let myself get slammed to the ground as Scott had. But Darren was a cheater and eventually dug his big gloved fingers into my side, essentially tickling me.

I gasped and squirmed, gripping him tighter. “You cheating bastard!” I shrieked. I moved my leg from around his waist and planted my foot at his hip and pushed myself up to get away from his digging fingers. He was laughing, of course, because no matter where I went, he continued to fucking tickle me until my grip around his neck loosened enough for him to flip me around so I was trapped under him with absolutely nowhere to go.

“You’ve been breached, little girl.” He chuckled above me, the smile on his face so evident in his accomplishment.

“Never say die,” I replied with a smirk.

Darren sighed in satisfaction of his conquest and practically beamed down at me for what felt like the longest time. It made my breath hitch in my throat.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he suddenly said out of nowhere.

I looked up at him, trying to think of something better to say than the obvious thank you. He was watching at me with such an expression on his face, one I had no idea where to place.

“I’m more than just a pretty face, you know,” I teased.

“And isn’t that just my luck,” he replied. The heat of his gaze penetrated me deep in the pits of my stomach. It was the look of a man on the prowl, the hunter sweeping in for the kill and me, the ever-challenging prey he’d just caught.

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