Page 90 of Rooster

“Pizza?”

“I want pepperoni!” Nathan answered.

“And I want cheese!” Samantha called out as she headed to her room. “With extra cheese!”

“Okay, I’m ordering now... And just a heads up. Ronin is going to come by and eat with us.”

“Then, you better order two pepperonis because last time, he ate most of mine.”

“He does have a habit of that, doesn’t he?” I chuckled.

“Yeah, he does. And not just my pizza. He eats all the good snacks, too.”

“I’ll be sure to order extra pizza, and I’ll do the same with the snacks.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

He slipped off to his room, and I placed our order for pizza. Within an hour, Ronin was there, and we were all sitting at the table eating pizza. The kids were talking about all the snow we’d gotten and the snow we were expected to get overnight, and before I could stop him, Ronin was telling them all about the night he took me sledding.

“She flew down that hill like a pro!” Ronin glanced over at me with a smile. “And she climbed right back up and did it again.”

“No freaking way.”

“Yep, she did great until that last run.” He reached over and placed his hand on my thigh. “She took the dip a little too fast, and she went sailing into the air. She scared me. I thought she’d really done a number on herself, but she bounced right back up.”

Nathan turned to me, his eyes wide with disbelief. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“He’s exaggerating. It wasn’t that big of a hill.”

“Oh, don’t listen to her. It’s a beast,” Ronin teased. “I’ll take you guys sometime, and you can see for yourself.”

“When?” Nathan pushed.

“I don’t know.” Ronin shrugged. “We could go tonight if you guys are up for it.”

“Seriously?” Nathan quickly turned to me. “Can we go?”

The schools were closed for inclement weather, so I answered, “Um, yeah. I don’t see why not.”

“Yes!”

And just like that, the kids popped up from their seats and started gathering their cold-weather gear. Ronin chuckled as he stood and said, “I guess that means we’re going sledding.”

“It would appear so. Do you have the sleds with you?”

“No, but I can have one of the prospects carry them over.”

“Okay, great. I guess I’ll go get ready.”

After we cleared the table, I went to get ready. It was pretty cold out, so I grabbed some extra gloves and put on an extra hoodie. By the time I was dressed, the kids were ready and waiting by the door. They were all bundled up in their thick winter coats, scarves, and waterproof mittens, and they couldn’t have looked more excited.

We headed outside, and the kids exchanged excited glances as they hopped into the backseat of Ronin’s truck. The snow-covered roads were a bit dicey, so he drove extra carefully up to the same spot he’d taken me on our first date.

As soon as we were parked, the kids jumped out and gasped as they looked over at the hill. I couldn’t blame them. It was pristine, untouched by any previous tracks, and the glistening snow seemed to beckon us all to be the first to glide down its stealthy slope.

A prospect had left four sleds over by the big tree. I grabbed them and brought them back over to the kids, and there was no missing the excitement in Nathan’s voice as he took his from my hand and announced, “This place is awesome!”

“Yeah, it is,” Ronin agreed. “I’ve been sledding down this hill since I was your age, and I can guarantee that it’s the best spot around.”

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