The way he looks at me makes my cheeks warm despite the cold. Unable to bear the saccharine sweetness of the moment, she let her face fall onto his chest. I breathe in his signature scent and snuggle against him as he wraps his arms around me.
We sit like that until the cars come down the road. I turn my head as I see the lights that come on as they approach. The vehicle in front is a pearl white Audi sedan, and behind it is a huge silver truck with thick winter tires and a noisy engine.
The Audi screeches to a stop at the top of the roundabout, and a petite blonde woman flies out from the driver’s side, pointing her finger at the truck, key ring jingling under her hand. He has the keys stuck between his fingers like claws. As if she was prepared for a fight.
-You’re crazy? -shouts.
Jasper sits up under me and hugs me to his chest. I feel every limb tense, as if ready to spring into action. After turning off the engine, a handsome, dark man gets out of the huge, noisy truck. And not just any handsome guy, the kind that makes heads turn when they walk down the street.
The lights from the yard illuminate the smile on his face, and when Jasper sees him, his body relaxes.
“Calm down, Tink,” the man says with good humor but a little mockingly. You’re going to burst a blood vessel by stomping like that.
“Tink?” she shouts, standing about two meters away from him, not at all affected by his good appearance.
He waves a hand over her nonchalantly.
-Yeah. You have that angry Tinkerbell air about you. I like it. His eyes roam over her body with appreciation, but not with lasciviousness.
“You’re like a fucking goat, you know that?” You drive like an idiot behind me for ten minutes, and now you follow me here? To… to… look at me and compare me to a Disney pixie? The woman continues to tell him off, her doll-like features twisted into an angry mask. That was dangerous. You could kill someone.
My head buzzes between them as they go back and forth.
“I think she’s actually a fairy.” And for the record, driving twenty under the speed limit is also dangerous and could kill someone. Especially to me. “Out of boredom,” he jokes, resting one hip on the truck and crossing his arms over his chest, without seeming worried.
“It’s dark and snowy!” I don’t know the area. There could be wildlife. Driving slowly is safe as long as some forty-year-old redneck isn’t giving me shit in his shitty truck, flashing his high beams at me.
Jasper’s body shakes with laughter and I cover my mouth with a hand to hide the laughter about to explode.
-Who is she? I think I love her.
“That’s Summer’s older sister, Winter.
My eyes return to the interaction near the front door. Jasper’s SUV hides us, but we have a good vantage point to see the unusual, but superior, Christmas spectacle.
Ohh. That Winter?
-Yeah. That Winter.
The man’s dark eyebrows shoot across his forehead, and I realize he’s trying not to laugh.
“I’ve heard that if you want to get fucked in the ass, the best thing is a small cock.” So maybe I’m your man.
Winter’s jaw drops comically, and I cover my entire face with my hands to contain my laughter.
-And who is he?
Jasper laughs, clearly enjoying this exchange as much as I am.
“That’s Theo.”
“I don’t think I know him.” I look again at the clean-shaven man. Her eyes shine like polished onyx, with eyelashes so dark and long that they make me envy. He is handsome.
Jasper pinches my ass. Hard. And I scream against his chest.
Theo Silva. Bull rider. Rhett has been his mentor for a while.
Winter raises her left hand and lifts her hips.
“I’m married, you fucking pig.” Now go away.
Theo shrugs and smiles.
Married for now, perhaps.
Rhett’s voice draws my attention to the front door. I don’t know how long he’s been standing there staring.
“Yes, don’t worry, Winter. We are definitely going to free you from that husband and bury him in the back field. It’ll be like that Dixie Chicks song. Rob is the new Earl.
Winter presses her fingers to her temples.
“You’re lucky to make my little sister so happy, Eaton.
Rhett giggles and Winter suddenly looks exhausted and very exhausted.
It looks ready to fall apart. I want to walk across the driveway and hug her, but I also don’t want to leave our position as voyeurs.
“But Theo is just a baby.” “You can’t corrupt him, Winter,” Rhett continues as Winter gives him an exasperated look and sighs heavily.
Theo rolls his eyes.
-I’m not a baby. I am twenty six years old.
Rhett scoffs.
-No, you don’t have them. You are twenty-two years old.
-Friend. I was twenty-two years old when I met you on the circuit. I have gotten older. You’re doing what my mother does with her pets. They reach a certain age and then she says they are that same age until one day they just die.
Rhett chuckles.
“Well, I will be.” You are like that store with the scarce dresses. Forever 22.
-Yeah. You are definitely getting old. That store is called Forever 21.
Rhett passes a hand through the air as if swatting away a fly.
-It doesn’t matter. I only know about the skimpy dresses.
-They are over? I need a drink if I’m going to stay here all night. Winter’s arms cross over her stomach protectively. As far as I know, she and Summer have been estranged their entire lives, and for good reason. But in recent months, they’ve been trying to fix that bridge.
Ah, yes, Winter, meet my protege Theo Silva. Theo, meet Dr. Winter Hamilton, my future sister-in-law.
“Winter Valentine,” she corrects stiffly.
“For now,” Theo reiterates and winks at him.
She rolls her eyes, which makes Theo smile wider, and he holds out his hand to shake.
She walks past Theo’s outstretched hand without a second glance, and he agrees with her by running his palm through his hair, joking like he’s not trying to shake her hand at all.
“Call your dog, Eaton,” he murmurs as he passes Rhett and enters the ranch’s log house.
-Wow! Theo makes a deep bark into the snowy night air, and Rhett laughs at him as Winter disappears.