Seconds later, I land flat on my back with an oof that’s echoed by the sled as it slaps down a few feet away and shivers across the snow to spin in a lazy circle near a very large rock. I’m staring at the rock, thinking about how much worse things would be right now if I’d fallen on it instead of the snow, and silently thanking the gods of sledding that I’m alive, when I hear a male voice shout—“Fuck! Shit! Shit!”
—from somewhere overhead.
A moment later a steerable sled shoots off the ledge, soaring over my head to ram into a tree, splintering to pieces.
I flinch and cough, the breath rushing back into my lungs. I’m trying to roll over, figuring I’d better get up before my luck runs out and someone lands on top of me, when Nate’s head pops up above the snow bank. “Adeline! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
My eyes narrow. “You.”
“Stay there, I’ll be right down,” he says, clearly not realizing that he’s the last person I want to see while I’m lying in the snow in a defeated heap.
“I don’t need help,” I call out, but I don’t try to get up again. I’ve already embarrassed myself enough in front of Nate. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing me wallow around in a snowdrift like an artic walrus.
In what feels like no time, he’s found his way down to the scene of my humiliation and fallen to his knees beside me. “Just lie still.” The concern on his face as he tugs off his gloves is almost funny. Too bad I’m not in the mood to laugh anymore. “I have first aid training. Not a lot, but enough to see if anything’s broken. Can you tell me where it hurts?”
“It doesn’t hurt,” I insist, still making no move to rise. “I’m fine. You can leave.”
He scowls, and his eyes flash the way they do when he’s angry. Or turned on. Or maybe angrily turned on, though I’ve never personally seen him in that state. “You just sledded off a goddamned ledge, Adeline,” he says, voice rough. “And you’re not moving.”
“I don’t feel like moving,” I say stubbornly. “I’m enjoying a rest in the snow. So go away, Nate. Go, go, go away, and don’t come back another day.”
His breath rushes out. “That’s mature.”
“Yeah? Well, screw mature,” I say, the heat in my tone surprising me. “I did mature. I did all the mature while you were off hitting keg parties. I don’t have to do mature right now, and I don’t have to talk to you. So go away!”
Nate’s jaw clenches and I’m pretty sure he’s about to lose his temper in a fashion unlike anything I’ve seen from him before.
Instead he leans in, wrapping his hands around my wrists, pinning them to the snow. “I’m not going away,” he whispers inches from my lips, making my pulse spike. “Not until you let me get through to you, one way or another.”
“If you kiss me, I’m going to bite you,” I warn, heart racing.
“Fine by me. I like it when you bite.” And then he kisses me. He kisses me hard and deep and my stupid body lights up like a California brush fire.
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