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“You know, Parker, I’ve been on one of those infamous death hikes with Nicholas and it really wasn’t that bad,” Jacob said, with a shrug. “I thought it was pretty enjoyable, actually.”
“Uh, I’m with Parker on this one.” Sam nodded toward him as he spoke. “Nicholas has no idea what a normal hike is supposed to look like.”
“No, I’d say the hike he took us on was pretty tame,” Damon joined the conversation. “Nicholas is pretty good about picking out legit trails.”
“And so, the war begins,” Parker joked, dipping his spoon back into his soup. “A great divide grows between the Virginians and the out-of-towners…”
“I don’t think you can count yourself as an out-of-towner, sweetheart.” I smirked. “Not when you’ve been in Virginia for as long as you have.”
I leaned closer to Parker, whispering something I only wanted him to hear. “And we talked about you doing that. Counting yourself out when you know you belong. Don’t pretend like you don’t have just as much right to claim Virginia as Damon and Jacob do.”
“I know, I know…” Parker let out a small sigh. “I’m still working on it. Sorry, babe.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered again, kissing him on the side of his head. “We’ve all got things we’re working on.”
“Okay, I don’t know what that was about, but it was very, very cute.” Sam’s face lit up as he looked over at us. “You two are so fucking adorable.”
“Are we still going snowmobiling in the morning?” Jacob asked, clearly trying to change the subject. I felt a little bad for him in the moment, the fact that he was single, making him stick out like a sore thumb with our current crowd.
“Yep. That’s still the plan,” Damon answered for the rest of us. “Although, we’ll probably all be following Nicholas’ lead on that one. Parker said you’re pretty much an expert?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m an expert.” I shook my head at the compliment. “But I’m pretty good, sure.”
“Speaking of having things to work on…” Parker murmured with a knowing smirk, just as the rest of our food arrived at our table, the conversation dying down as everyone reached for knives and forks, making quick work of the rest of the delicious meal.
“Is there such a thing as it being literally too early to be awake?”
Parker groaned, and I handed him my coffee thermos, still filled to the brim. He gratefully took a sip of it before he held it close to his chest. I was keeping an eye out for the rest of the guys to join us, our snowmobile already rented and ready beside us. I’d asked Parker if he wanted his own to ride but he’d declined, stating that he was a lot happier on the back of mine.
Which, of course, just meant that he got a kick out of holding onto me.
Moments later and I saw a set of snowmobiles coming around the banks, not stopping until they were only a few feet away from us. Once they removed their helmets it was obvious it was our usual group, Jacob leading the pack.
“You ready to get out on the trails?” he asked, as he held his helmet at his side. “We were just getting a feel for ours on the introductory course.”
“The rest of us were getting a feel for it,” Sam chimed in. “Jacob was mastering it without barely trying.”
“Nature man strikes again,” Parker joked. “Anything involving the outdoors and Jacob masters it within sixty seconds.”
“That’s not true,” Jacob replied, his tone lined with amusement. “Sometimes, it takes me a full two minutes.”
“I hate you!” Parker chuckled as he said it, the words having no sting behind them. “If you’re ever wondering why I hate you this is why!”
Parker then brought his hand toward the ground, hastily forming a snowball in his grip. He threw it right at Jacob once he was finished, just as Jacob held up a hand, the snowball falling to pieces against his dark glove.
“Oh, my God. He’s like the Terminator,” Sam said, seemingly in awe.
“He really, really is.” Parker shook his head, appearing to give up on the whole snowball fight endeavor?—
Just as a snowball hit him against the side of his unsuspecting face.
Jacob’s lips were curved into a bright smile, his arm still stretched out from throwing the snowball. Parker gasped in mock offense before he shifted back toward the ground, forming yet another snowball, but Jacob was already gone, rushing away down another side of the bank on foot.
“You! Get back here!” Parker chased after him, holding his snowball tight.
“You guys! Come on! We’re supposed to be snowmobiling today!” Damon chased after both of them, even though he’d stopped to secretly form a snowball for himself along the way, now holding it behind his back as he ran.
I looked back over at Sam, who seemed completely unbothered by this development. He was scrolling through his phone, muttering to himself about celebrities being some of the most impatient people on the planet, followed by something I couldn’t quite follow about page views and direct link shares to various articles.
