Page 17 of All Snowed Gin

“I thought you were from Georgia. How do you know about sledding?”

“We went up to the mountains a few times when I was little. Sledding was my favorite.”

Pierce simply nods, not budging from his curmudgeonly stance. Fine. He doesn’t want to have fun; I’ll go without him. I give him my brightest smile and take off at a run, kayak in hand. I can’t move very fast since all these clothes are too big, but I still manage to get a decent approach to the hill.

Loading myself as much into the kayak as I can, I move my hips, inching the boat forward. It takes a long moment, but just as I thought, it works. With a tip of the front, I go speeding down the hill. My cheeks tremble in the cold air, my smile as big as possible. My heart is light and happy, pure joy taking over. At least until I slow down, the landscape flattening out. Popping up to my feet, I giggle, unable to hold back, and I climb the hill, dragging the kayak behind me. I’m ready to go again, until I see something that stops me in my tracks.

Pierce. Decked out in his snow gear. Holding a sled. An actual sled.

“OMG! Where did you find that?”

“About six feet from where you found the kayak.”

I giggle. Good call. I guess I could have looked closer. I can feel my smile growing again, my pulse speeding up. A real sled. I haven’t been on one of those since I was little.

“Shall we?” Pierce asks, holding up the sled.

“Yes!”

I grab his hand, leading him over to the hill. We get ourselves situated, the wood slats colder than expected underneath me. That is, until Pierce scoots in closer, wrapping both his arms and legs around me, resting his feet on the metal bar out front. I rest my back against him, inhaling his distinct, manly scent.

“Ready?” he asks, grabbing ahold of the steering string.

“Let’s go!”

“Hold on!”

I wrap my arms around his legs as he moves us forward, gyrating his hips much like I had in the kayak. Feeling him do that against me is a lot more fun than I had in the plastic boat, however. He also accomplishes it much faster than I did, sending us hurtling down the hill. We’re moving faster than I did on my solo run, and I shriek, loving the speed. I hold on to Pierce tighter, his own laughter ringing out into the air.

If I thought my heart felt light before, I was wrong. It’s nothing compared to what I’m feeling now. This is perfection. And I never want this moment to end.

Except, that’s not how this works.

As we reach the leveling off point, Pierce tries to steer the sled, turning us. He pulls too much on one side though, and the sled fishtails, sending us both toppling over. I land with an ooff, right on top of Pierce.

Who is thankfully still laughing.

I laugh too, taking a moment to enjoy his smile and how bright his brown eyes are. He’s already sexy when he’s grumpy and brooding, but this happy version? It’s almost too much to handle. Even more so when he wraps an arm around me, holding me close against him.

“You okay?”

“Never better.”

“Good to hear.”

“So is your laugh.”

Pierce laughs more, as if on cue. It’s not though. This is deep, genuine happiness. Which makes me even happier. I stare into his eyes, getting lost there, watching them warm up. Each second that passes, I’m drawn into them even more. Leaning in, I pause, knowing what I want but not quite sure if I should. My heart says yes. My body is screaming to just do it. But my head says to let him.

Pierce closes the gap, until we’re a whisper away from each other. If I had to guess, his heart, body, and mind are waging a similar battle to mine. I tighten my grip on his arms, hoping that it sends the signal to proceed. That he speaks the same nonverbal language I do.

He does.

In a heartbeat, Pierce’s lips are pressed against mine. They’re soft, strong, and warm—everything I imagined they would be. He kisses me slowly to start, deepening it as he goes. Each new movement makes me melt a little more. Leaves me wanting more. Head spinning, heart jackhammering against my chest, I give in. This is the kind of kiss that ruins a girl. That leaves you feeling drunk when you haven’t had a drop of alcohol in days. And I’m here for it.

A long, drawn-out moment later, we reluctantly pull back, both of us needing to catch our breath. But holy shit, can Pierce kiss.

He smirks at me, giving me a wink. “Wanna go again?”