Page 37 of Christmas With the Jerk

Together, we head outside, the cold air biting at my cheeks as we step into the courtyard. The snow is coming down harder now, blanketing the ground in a thick layer of white, but there’s something exhilarating about it. The sound of laughter and therush of wind fill me as people zoom down the hill on sleds and tubes.

Thorne and I grab tubes, joining the small crowd gathered at the top of the hill. He’s practically bouncing on his heels, clearly excited for this. I can’t help but smile, the festive atmosphere contagious.

“Race you down?” he challenges, already positioning his tube.

I raise an eyebrow, getting into position on my own. “You’re on.”

FOURTEEN

Thorne

Frosty the snowman knew the sun was hot that day / So he said, 'Let's run and we'll have some fun / Now before I melt away.'

1:52 pm

We stumble back insidefrom the snow, still laughing and shaking off the cold. My face is numb, my gloves soaked through, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had this much fun. The snow tubing was worth every second of freezing my ass off.

Woodley looks over at me, her cheeks flushed from the cold, snowflakes still caught in her hair. She’s smiling, really smiling. And for a moment, I forget that we’ve been stuck here, snowed in with no meeting, no flights, no way out.

“Let’s warm up by the fire,” I suggest, nodding toward the massive hearth in the corner of the lobby.

She nods, rubbing her hands together. “Please. I can’t feel my fingers. But I do appreciate the mittens, thank you for being prepared!”

I lead the way, and we find a spot by the fire, the heat already working to thaw out my frozen limbs. I glance down at her shivering beside me. “I’ll get you something hot. Hot chocolate?”

She gives me a grateful smile. “That sounds perfect.”

I head over to the bar, ordering a hot chocolate for her and a scotch for me. As I wait, I think back to the way she laughed as we raced down the hill, the lightness in her eyes. I’ve never seen that side of her before, and it’s endearing.

When I get back, I hand her the steaming mug of hot chocolate and sit down beside her on the hearth. She cups the drink in her hands, blowing on it to cool it down, her eyes fixed on the fire.

“Thanks,” she says, taking a careful sip.

I take a sip of my scotch, the warmth sliding down my throat as I lean back against the hearth. “That was fun,” I say, looking over at her. “I can’t believe how fast you took off on that last run. I thought you were going to crash straight into the snowbank.”

She laughs, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “I thought I was going to, too. I had no control.”

“I could tell. You should’ve seen your face—pure panic.”

“Shut up,” she says, nudging me with her elbow. “I didn’t see you slowing down either.”

I smirk, shrugging. “I’ve got skills.”

She rolls her eyes, but she’s still smiling. We sit in comfortable silence for a moment, the crackling of the fire and the quiet buzzof the lobby around us filling the space. It feels... easy. Relaxed. Different from how we’ve been since this whole trip started.

Woodley takes another sip of her hot chocolate, staring into the fire. “I haven’t had that much fun in the snow since I was a kid.”

I glance at her, surprised by the comment. It’s the first time she’s mentioned anything remotely personal about her past, and it catches me off guard. “You’re too serious,” I say, half-joking, but there’s a real note to it.

She laughs softly, but there’s a hint of something else in her expression—something almost guarded. “I had to get serious fast,” she says quietly, not looking at me. “Sometimes life doesn't go as planned. Sometimes you have to move outside of your comfort zone to live your authentic life.”

I pause, taking in her words. She doesn’t offer more, but something about the way she says it makes me stop. There’s more to what I think she wants to say, but I let it sit between us if she wants to expound. I want to ask, but I also know better than to push.

Instead, I just sit there, watching her as she stares into the fire, lost in her thoughts. We don’t know each other really, so this trip has been a crash course in each other. I’ll take what I can get when she is ready to share. Because I definitely want to know more.

Before I can think of what to say next, a burst of sound fills the lobby. A chorus of small, high-pitched voices singing a Christmas carol. I look over to see a group of kids. “Who are these guys?” I ask the server who walks up to our table at the same time I am aware of the singing.

“Oh, it is Mother Nature’s gift. These kids were down the street for a Christmas play in the little play house next door and the roads are too impassible for them to get home safely right now, so the hotel invited them and their families to come hang out here. They offered to carol around the lobby. Aren’t they the cutest?”

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