I blink a few times when I realize he is talking to me. “Um, what?”
“You’re drooling.”
My cheeks flame in embarrassment. “No, I’m not,” I defend. “Do you need medication? You’re hallucinating.”
He just smirks at me as he walks toward the door that leads down to the garage. “You going to watch this?”
“Yes, but not from outside.” I point to my feet. “No suitable shoes for snow, remember?”
He shrugs. “I guess you won’t get to see these abs glistening when the snow hits them then.”
I make a face at him and tuck a piece of loose hair behind my ear. “I don’t really care. I just wanted to see if you would do the dare.” I point to the door. “Go on then. I’ll watch from the balcony.”
He holds up a finger, then jogs back to his room before returning with a pair of slippers. “They’re probably way too big, but at least you won’t have to stand out there barefoot.”
I take the slippers from him and slide them on as he goes downstairs to head outside.
I make my way over to the balcony doors and slip outside, pulling down on the sleeves of my sweater to cover my hands from the cold. I lean over the side of the balcony where I think the front door is below me and wait for Nick to head outside.
Light lands on a portion of the driveway, and I know that Nick is walking outside. The light disappears as I hear the door slam shut but then a motion sensor light comes on lighting him up in all his glory. He looks up at the balcony searching for me, and when he sees me, he throws me the bird before taking off in a jog around the left side of the house.
I laugh as I watch him, wishing I was close enough to get this on camera too. It was funny to watch him howl, but I wouldmuch rather enjoy looking at him shirtless. The balcony wraps around the entirety of the house, and I follow it around, slipping on the snow as it’s deeper on this side of the house than the other.
Nick slows down as the snow hits up to his knees by the time he gets to the back of the house. He runs around an outside patio area that has an outdoor fireplace and a hot tub.
“Looking good out there, Santa!” I yell at him, knowing it’s just going to annoy him.
As we wrap around the other side of the house, I lose him when no motion sensor light comes on. But I keep walking until I get to the front of the house where he started. I lean over the balcony again, my hands pressing into the cold, wet snow, but I can’t see him. Panic edges its way into my brain, maybe the snow was too thick, maybe he got eaten by an animal.
But before I can talk myself out of those stupid thoughts, I get hit in the cheek with something wet.
What the fuck?
Then I’m hit again, right in the chest. The snowball sticking to my sweater before falling to the ground.
“Nicholas Snow!” I yell.
I hear him laughing but can’t see him in the woods surrounding his house.
The next snowball hits the light just in time for me to dodge it as it smacks against the glass window behind me.
“This isn’t funny.”
He doesn’t say anything, and I still can’t see him. But I know if I don’t go inside, there is a good chance—
Bang, right into the side of my head.
Dammit, he has good aim.
I yell and bend down to make my own snowball, but it’s no use. Nick is hiding in whatever spot he knows won’t set off the motion sensor lights. I wish I had a bucket so I could fill it withsnow and dump it on him when he needs to walk inside. But I don’t. Instead, I just make three snowballs as I duck beneath the balustrade leaving them as ammunition on the railing. I wait long enough that I see the motion light go off, and then I spring into action grabbing two snowballs to throw at him for when he makes his way to the door, but I don’t see him.
I groan in frustration.Where did that asshole go?
I look everywhere moving along the front side of the balcony looking for him. I give up. I have no idea where he is, my sweater is wet from the snow, and my feet are beginning to freeze.
I turn around to head inside and scream when I see him standing behind me. “Looking for me?”
I don’t even bother to look at the snow glistening on his abs as I take the snowball slowly melting in my hand and smash it into the side of his face.