Page 27 of Holiday Power Play

She stops moving and instead just swallows, waiting to see what I'll do next.

"You want to play, little grinch?" I whisper to her. "I'll play."

I dip the piece of ice into her jacket, and she squeals as it gets lost in her shirt.

This time I let her buck me off her, and I land on my back in the snow next to her, laughing as she jumps to her feet and bounces up and down to get the piece of ice out of her shirt.

"You son of a—"

"Hey!" The back door to the cabin swings open. I can see Mick appear in the distance. "Did you losers leave me to fend for myself?"

I push myself up just as Lana finishes twisting every which way to get the ice out of her shirt. It's a much smaller piece when it falls to the snow beneath her which tells me it mostly melted against her skin.

"Come on, little grinch," I brush past her and start making my way back toward the cabin.

"Oh, you're not getting off that easy," Lana says, walking faster and leaving me behind.

I pick up my pace so that I'm right next to her. But she moves even faster, now in a jog.

I'm not used to the elevation out here, so it doesn't take much for me to start huffing and puffing. And she notices it right away.

"What's the matter, stud? Can't keep up?" The teasing in her eyes only works to fuel my fire. I take a deep breath and try to keep my call.

"Guys?!" Mick calls again.

We're running next to each other now, and just as we make it past the trees and tumble into the chopping area, Mick finally sees us.

"What the hell were you two doing? Hunting for dinner?" He wraps a scarf closer to his face.

"Just a little friendly competition," I huff out.

"What's wrong with him?" He asks his sister, who just looks at me and shrugs.

"Weak lungs?"

I shoot her a glare.

"Well, I got some news. Want the good or the bad first?"

"Whichever it is, can we hear it inside?" I say, now shivering from the sweat Lana has induced.

Mick holds the back door open for us to walk through and Lana and I both take a step in simultaneously, bumping our shoulders together as we both try to squeeze through.

Mick gives us both a shove, and we nearly fall all over each other.

"Just lay it on us," Lana tells her brother, that coldness back in her voice.

"Bad news is, the storm’s not expected to let up until Christmas night," Mick announces as he shuts the door to keep the wind from blowing in snow.

"What? H-how do you know that?" Lana says in a panic.

"I found a crank radio in the attic, and yeah… it's a big one."

Shit. That means we're stuck here. I look at Lana, who looks like someone just told her Santa isn't real.

"But the good news is… they have Christmas decorations up there!" Mick offers.

"Are you serious right now? We're stuck here for Christmas?" Lana crosses her arms over her chest. "You're sure?"

---