Page 2 of Santa's Candy

Tugging my sweater tight around me, I took the chair farthest from the window. I’d barely cracked open the cover of my book when the lights flickered.

“No,” I groaned. “Don’t—”

But even as I pleaded with the universe, I was plunged into darkness and silence as the electric buzz, one barely notices until it’s gone, went quiet and the rattling heater shuddered then stopped. Apparently, it was electric. And apparently… Fuck me.

Two

Pax Kane

I’d just finished dialing when the motel’s lights dimmed then flashed out.

Of course…At least the phone still worked, I supposed. But my father didn’t answer the call.

“Dad,” I said after his voicemail answered. “The highway is closed because of the storm. Candy and I made it to a little motel, and we’re safe, but we won’t be able to get there until at least tomorrow. I’ll try to update you when I can. Can you call her mom and dad and let them know. Love you.”

I hung up then handed the corded push-button phone base back over the counter to motel clerk. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem. Sorry ‘bout the power. Generator shoulda kicked in,” the guy said. “Feel free to grab some waters and food from the coffee counter over there, and I’ll go grab you some extra blankets to take back to your room. Hopefully, our maintenance guy can get here quick to figure out the power problem.”

“That’d be great. Thanks.” Though truth be told, the idea of cuddling in a bed with Candy and sharing body heat enticed me in ways it shouldn’t. She’d starred in all my fantasies since the age when boys start noticing girls, and I wanted her to obsession. It had always been her for me. I liked to believe it hadalways been me for her too, even though she hated me most of the time.

She didn’t, though.

Hate me. She didn’t hate me.

She was scared of the inexorable pull between us. I’d been her first, and she’d been mine—a combo of Spin the Bottle and Seven Minutes in Heaven that had gone way waywaywrong. It had been more than seven minutes that night, too. We’d stolen away from the party and driven off in my truck. Outside of town, we’d lain under the stars and given into the feelings that always simmered beneath our animosity for one another.

And to my surprise, a dominant part of me had emerged—a feral force I’d thought only existed on the football field. There, as we’d moved together, she’d loved it. She’d reveled in my command over her. I’d loved it, too. Until afterward, when she’d looked at me in horror.

I hadn’t forced her. She’d wanted it. Just like I had.

Those were not predator words. They were the truth. But in a moment to panic, I’d been terrified she’d say otherwise.

“I’m sorry, Pax. I…” Her head shook. “I can’t. That was more than I…”

She never completed the thoughts sputtering from between her lips, and even though we were next door neighbors, she’d avoided me like the plague for the rest of the school year.

By the time we were going to college, to the same school, an uneasy cordialness had emerged between us. We spoke, but we didn’t. Impersonal words were exchanged only when necessary.

And mostly, she just hated me.

I wouldn’t have believed it, but I’d heard her say so to one of her friends.Pax Kane? Why would you think I should date him? I hate him.

That had hurt like a red-hot knife twisting in my gut.

But I’d also seen the way she looked at me when she thought I wasn’t looking. And it was the longing in her eyes that gave me hope. Hope that I’d have her under me again—in reality and not just in my dreams. Not only that, though. I wanted a life with her.

“Here you go,” the guy from the front desk said, coming back with a pile of blankets.

“Thanks, man.”

I piled the snacks I’d picked up on the top of the thermal linens then headed back outside to hurry toward the second floor room I was sharing with Candy. The snow and wind whipped at me as I climbed the open cement stairs, stepping carefully on the treads that were quickly icing up. Our door was the second one of the upper level, and Candy whipped it open as soon as I approached.

“The power went out,” she gasped when I kicked shut the door. She locked it while I went to the bed to set down the bounty I’d brought.

“Yeah. Guy down at the desk said the generator should have come on. He’s calling someone.”

“I hope they can fix it. The heat is electric, too. It’s not too bad in here yet, but…” She trailed off with a shrug, the faint light from the outside lights illuminating her worry. I understood it.

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