Page 80 of Snow Stuck

“Very sure. I’ve wanted to since that night at the Christmas party.”

With a smile, I pulled away from his grip and cupped his face before pulling him into a searing kiss.

Everything was right in the world.

I had Alden and I finally knew everything.

“Wait,” he said, pulling away far too soon. “We still need to talk about everything that happened.”

“We do. But I couldn’t let you walk away without you knowing I feel the same way.”

“You do?”

“I always have. I’ve had a crush on you since I was a kid. I thought I wasn’t good enough for you.”

“You’re more than good enough for me.”

“I finally believe it,” I said.

His eyes fell to my lips, and I thought he would kiss me again, but he pulled away.

“Where are you going?”

“To make you something. We’ll need a drink if we’re about to rehash everything we just opened up.”

EIGHTEEN

“So,what kind of drink are you making?” Stella followed me to the kitchen. “Amma only has moonshine, and I doubt she’d want to share. Or that I’d even want that paint thinner in my body.”

“I don’t know how she drinks that stuff.” I shook my head. “And no, I didn’t meanthatkind of drink. What are the odds that Amma has evaporated milk?”

“For what?”

“Hot chocolate. I have a recipe.”

“And it uses evaporated milk?”

“No, but I can make it work. Whatever actual milk was here went bad a few days ago.”

She walked to the cabinet with the food, pulling out a can. “High, I guess. Thank God for her always overbuying at the store.”

I took the can and grabbed a pot.

“I thought you didn’t cook.”

“I don’t, but whenever I would think too hard about the past, I would experiment with hot chocolate.”

“Why?”

“It’s your favorite. It made me feel connected to you.”

Her lips went slack before curving into a full smile. “That’s really sweet, actually.”

“Not with the context, but I’m happy it’s coming in handy now.” I stirred the pot and waited for the milk to warm. I added cocoa powder and sugar before tasting it myself to be sure it was close to what I usually made. “It’s not perfect.”

“Oh, come on. I still want it. This can’t be worse than Reed’s.”

I laughed. “If it is, you have permission to dump me.”

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