Page 26 of Stuck With Mr. Frosty

Iclap my hands together, looking at the children gathered around me, their warm breath coming out in little bursts, their brightly colored helmets making them look top-heavy. “All right, everybody, that’s today’s lesson. I’ll see you all back here tomorrow. We’ll be going down the bunny hill!”

The kids all cheer, sliding over to their parents and chattering away to them without a care in the world. I smile and shake my head, grabbing my skis, swapping my boots, and waiting until the last child is picked up before heading out to the search and rescue tower.

It’s only been a day since we’ve been back, and I’ve been itching to spend more time with Aiden.

I don’t know what changed between us in the cabin, but there was a big shift. Something felt like an avalanche. One thing gave way, and it was enough to change everything for me.

And I think for him.

The fresh air steals my breath away, but the sun is warm and bright. I turn my face to it, letting the wind blow my hair around.After taking a deep breath, I keep heading up the path to the gondolas.

I step off the gondola a short time later, following the footsteps that lead in the direction of the search and rescue tower.

Eventually, the tower comes into view, and Aiden is sitting at the base of it, throwing a bright orange ball for Honey. He tosses it again before his gaze locks on mine, and instead of the dozen or so feet between us, it feels like there’s no distance at all.

My palms are sweaty and my heart pounds against my ribs. This doesn’t feel like anything else I’ve ever experienced, and something about that excites me more than I want to admit.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, a slow smile spreading across his face as Honey yips and runs over to me, her entire body wiggling. “I’m beginning to think my dog doesn’t love me anymore.”

“Well, maybe she just has good taste.” I put my skis in the snow and crouch down to love on Honey like she deserves. “I wanted to come and see when you were going to be done with your shift. Thought you might want to go skiing with me.”

“One day back and you’re already missing me?” He smirks, the lip ring catching the glint of the sun.

“Funny. I thought you could use a friend, but if you want to be alone, I could leave. Maybe take Honey with me since she doesn’t seem like she’s having such a great time with you.”

He laughs and stands with his hands in his pockets. “She’d probably go with you too. The dog is a traitor.”

Honey looks up at him, grinning her little doggy smile.

I stand up and look at him, not sure whether to kiss him or not. There’s part of me that wants to, but the other part tells me to stand back. To not push him too hard, too fast.

Aiden has already proven that he likes to pull away the second people get close to him. If this new friendship — and maybe something more — is going to work, then I’m going to have to match his pace.

He steps closer to me, looking like he’s as torn as I am over what to do next. “What do you think about going for a hike where we don’t get lost?”

“Were you ever lost?” I tuck my hands in my pockets, my cheeks warming.

“Not when I was looking for you. Or ever. But I think one day I might be able to.” He gives me a crooked little smile and checks the time on his watch. “I’m off in twenty minutes, but it’ll probably be closer to ten. Carter is the one taking me off shift today, and he makes a point of being early.”

I nod and hustle across the packed snow to drop down in one of the chairs. “I hope that this hike isn’t going to be too long. My ankle is okay, but after teaching the last class, it’s a little sore.”

He smirks and takes a set of keys out of his pocket, tossing them to me. “Ever drive a snowmobile?”

“You’re going to let me?” I grin and hold the keys like they’re my new prized possession.

“Well, there’re four in storage, and if I take a spare radio, Carter is going to be fine with me taking it. But you can’t tell the others. They’d be pissed if they knew about the appropriation of resort equipment they’re not allowed to borrow.”

“Oh no, Aiden, are you about to tell me that you like breaking the rules?” I ask, tone teasing as I stretch out my legs and lean back in the chair. “Because I didn’t think you were the type.”

He twists the lip ring with his tongue. “Where do you think this came from?”

“Now you’re going to have to tell me the story.” I unzip my ski jacket partway, the sun baking me in my suit. “And we both know how much you love sharing.”

Aiden drops down into the seat beside me and picks up the ball when Honey brings it back again. He lobs it through the snow and glances at me. “I told you about growing up in foster homes. Well, I had this one foster mother. Real piece of work. She tried to control every aspect of my life when I was fourteen, and being a teenager, you can imagine how well I took to that.”

“You? Liking being told what to do?” I scoff and turn to face him, tucking one leg up on the seat. “I couldn’t imagine you hating that at all.”

He toys with the lip ring again, the look in his eyes distant. “We got in a fight about something — I don’t even remember what anymore — and I decided that I was going to do something I knew was going to piss her off, so I got my lip pierced.”

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