Page 42 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

Her lips were cold but soft, and when she kissed me back, even for that one heartbeat, it undid me. I hadn’t even realized I was bound that tight.

Then I pulled away.

Hard.

“Shit.” I stepped back, heart pounding in my chest like I’d just made the worst call of my life. “That was a mistake.”

She was with Asher earlier today. And she was Lucy’s friend.

What thehellwas wrong with me?

Her face went still. Blank. Like she was slamming a door shut before I could explain.

I hated how that felt.

I didn’t give her a chance to say anything. I shoved a hand through my hair and turned away.

Not because I didn’t want more. But because I did.

As I walked off, boots crunching over snow I couldn’t feel anymore, something smacked past my shoulder and hit a tree with a softthud.

I stopped.

Turned.

She was standing there, one mittenless hand full of snow, her jaw tight, her expression tight.

“You missed,” I said, voice low.

She shrugged. “Didn’t mean to hit you.”

Bullshit. The second snowball in her palm said otherwise.

My lips twitched before I could stop them. She saw it, and that only seemed to fire her up more. She launched the second one.

It hit weakly and burst apart across my chest.

“Great,” I muttered, brushing it off. “You kiss like a damn arsonist but throw like a toddler.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You kissedme, remember? And then ran off like I was contagious.”

I flinched. Not outwardly, I was better than that, but inside, it landed. Hard.

I didn’t know what I was doing. Not with her. Not with any of this.

“That’s not what happened,” I said, voice rough. “I didn’t run.”

She crossed her arms. “Then explain it. I think I deserve that much.”

I looked at her, standing there in that ridiculous oversized coat, cheeks flushed, eyes burning like she’d take me down if she could, and I felt my chest tighten.

Damn, she was a mess. So was I.

“I can’t,” I said, finally. “Not without making it worse.”

Her mouth pressed into a line. “You already made it worse.”

She wasn’t wrong.

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