Page 76 of Snowed In with her Mountain Men
“I want a big family,” Ryder admitted softly. “But not at the expense of time with my kids. Growing up I felt left out a lot, but also left behind. Like my oldest siblings got all the best times with mom and dad, and I was left with the scraps.”
His expression was softer now, more introspective. It was a side of him I hadn’t yet seen.
“I shouldn’t even be talking,” he sighed, apologetically. “You lost both your parents already, and at such a young age. That pales in comparison to my—”
“Hey…”
I cradled his face in both hands and tilted his face toward mine.
“It’s okay,” I told him. “To feel like this, I mean. Whatever happened to me doesn’t make your own experience any less valid.”
His shoulders drooped, and his body relaxed even further beneath me. It felt amazing, peeking beneath Ryder’s rugged, masculine shell. I sensed without knowing, that it was a place very few people were allowed.
“It’s okay to love the camaraderie,” I told him. “I love it too. Oakley and Jaxon are pretty special. So was Sarge. You’re lucky to find people like this. People who’ll share your life forever.”
Now it was my chin that dropped a little. Ryder picked it up between two thick fingers.
“What about you?” he asked gently.
I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat. “W—What about me?”
“Are you that type of woman?” he asked. “The kind who’ll share her life with—”
The roar of an engine suddenly split the silence. It was loud and crisp, and sailed through the octaves as it revved to full throttle. Almost like a chainsaw, but much, much deeper.
Ryder reached down and cracked the door open. The roar grew even louder.
“What’s that?” I asked.
His smile was so boyish, it was almost like that of a child.
“Snowblower,” Ryder grinned.
“Snowblower?” I asked in confusion. “Who? Where?”
“Jaxon,” he said simply. “He’s plowing the field at the back of the house.”
“Why?”
Ryder hopped down, then grabbed me around the waist and pulled me from the Marauder. The drone of the snowblower’s engine abruptly changed pitch. Off in the distance, I could see snow flying everywhere.
“You’ll see why,” he said excitedly, slipping his hand into mine. “Now quick, start making snowballs.”
~ 43 ~
OAKLEY
The ensuing fight was epic, to say the least. Camryn came armed with her own well-made pile of snowballs, but it wasn’t until Ryder circled around to flank us that things really got intense.
For ten crazy minutes, the field we’d just carved from the backyard drifts became a chaotic battle zone. We hadn’t expected much from Camryn, especially being from Florida. To her credit though, she held her own. She hid behind Ryder a lot, and called a few iffy timeouts. But she was quick and nimble, and had fairly good aim.
Eventually the four of us were covered in snow, heaving, and exhausted. I tackled Camryn between reloads, rolling her through the back of the field several times over. I finished by holding her arms down, with my thighs straddled on top of her.
“Alright, already! I give!”
Her beautiful face was pink and wet, but still sour with defeat. The long strands of blonde hair peeking out from her fuzzy hood made me desperate to kiss her.
“What do you give?”
