Page 49 of Fresh Ice
They jumped out into the cold, Levy finding the keys and letting them in as Alonso carried some of their bags. The interior of the cottage was just as stereotypical as the exterior—panelled wood, warm-toned furniture, and a slightly outdated backsplash in the kitchen. There was a fireplace waiting for them in the living room, a stack of wood perfectly assembled inside.
Levy raised his eyebrows at Alonso. “So? What do you think?”
“It’s really nice,” Alonso replied truthfully.
Levy appeared inordinately pleased by that response, grinning widely.
It wasn’t like Alonso had high standards, but something warm and syrupy filled Alonso’s gut at how much Levy seemed to care.
There was an awkward moment when Levy went into the bedroom and Alonso followed him without thinking twice about it.
“Oh,” Levy startled. “Uhm, there’s another room if you wanna…”
“Oh. Sorry, I don’t know why I—” Alonso stumbled over his words.
“I mean, we can sleep in the same one if you want…I didn’t want to assume that we would…” Levy flushed.
“No, that’s fine. I’ll put my stuff in the other one. We can figure it out later.” Alonso fled before Levy could say anything else, already embarrassed enough about the way he’d assumed they’d be sharing a bed.
He didn’t want to admit that it’d been wishful thinking.
By the time they returned to the main part of the cottage, the weird moment had dissipated, and they entertained themselves by poking around.
Levy nodded at the fireplace. “The owner linked me to a video of how to make a fire, but we can just get this one going with one of those matches. You wanna?”
“I can’t believe somebody trusted us with a whole-ass fire in their home.”
“Yeah, I didn’t tell her about all the times you set off the fire alarm trying to make toast,” Levy joked.
“Okay, that was two times, and the fire detectors in that apartment are insanely sensitive.”
“You literally burnt that bread to a crisp. Like, I don’t even wanna know how long it was in there.”
“Shut up. You’re the one who distracted me in the first place. And the same happened to you at the rink!”
“Excuses, excuses.”
They managed to light the fire and close the grate without incident, deciding to make some sandwiches for supper. Alonso had thought that, up there in the forest, it would be completely silent, but nature was full of sounds. The trees around the cottage rustled in the wind, birds calling out to each other, a sharp, animal cry in the distance.
It was comforting to hear, a different sort of nightlife from the city.
“You wanna watch a movie?” Alonso asked as he set his plate in the sink.
“Oh, yeah. Let’s watch that one Gabby was talking about the other day,” Levy suggested.
“That one soundedsobad, what are you talking about?”
“Dude, it sounded hilarious. Shut up, you hadn’t even seenThe Lion King, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, you need to stop pulling that card out. It’s not my fault my childhood was sad and pathetic.”
Alonso was momentarily worried Levy would go tense and serious like he sometimes did when Alonso’s dad came up, but he rolled his eyes instead.
They ended up watching the dumb movie, just lounging on the couch afterwards, draped over each other. Alonso didn’t notice dozing off until Levy rocked him gently awake.
“Come on. Let’s get ready for bed,” Levy whispered.
Alonso woke up a little as he brushed his teeth and washed his face, but not enough to even pretend to protest when Levy herded him into his room with a complete lack of subtlety.
