Page 133 of Let It Snow
Lake chuckles and squeezes me even harder.
"Well, look at that, he came back for you, Dad, and not for our dear Snow," I hear Bay’s sarcastic voice behind Lake.
In the doorway now stand Aiden, Bay, and Snow, all of them watching me keenly.
"You’re so wrong…" I respond quietly.
My eyes lock with Snow’s, and a shiver runs so sharply through me that I let out an awkward little squeak.
"Hello, Summer," he says in a low voice that makes me blush.
"H-hello," I blurt out.
He studies me with that soft smile tugging at the corners of his lips. His whole presence feels like a warm welcome directed at me, yet he doesn’t take a single step closer.
Almost as if sensing the subtle tension hanging in the air between us, Lake quickly ushers me inside, his arm protective around me, murmuring that I came back at the perfect time because dinner’s just starting.
That’s another thing, besides my mutism, that my sex with Snow apparently fixed: my aversion to being touched by other people. Thanks to that, I can handle Lake’s hug without trembling.
He sits me down at the table and places a steaming plate of food in front of me.
The others join as if nothing unusual has happened, as if I weren’t any kind of surprise at all.
Lake doesn’t let the conversation drift into anything heavy. He keeps it light, asking about my parents, how they’re doing, about their house in Iceland, what the weather’s like there. He also asks the typical questions: if it’s already dark all the time, if the sun disappears behind the horizon, if I’ve seen the northern lights or polar bears.
Nobody else says anything, which is strange. Even Bay keeps quiet, focused on his plate, apparently deciding to spare me his usual sarcastic commentary.
Out of the corner of my eye, I stay acutely aware of Snow’s presence, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. Should I suddenly launch into some speech about the ridiculous things omegas do during heat recovery? Everyone already knows.
Deliberating on what to do, I notice that Snow has an exceptionally smooth complexion today. I mean, he’s always had great skin; he never looked his age since, as a TMs’ kid, he already had a genetic advantage over his peers. But now he actually looks twenty-five, as if his skin had a powerful glow-up. Could it be that heat sex did its job in rejuvenation? Maybe the Twin Souls magic worked just as reliably as TM’s?
I bite my lip nervously, tempted to comment on it, or at least chat about some random shit just to keep the energy flowing, but I can’t. I’m strangely choked up. Emotions boiling.
Lake saves me.
He asks if I’d like to put my backpack down and freshen up after the flight, reminding me that my room is still waiting for me.
I almost ask about my betta fish but swallow it. I just hope they fed it.
We get up from the table, and once again Lake slips an arm protectively around me, guiding me toward the stairs. I glance one last time at Snow, who’s still sitting at the table. Our eyes meet, but Lake pulls me along too quickly for any words to come out.
When we enter my room, my gaze immediately lands on the nightstand, but… the fish tank isn’t there.
"Where’s the aquarium?" I gasp, a little uneasy.
"Oh, the aquarium! Of course. Snow took it with him and looked after your fish," Lake explains warmly, walking over to my bed.
I swallow hard, and my chest tightens a little. That creeping feeling of having done something stupid comes back. Snow took care of my little pet while I was gone. That’s… sweet. He could’ve left it for Jordan or Lake to deal with, but he didn’t.
My eyes flick to the bed. My makeshift nest is untouched, exactly the way I left it. The only thing different is a thin sheet laid over it to keep out the dust, which Lake now removes and folds neatly.
Only then do I dare ask him the question that’s been sitting on my tongue.
"Is Snow mad at me? Did he say anything about me?"
Lake tucks the cover into the bottom drawer of the closet before coming over and placing both hands on my shoulders.
"Why would Snow be mad at you, kid?"
