Page 49 of Wrecked Rose

He bites down on his lip, trying to stop his smile. “So, I did.” He shrugs. “I’m an equal opportunity flirt, I guess.”

I bark out a laugh. “Good to know.”

He shrugs again, smiling at me. His dimple pops out to say hi, too, and I know now it with one hundred percent certainty—I’m done for.

I want to tackle him where he’s standing and make the most beautiful four-armed, four-legged snow angel with him. A jolt of desire strikes through me like a shock wave. A glance over my shoulder reveals our friends are no longer paying attention to us and, instead, are picking out sleds for the next adventure. “You’re asking for it,” I murmur. Our gazes connect, and there’s a heat in his eyes I wasn’t prepared for. It knocks me off balance.

“Maybe I am.”

Those words have the power to send me to my knees.Did he just—?It’s a good thing I have on these thick snow pants because my dick twitches to life. I blow out a breath. Try not to get too excited—not mentally or physically. Maybe I’m misreading him. Or maybe he’s fucking around. I kind of doubt it after the gay porn conversation, though. I’d like to haul him off behind the pool house and find out for sure. But nope, no time for that right now as we turn to see our friends waiting with sleds in hand.

Griff and I grab the last one, a two-man sled, and haul it off the back end of the Danbrook property and through a wooded area. When we come out on the other side, there’s a huge sloping hill, perfect for sledding.

Lyla insists on going first in one of those saucer-style sleds. Beau gives her a good push. She jets down the hill, spinning around in dizzying circles and skidding to a stop at the bottom when she digs her heels into the snow.

After that, it’s chaos, everyone taking off down the hill. The air fills with squeals of feminine laughter and deeper-voiced shouts. Finally, I realize only Griff and I are left at the top. Everyone is waiting for us, watching for us to come down.

My eyes flick to his. “I guess we’re taking the two-man sled.”

Griff gestures to it and huffs, “Yep. You want the front or back?” He stands there staring at the sled like it’s going to bite him. He’d been all flirty and funny a few minutes ago, but left with the decision of riding front or back, he’s seriously freaking.

“I’ll get behind you.” I can only imagine what is going through his head right now, but I don’t bring it up.

Slowly he nods and finally croaks out, “Right. Behind me. Let’s go.” He turns his back on me, climbing on the sled, leaving his long legs to hang over the sides. I straddle the back end and sit down behind him.

“Ready?” I ask as I grab the handles on the sides.

He turns to gaze over his shoulder at me, lower lip trapped between his teeth. It’s like time stops when he rasps out, “I think I might be.”

Holy shit.Did he just—

But it’s too late to wonder, as we’re flying down the hill at breakneck speed. And fuck, we didn’t account for the way we’d tear down the slope with four hundred pounds of man muscle on the sled.

Uh-oh.My eyes widen as we careen toward the bottom of the hill. We’re heading right for a tree with no sign of this sled stopping anytime soon.

Griff shouts, “Bail out! Bail out!”

And in a mild panic, we do. At the same time. In the same direction.

We become a tangle of limbs, barrel-rolling through the snow a final fifteen feet, where we slide to a stop. My heart thrums hard in my chest, breath coming quickly. I’m flat on my back, deep in the snow, Griff’s full weight pressing down on me. He groans and pushes up. “Sorry. You okay?”

My eyes roam over his concerned face. “Yeah, I think so. You?”

He nods and shifts his lower body as he positions his legs on either side of mine.

Our dicks line up perfectly, and all sorts of dangerous thoughts shoot through my head and my body reacts.

He freezes in place. “Uh. Sorry.”

I have no awareness of anyone else around us because I’m so focused on the solidness of Griff’s muscled body on top of me. “Agh. No. I’m sorry.” But then I nudge him the tiniest bit with my swelling cock and watch as a storm brews in his eyes. I want to grab him by the collar and yank him down for a kiss. I want to roll around in the snow with him and fucking melt it when we come together. I heave out a breath. And for a few seconds more, it’s just me and him, staring at each other.

He comes around faster than I do, trying to get on his knees, but his snow pants and whatever other layers he’s got on make it difficult to maneuver. He laughs softly. “This isn’t awkward at all.”

And he winks again as his lips curve into a smile.

Oh, hell.This man is going to reach into my chest and take my heart. If this is how we begin, I can’t imagine where we’ll end up.

There’s a noisy scramble as the quiet moment between us ends and our friends finally make it over to us through the drift of snow we’re in at the bottom of the hill. Beau and Micah get to us first and help Griff off of me. Beau pats Griff on the back, looking him up and down. “You good?”

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