Page 4 of Snow One Like You

“Yours?”

“If you don’t allow me to take you on a date, I can’t guarantee my health. Knowing that, if you turn me down, it’s essentially as if you’re assaulting a police officer.” A bark of laughter comes from Nate at that. “Bar full of witnesses,” I warn her.

“Eyewitness’ statements are notoriously unreliable,” Snow points out. A fact I know, of course, as it’s my line of work, but am shocked that she does. It’s not unheard of, police dramas being so popular, yet she doesn’t strike me as a fan of them. A weird hunch to have, however, I’ve learned to trust my gut.

And it’s saying a whole helluva lot regarding Snow.

Chapter Two

Snow

November 15th…

Note to self, Calvin is one scarily persuasive, and sexy, man. That could be dangerous to more than my equilibrium. And I don’t just mean my parents’ freedom. Their pasts aren’t exactly what one would call spotless, so putting them in the path of someone in Calvin’s field could raise some concerns.

Granted, the likelihood they’ll ever meet him is slim. I love them to pieces and they me, but I don’t see this whatever it is with Calvin going anywhere. It can’t. That being said, I already have a feeling that when the end date comes, and it will come, it’s gonna hurt. In just the short time I’ve spent with him, he got under my skin. In a place packed with people, he made me feel as if he and I were the only two there.

What will it be like once that’s actually true?

This is madness. I don’t act on impulse. I spent my whole life with a dad and mom who did that very thing and I promised myself that I wouldn’t do the same. Yet here I am, going back on that all because I can’t, won’t, deny the opportunity to get to know him.

Why, out of all the men within my corner of the world, is he the one that snags my attention? What is it about him that I can’t ignore as I have others?

His looks are certainly eye catching. The confidence that surrounds him without being arrogant is intriguing. His career should negate both of those.

The fact it doesn’t is a bit terrifying. A precursor, no doubt, of the inevitable outcome that should have me fleeing in self-preservation. Instead, I’m running toward him and damn the consequences. Is this what my parents have felt their whole lives? This…euphoria? An excitement about doing what you know you shouldn’t and embracing whatever comes from it. If so, if I’m experiencing even a smidgen of that, I have a better understanding at how it can become addictive.

“Hey, Snow,” Bryce, a fellow resident of Fitzpatrick Place, the building where I live, greets me. I don’t know him well, but I like that we’re comfortable enough to exchange pleasantries. It’s a sense of community that I missed after I moved from the compound where I grew up. Everybody here is nice, taking the time to wave, extend an invite to a gathering, or offer help if they see you need it.

“Hi, Bryce,” I reply as we pass each other on the way to our respective units. Why can’t he make my pulse race like Calvin does? I bet his job is not only safer, but that it’s also not anathema to everything I was taught growing up. Lessons that I continually received refreshers in up until approximately a decade ago, if not longer.

My upbringing, obviously, is unique compared to those currently around me. From the kids who shared it with me? Not so much. We were all indoctrinated in the same manner, some families simply took it further.

Dad and Mom were among those.

It’s not as if we were part of a cult, though there were those who called us that. Instead we had similar beliefs. Within that group was a smaller one that felt since the universe provided all that we needed, that included the abilities to obtain certain things.

Hence my pickpocketing skills. I have others, honed over the years as it was drilled in to me to practice regularly. ‘You never know when you might need them,’ was a mantra I often heard.

As was ‘I love you.’ And ‘you can be whoever you want to be.’ ‘We’ll always be proud of you. They’ve supported me every step of my personal journey and I know that will never stop.

Well, Calvin might be the obstacle they can’t, or won’t, allow themselves to leap over.

Which is why they can never meet.

Which is why nothing can come of this.

Which is why agreeing to this date was insanity.

Call me crazy, but I’m not cancelling it.

And I do have his number, so I could if I wanted to. When I’d been given my cell back, he’d taken it along with my hand, holding my fingers up one by one, silently asking which unlocked it. Once he’d chosen the correct appendage, he’d utilized it, then inputted his information. Under the name Sexy Sir.

Feeling the pressure, I’d taken his and put myself in with the title Curvy Charmer. I noticed him staring at them approvingly throughout our chat, and while I’m now proud of the extra I’ve been blessed with, his enjoyment of them did what months of self-affirmation when I was a teenager could not.

It’s not as if I don’t eat healthy, a common misconception many have regarding those my size and bigger. My kitchen regularly looks like a garden exploded in it. Fruits and vegetables galore. Prior to moving here, I only occasionally indulged in junk food. Tasha, another Fitzpatrick renter, spoiled me with her tasty treats. The woman is a genius with sugar. She presented me with a welcome present containing various types of cookies, the lemon becoming my new addiction. I’ve always been a sucker for that flavor. Because of them, and her other offerings, I’ve become a regular at Suga Suga, her bakery.

It’s now my only source of ‘cheat’ foods. I think she’s like a dealer. The first try is free, that’s how she gets you. She knows you’ll be back for more, again and again. It’s quite the racket and I am here for it. We all are, actually, so I’m not sure that label fits, but it is fitting nonetheless. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to stop today during lunch. A pharmaceutical representative is coming in, bringing us lunch in the hopes that the powers that be that run the private practice will agree to push their drugs.

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