Page 125 of Mine For The Winter

“Come tonight. If you’re awake enough.”

“What about Cole and your dad?” he asked.

“They’ll be in bed. And I think Dad knows exactly what’s going on, don’t you?”

A smile pulled at his lips. “Yeah, I think he probably does. I’ll see you tonight.” He glanced at Will, kneeling down in front of the crates, filling up a tray with bottles.

“See you later.”

33

Kris parked in her driveway and sent Kelly a message that he was here, fully expecting her to have fallen asleep already. It was just after two in the morning. The whole damn town was sleeping, and most of them hadn’t spent the night before full of anxiety about their sick son in the hospital.

But within moments of him sending her the message she’d opened the front door. He walked over to her, and damn she looked tired.

Silently he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, half afraid she wouldn’t kiss him back. But she did. Hard. Her arms wrapping around his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair.

Christ, she tasted sweet. Despite the cold air around him and the tiredness in his muscles, he lifted her up and held her against him, her legs wrapping around his waist.

And then he carried her inside because it really was fucking freezing outside and she was only in a pair of fleece pajamas. Walking into the hallway, he gently closed the door behind him.

“Nice welcome.” He was still smiling.

“I’ve been thinking about you.”

“I’ve been thinking about you, too. Have you gotten any sleep tonight?”

“A little.” She shrugged. “More than you.”

“But I wasn’t in the hospital all night.” He cupped her face with his hand. “How’s Cole doing?”

“He’s good. Ate a bit of dinner, had a shower, and managed to keep his wound dry. So I’m counting it all as a win.”

“I’d like to come over to see him tomorrow, if that’s okay.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know he’d like that. I told him you were holding the fort at the tavern.” She threaded her fingers into his, as though she didn’t want to let him go. “Let’s go talk in my bedroom. We won’t disturb anybody there.”

He lifted a brow but followed her to her room anyway, all too aware that he’d never been in there before. It was small but neat. The bed was unmade but he guessed she’d been laying in it. By the side of the bed on a little table was a box. He could see something sticking out of it. Something familiar. He leaned forward to check.

“Is that the hat I bought you?” It was suede with a fur trim. It looked like something from an old Russian town. He’d bought it for her for Christmas when he was in college, thinking she’d like it.

“Yeah.”

“You kept it.”

“I kept a lot of things.” She reached beside him and pulled out an old photograph and passed it to him. It was of the two of them when they were thirteen or fourteen. They were covered in mud from head to toe, the only white he could see was in their eyeballs and their teeth.

“I don’t remember this,” he said. “When was it taken?”

“North took it, I think. We went with him and Gabe to the lake for the day. It started raining and you dared me to roll in the mud. Then you laughed so much I pulled you in with me.”

He chuckled, looking at the picture again. Damn they were so young. So fucking happy.

“Why did you make that pact with Lyle?” she asked him.

He pulled his gaze from the photo he was holding and looked at the woman he loved. Her expression was confused. Hurt. He hated it.

“It was a long time ago. You were just… I don’t know. One day we were all kids and then you became a woman. You were beautiful.” It happened over night. Or at least it felt like it did. The hormones rushed in and he’d started seeing her differently.

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