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When I stepped outside a little later, I had to blink several times before my brain accepted what my eyes were seeing. The snow that was falling earlier. Well, it was heavier now. And it was sticking!
Bubbling with excitement at the prospect of a snow day, I bolted back toward the big house at full speed, relieved when I spied Bonnie and Cupcake back in their impressive run. Seriously, they had a doghouse bigger than my bedroom back in Elk’s Terrace.
I had almost made it inside the house when a huge snowball smacked me upside the head. Releasing the door handle, I staggered backwards from the force of the snowball before falling flat on my ass. “Ouch.” I choked out a pained laugh, feeling both startled and amused. “Tadhg, that hurt!”
“Ah shite,” a familiar voice called out. “Sorry, Shan. I thought you were Gibsie.”
Twisting sideways, I watched as a sheepish-looking Johnny peeked over the bonnet of his mother’s Range Rover.
“Quick, baby,” he whisper-hissed, disappearing behind the SUV, only to reappear a moment later, tumble-rolling toward me like a ninja. “Get into the den,” Johnny instructed, tucking me under his arm as he pulled me back to where he had claimed sanctuary. “That bleeding assassin is on the loose with snowballs.”
“Who?” I laughed, eyeing up the impressive stack of snowballs he had stored up. “Tadhg?”
“Shan, get down!” Throwing himself on top of me when a sliotar-sized snowball came whizzing past my head, Johnny released a battle-cry growl. “You’re a dead man, Gibs!”
“You’ll have to face me to kill me, Cap!” I heard Gibsie call back as another snowball hurled past me and smashed into the side of Johnny’s face. “And we both know you’re too pussy-whipped to leave little Shannon unprotected.”
“Put your balls anywhere near my girlfriend and I’ll kill ya,” Johnny snarled, launching a snowball of his own. “Do ya hear me, Gibs? I’ll take the bleeding face clean off ya!”
“I’m going to put my balls on her face.”
“Gibs.”
“My big, wet balls all over her face—Jesus Christ, Johnny!” Appearing from behind the garage, Gibsie clutched his head. “There was a stone in that snowball.”
“I know,” Johnny shot back unapologetically. “I put it there.”
“That hurt.”
“Good!”
“I’m not playing anymore.” Shaking off the snow dusting his hair, Gibsie threw one last snowball at my boyfriend before stalking off in a huff in the direction of the house. “I’m telling Mammy K.”
“Who’s the pussy now?” Johnny called after him. “Ya little rat.”
“Johnny,” I scolded, smacking his arm. “Don’t be so mean. You know he’s a sensitive soul deep down.”
“Ah, he’ll live.” Johnny chuckled, turning his attention to me. Smiling, he leaned in close and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Hi, Shannon.”
Shivering, I beamed back at him. “Hi, Johnny.”
“Sorry about the snowball earlier.” He shrugged sheepishly. “Apparently, I have a thing for hitting you in the head with my balls.”
“Yeah, well.” I waggled my brows teasingly. “You could aim lower next time.”
“Is that so?” Johnny purred, leaning in to brush a kiss to my lips. “How low?”
“My lips.”
“Which lips?”
“You choose.”
“Fuck.” Johnny blew out an impressed breath and grinned. “Forget school.” Catching ahold of my hand, he dragged me off in the direction of the back field. “Let’s go down to the treehouse.”
“Wait!” I laughed breathlessly, struggling to keep up with his rocket-fast pace. “Don’t you want to build a snowman?”
