The woman plastered a sad smile. "I'm sorry to say this to you, but the ice cave is not open during winter. They always close it during this time."
That answer made Cassie's face fall. When the bus arrived, the woman threw her an apologetic look before stepping into it. Cassie turned around in my direction and let out a desperate sigh.
"Hey." I approached her, wondering why her mood suddenlydropped.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I thought that I could bring you to somewhere fun, but I failed miserably."
She walked past me, and I followed her again. My eyes softened as I looked at her dragging her feet with disappointment. Was she trying hard to make me have a good time after I treated her to all the delicious signature dishes in this town?
What was so special about the ice cave? I didn't know when it happened, but I felt like when I was here with her, wherever we went didn't matter.
"Hey." I bumped her shoulder as we walked side by side, teasing her. "Come on. Why that pout?"
But she just let out another sigh, still deep in thought.
"Cassie." I stepped in front of her and walked backward, pushing my hands into my jacket. "Why so serious? Who cares if the ice cave is closed? We can still have fun somewhere else."
But she still looked down at her feet as she continued walking, probably thinking of some other destination to make up for the failure.
"Earth to Cassie," I said, but she was still lost in her thoughts.
A smirk crept on my lips as an evil idea struck my mind. I grabbed a pile of snow from the road and threw it at her face.
She let out a small scream, shocked. She must have not expected that. The snow fell from her hair, which I obviously just ruined.
"Luke!" She glared at me, and that made my smirk even wider.
I threw another snowball at her face, making her jump, her eyes squeezing shut, her jaw dropping. Annoyed, she snapped her head toward me, flashing me another dangerous glare.
"Luke." She gritted her teeth.
"Oops." I grinned before speeding off, Cassie running after me.
She grabbed a pile of snow to attack me back, but she missed as I easily dodged her bullet.
"Come back here!" she demanded, and I laughed.
Soon, we were two people involved in a snowball battle, throwing piles of snow and dodging each other's attacks. People on the street stared at us—some of them shook their heads in disbelief, as if they were thinking that we were grown-up people playing like kids, while some others looked at us with envy.
I turned around the corner and hid behind a wall, waiting for the perfect time to attack Cassie again with the snowball in my hands. Just as I peeked, Cassie bumped into me. She jerked backward, but before she could fall, I pulled her hand, making her face hit my chest.
A roar of laughter escaped from me. She looked dumbfounded, so eager to get back at me that she hadn't even watched where she was going. "Watch out, will you?"
Slowly, she pulled away, staring at me like I was some kind of mystical creature, my hand still holding her wrist. After a few seconds, my laughter gradually faded, but she was still staring at me.
"You..." she echoed. "You look really good when you laugh. Do you know that?"
I froze. Did I just laugh out loud?
Boisterously?
But I hadn't had a good laugh since Victor passed away. Was this the first time I’d done that?
Cassie's face flushed. Maybe she’d just realized what she'd said, her cheeks turning pink.
The more I stared at her, the more I felt something inside my chest, like it was harder to breathe. The way I gazed at her seemed to trouble her—I could feel her pulse quickening against my hold on her wrist.
"What?" she whispered, probably wondering why I couldn't take my eyes off hers.
