When we turn down a side road marked with a small wooden sign, I spot the glow of string lights strung along the trees up ahead. My mouth curves into a smile. “Are we snow tubing?”
Jordan casts a quick, pleased glance my way. “Yep. Night tubing. They’ve got the hill lit up, and I thought it might be fun.”
“It looks like it’ll be a blast,” I say, already unbuckling my seat belt as he parks.
“It will be. Have you been snow tubing before?”
I shake my head. “Nope.”
He grins. “Let’s get to it.”
We check in at the small rental hut, and within minutes, we’re holding hands, trudging toward the top of the hill, tubesdragging behind us. The crisp air bites at my cheeks, but the excitement over what I’m about to do outweighs any discomfort I might be feeling.
The hill stretches out below us, glowing under floodlights and colorful spotlights that shift from green to red. People shriek and laugh as they slide down the hill.
We reach the top and wait for our turn. There are lanes for each tuber to go down, with short snow walls on each side.
“Ready?” Jordan asks, standing beside me.
I plant my boots firmly in the snow. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“We’ll go on three. One, two!” He dives forward onto his tube, taking off without me.
“Hey!” I shout, dropping onto mine as quickly as I can, but he’s got a good head start on me. I take off, flying down the slope, the wind rushing at my face. Holding the handles tightly helps me keep from spinning out of control. Jordan’s whoop carries back to me, and I let out a peal of laughter.
I drag my feet and skid to a stop at the bottom, my heart still racing. I look over at him, hat dusted with snow, eyes gleaming. “Cheater,” I say, trying to sound indignant.
He laughs and rises to his feet, reaching out a gloved hand to help me up. “Did you forget my motto?”
“‘I don’t follow rules,’” I say, shaking my head. “How could I forget?”
“So what’d you think?”
“I loved it.”
We ride again. And again. After dragging myself up the hill the third time, I decide to sit in my tube and ride up using the towing option. Each time we slide down, we try to jump ahead of each other, and by the time our session is over, I lose track of how many races each of us has won.
We return our tubes and then head to his truck. He pauses outside my door, lowering his lips to mine for a sweet, slow kiss. It’s the perfect way to cap off our tubing adventure.
When he pulls back, he murmurs, “Are you cold?”
“A little.”
“Get inside.” He gives my hip a playful slap as I climb up, then closes the door.
A moment later, he’s in the driver’s seat, holding a thermos. “Would you like some hot chocolate?” he asks.
“Yes, please.”
He pours some into a cup and hands it to me. “Here you go.”
Removing my gloves, I wrap both hands around the cup. The heat seeps into my palms, and I moan softly.
“Take a sip,” he encourages. “I added some Kahlúa.”
“Why didn’t you lead with that?” I joke, sipping the sweet drink. “Mmm. This is perfect.”
He starts the truck, the heater blowing out cool air at first. I take my time drinking the hot beverage, but it’s warming me up nicely from the inside out. I sneak glances at Jordan as he drives, and think about what the rest of the night will be like. Is this it? Or will he invite me back to his house? And if he does, what do I want to happen?
