He nods.
Apparently, I need some more walking lessons, because as I’m staring up at him with what I’m sure is a goofy grin, my foot catches on a stick and I pitch forward.
Becks reacts fast, his fingers tightening around mine, his free hand looping around my waist as he tugs me safely against him before I can hit the snow.
I don’t move. Neither does he.
His breath brushes the top of my head, warm against the chill in the air, and I swear my pulse forgets how to work properly.
“Nice catch,” I say, my voice a little uneven.
He pulls back a hair so he can look into my eyes, his arm still anchored around me, holding me close.
“I have a confession,” he says, his voice a low rumble.
“Do you now?” I ask, and he nods.
“I tripped you so I could hold you closer.” There’s a mischievous twinkle in his eye when he says it, revealing the truth.
“No you didn’t,” I say with a light laugh.
“If I’d thought about it, I would have.” Reaching up, he tucks some hair back and pulls my hat back down over my ears. “I like you right where you are.”
“I’m not complaining.”
Feeling bold, I slide a hand up Becks’ chest and hook it around his neck. Stretching up on my toes, he doesn’t resist when I tug him toward me.
Our lips meet an instant later in the sweetest kiss ever known. Light, soft, perfect.
The feeling of his mouth brushing against mine causes a shiver to work its way through me.
“It drives me wild when you do that,” Becks says against my mouth, and then runs the tip of his tongue over the seam of my lips in a silent plea.
When I open my mouth, he takes advantage of the invitation, deepening the kiss. A rumble of satisfaction vibrates in his chest as he takes control, pressing his mouth more firmly against mine.
The spark of passion that I initiated turns into a full-blown blaze as he kisses me, ruining me completely, because I already know nothing will ever feel like this. Kissing Becks is the pinnacle. No one else will ever be able to compete. No one will ever be able to make me feel like I do right now.
The moment stretches and blurs, time losing all shape as the world falls away. The bite of the crisp air fades, the sting of the snowflakes disappears, and my awareness doesn’t extend past the uneven rise and fall of his chest beneath my hand, the warmth of his lips against mine, and the heat radiating between us.
It feels like we’re sealed inside our own fragile snow globe. Just him, just me, and a quiet that nothing outside can touch. Eventually, reality pops the fragile bubble as, faintly, sounds filter through the quiet.
Voices. Laughter. The muffled tread of footsteps on snow.
We both still at once, breath fogging between us. The spell lingers for one last heartbeat before Becks pulls back, his arm releasing me, his hand slipping from mine.
The world widens again—the cold sharper, sounds louder—and I realize the others are on their way to us.
For a moment, I wish the snow globe hadn’t broken at all.
I can’t see my parents or Locklyn and Talon yet, but their voices are echoing in the forest.
“I thought they were going to give us some time for me to warm up?” I say, a touch breathless.
A lopsided grin quirks the side of Becks’ mouth. He runs a hand through his hair, brushing off the dusting of snow. “They did. We just lost track of time.”
I blink back at Becks. Could we possibly have been kissing for that long?
Becks laughs at the look on my face.
