Jack wanted to do the sled run the way she’d done it, clean and controlled. He wanted to answer her gear questions correctly and get his layers right and keep pace without making it look like effort.
He wanted her to look at him the way she looked at the road when it was doing what it was supposed to do. Likeit made sense. Like it belonged there. Maybe even think he made sense, that he belonged.
He wanted even more than that, but he pushed those thoughts down as best he could.
Jack kept to the left side of the road, matched her pace, and said nothing about any of it.
“Good,” she said, about nothing in particular. Or maybe about the road. Or the night. Or the fact that they were both still moving and the sled was tracking right and the cold was manageable and everything was working the way it was supposed to.
He decided to take it as something more than that.
Chapter 13
Steph
The wind found them somewhere around hour three.
It came off the ridge to the west, not hard, not the kind that stopped you in your tracks, but persistent enough to matter. Steph felt it against the exposed strip of skin on her cheekbone. The temperature had been dropping steadily since full dark, and the wind made the drop feel sharper than a thermometer would suggest.
“Hold up,” she said, coming to a stop. “I want to grab my vest.”
He nodded his agreement. “Got cold fast.”
“Way fast. You have another layer to put on? A puffy jacket, maybe?”
“Jacket and a fleece vest. I think I might need both of them.”
They spent a few minutes getting into their packs. She pulled out her insulated vest and added it underneath her outer layer. She added a pair of mittens over her gloves, adjusting her thumbhole shirt so the sleeves stretched over both, with the mittens sitting on top.
She glanced over at Jack, and he looked ready to go.
They moved through a section of open road where the trees fell back from both sides and the wind had more room to work. She tucked her chin and kept her breathing even.
The temperature at this level was manageable. Uncomfortable if you stopped moving, fine if you didn’t. She was glad to have the wool layer next to her skin,especially since she’d become a little sweaty from exertion. She’d stay warm, whereas if she were wearing something like cotton, she might not.
Steph had trained in worse and raced in worse, and she knew the difference between conditions that were hard and conditions that were dangerous.
This was hard. Hard was fine.
She reached under her jacket and pulled out the bag of dried mangoes she’d tucked against her torso. Still soft, still pliable from her body heat. She held the bag toward Jack without looking at him.
“Thanks.” He took a few pieces, and they walked on. “Seen any good movies lately?” he asked.
Steph cringed at the question. Was that some kind of pickup line?
“I don’t go to the movies too often. Sometimes, but not often.” She paused a few moments before adding, “There’s a theater in town. My friend is the cofounder. I make sure to go to everything she puts on.”
“Oh, sure. I know the place. On the west end of Grand, right?”
“Right. Have you gone?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. I should. They have a Christmas play happening, right?”
“Right. Next weekend. She’s doing another play in a nearby town this weekend. It’s a musical, which is different from what she usually does, but she offered to help.”
“Do you like musicals?” he asked.
“Some, I guess. When I do go to the movies or watch them on streaming, I usually pick an action movie.”
