Page 39 of Abdominal Snowman

That didn’t answer her question, but she didn’t push. He’d heard her, and if he wanted to answer, she could be patient. See? She wasn’t always overbearing.

“I have actually been working on something out there. I’ll bring it in after dinner.”

That piqued her interest, and she spent the rest of dinner trying to get it out of him.

With a laugh, he shook his head as they cleared their plates. “I’m not going to tell you. No matter how many questions you ask,” he replied with a pointed glance.

Rolling her eyes, Sage began drying while he washed, and she wondered when the hell had they fallen into such an easy routine. It was just so effortless to be around Soren. It was like things just… fell into place whenever they were together.

Sage tried not to ponder that too much and waited patiently on the couch once Soren placed her there.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t peek.”

“Promise,” she said, keeping her eyes closed.

She heard the door shut and peeked one eye open, only to find the living room empty. With a silent groan, she closed her eyes again. Sage wanted to see the garage, dammit. What did he have going on in there?

A shuffle, a thump, and the creak of the back door preceded Soren’s return, and she straightened her shoulders, trying to look innocent. Excitement thrummed through her. What had he been doing?

Soren’s footsteps echoed around the room as he drew closer, and shivers broke out under the long-sleeved shirt Sage was wearing. She didn’t know why. Was she nervous?

She even jumped when whatever he was holding thumped against the table. “Okay, you can open your eyes,” he told her.

Sage did and tilted her head to the side. A simple wooden box sat on the coffee table, and upon it were two round coasters ringed with bark. The glossy finish perfectly preserved the wood. Hell, it looked like he’d gone out to the forest and simply sliced a disk out.

“These are really pretty,” she praised and sat them out on the table.

“Thanks,” he said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. His cheeks were flushed the slightest pink as he waved a hand from her to the box, and she took the hint. The lid lifted off with ease, and it was only then she realized this was a handmade box. And it was the perfect size for all the blocks stored inside. Had he made this?

“Jenga?” she asked with a grin.

A slow smile curled his lips. “Yeah. Wanna play? I half finished these a while ago, but since you’re here, I figured now was the perfect time to put the finishing touches on.”

Because there’s actually someone for you to play with?

Granted, Jenga could be played alone, but what fun was in that?

“I would love to,” she said, and began pulling the blocks out, admiring each peace.

So he was a woodworker then. But surely not just coasters and games. Maybe furniture? He had to do something with all the wood he was collecting.

Soren helped her stack them to the sky, it seemed. They were beautiful—oak, Soren informed her—and smoothed out with beeswax to give them the glossy shine.

“Want a beer?” Soren offered.

“Yeah, sure,” she said. She cleaned off the coffee table so no casualties would suffer if they knocked the tower over, and Soren made his way to the kitchen. Her eye twitched at the off-center tower, and she tried to cautiously slide the carefully stacked skyscraper to the center.

She should have known better.

Gravity was not on her side. The blocks were too heavy, and she ended up just shoving the bottom ones, loosening the support of the rest of the tower. She gasped in panic, but before she could put it back, all the blocks tumbled to the floor with a clatter.

Cheeks burning, Sage turned toward the kitchen and caught Soren’s gaze. He arched an eyebrow in her direction before he turned back to the fridge with a shake of his head.

With the speed of someone embarrassed as all hell, Sage neatly stacked the blocks, gently settling the last one on top as Soren placed their drinks on the respective coasters and pulled the armchair up to the coffee table to face her.

“I guess you know how to play?” Soren asked, primly setting the icy beers on the coasters.

“Yes,” she hissed excitedly. “Gabi and I played this all the time growing up. I should warn you now, I’m a smidge competitive.” Sage lifted her hand and parted her thumb and forefinger a tiny bit. She hadn’t had a good opponent since Gabi had moved.