Page 26 of Santa Baby

“I’d love to take a walk with you.” She grinned, wrapping her arm around mine. She was wearing a brown, wool-lined coat that hung around her ankles with a red knit hat stuffed over her thick hair. Snow was already getting caught in her eyelashes.

She looked beautiful, and suddenly I was glad Rex was late. I walked her across the street, through the crowd spilling out of the library, and down the block toward the park. I texted Rex and called off the ride, telling him I’d find my own way home tonight.

It was nearly ten and the park was remarkably quiet in the haze of falling snow. We passed a few couples out for a stroll but otherwise found ourselves completely alone, surrounded by a new level of tension.

I’d nearly told her I had feelings for her. It would have been a stupid thing to do, given that I wasn’t entirely sure if my feelings were simply that of a budding friendship or something more intense. All I knew for sure was that she was constantly in my head and I was feeling desperate to do something about it.

She twirled in the snow. “Isn’t it beautiful tonight?”

“Yeah, it is.”

She smiled at me, tucking her chilled hands back in her pockets as we turned to the east, following the well-laid path dotted with snowy footprints.

“So, what’s next? Event-wise, I mean.”

I hummed to myself, digging through my mental calendar. “We have the Decks on Deck next weekend.”

“What is that, exactly? I couldn’t tell based on the description in the calendar.”

“It’s a party on a yacht. We’ll be spending the night aboard after dinner and a tour of the city from the water.”

She frowned. “We’re going on a yacht in December? Isn’t that going to be a little cold?”

“I went last year and it wasn’t that bad. The deck is covered and heated, and there’s plenty of indoor space. The dinner is very formal, however, so you’ll need a gown.”

“Do you have a request for color?” she asked, looking up at me.

I smiled to myself as she skipped ahead, spinning in the snow again. “Blue, definitely.” She looked amazing in blue. I couldn’t stop thinking about our night out at the Blue Winter auction.

“I can wear blue again.” She suddenly grunted in pain, clutching her chest.

“Fia? Fia!” I rushed toward her, but something white whizzed toward me. I ducked, grabbing onto Fia’s jacket and pulling her to the snowy ground as a snowball parted the air just above my head.

More snowballs hurtled toward us, followed by sharp, boyish laughter coming from a nearby hill where a wall made of snow had been erected. I glared at the five heads that popped up, chucking more snowballs.

Fia, who had the absolute wind knocked out of her but was otherwise fine, lay sprawled out on the grass in front of me. She clutched my sweater, gazing up into my eyes. “Save… yourself…”

“Are you actually injured? Fia? Where⁠—”

She dug in her pocket, stuffing a thin length of paper in my hand and curling my fingers around it, squeezing hard. “Give that to my mother. Tell her I loved her. Avenge me, Mason. The only regret I have in my short life is that you—you and I didn’t have more—more time.” Her eyelashes fluttered in an exceedingly dramatic fashion before she sighed deeply and went limp.

I unfurled my hand. “It’s a CVS receipt.”

A snowball hit me right in the face. I snarled, and Fia dropped out her dramatic reenactment of what had to have been a scene from Band of Brothers to choke out a laugh. I rose to my feet, dumped her in the snow, and gathered a handful, forming it into a tight ball as I stalked toward the pre-teen boys.

They squealed in excitement and started chucking more snowballs. I dodged them, chucking the snowball toward the biggest kid and hitting him square in the chest.

“Nice!” Fia laughed, struggling to her feet. She giggled deliriously as she gathered her own snowballs.

One of the boys made the mistake of hopping over the wall and I caught him with a snowball right in the stomach. He doubled over and rolled down the hill, much to the dismay of his friends, who were panicking to make more snowballs as I gained ground.

One of them chucked a snowball at Fia, which hit her in the shoulder. She yelped in surprise, then threw one of her own right back. I quickly learned Fia was a terrible shot because the snowball hit me instead.

“Whose side are you on?!” I shouted over the laughter of the boys. I lobbed another snowball but missed.

“Is that all you got old man?” one of the boys taunted.

Old man? Old man?