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8
Mary
“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun.” I pat the space behind me on the toboggan. With Owen already squished in at the front and me right behind him, it’ll be a tight squeeze to get Hardy on too, but I know we can make it work.
We’re right at the top edge of the steep hill. Not that it’s a mountaintop or anything. Certainly not like the ones surrounding us in the not far distance, covered in snow so thick it looks like someone plucked huge, puffy clouds from the sky and stacked them on top of the cliff faces. No, this is more like the one my sister and I used to sled down when we were kids. The one all the children in the neighborhood called “suicide hill.”
“I’m good.” Hardy brushes his hand down over his beard.
“Fine, be a spoilsport.” I pout. “You would have a lot more fun if you came with us though.” I give it one last try.
“Nah, you two do your thing.” He shakes his head and his brown curls shake around his face.
It would be more fun if he joined us, but it’s more than that. I love being snuggled up to Owen, clinging onto him for support and comfort. Yet, it feels like there’s a void now without Hardy. I don’t want to admit it out loud, but being wedged between them, feeling both of their strong, sturdy bodies pressed into me, well it’s more than just sexual, it fills a hole in my soul that I didn’t even know I had.
“Well then, at least give us a push, will ya?” Owen grabs the rope and tucks his feet up onto the toboggan.
“That I can do.” Hardy’s eyes twinkle mischievously. “Ready?”
“Yup,” Owen answers.
Hardy grabs the edges of the sled right next to my butt and even though I’ve got my winter jacket on, and even though he’s wearing thick gloves, it still makes a tingle tease my spine. A flash from last night of the three of us naked and twisted into a lover’s knot pops up in my mind. The tingle stops teasing my spine and moves south instead. I bite my lip and close my eyes, feeling the sled push out to the edge of the embankment.
“One, two, three!” He lets go.
Suddenly my eyelids snap open as I feel like we’re free falling down the hill at breakneck speed. A scream escapes my lips, and it’s not one of those gleeful, cheery ones my sister and I let out on suicide hill. There’s something I never considered until this wind started whipping my cheeks and we started hurtling down the edge pretty close to the speed of light: these things didn’t go nearly as fast when I was a kid. Back then, I barely had enough weight on my bones to keep the thing on the hill. Now, with two full-grown adults on it, we’re picking up speed as we go. I cling onto Owen as he tries to turn the sled, but it looks like we’re going to crash into the trees below.
“Shit!” he yells.
“Oh, no!” I squeal, squeezing my eyes tight.
Owen pulls the ropes and throws his weight to one side, pulling me with him. We slice through the snow at the bottom of the hill and he let’s go of the reins, instead reaching behind him, his arms surround me.
“We gotta bail,” he shouts.
“What?” I heard him, but there’s zero chance I can fling myself off this thing. Even if it does mean I’ll probably break all my bones hitting those trees.
“Hang on!”
Owen flips us over the edge and we tumble and roll across the snow so far that I’m surprised we don’t end up in the center of a huge snowball like you’d see in a cartoon. Finally, we stop moving. Owen lands on his back and I end up right on top of him, staring straight down into his face. A cold cloud of sparkling snow falls down on us.
For a second, we just lie here. My legs are straddling his. I don’t mean to grind against him, it just kind of happens. My body is greedy for more. More of him. More of them. But I snap back to reality before it turns into some kind of weird dry humping situation.
“You okay?” He looks up at me, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Yeah, are you?” I search his face.
“I’m great.” He grins. “Let’s go again.” He rolls me off him and stands up.
I can’t hide my disappointment even though I’m not sure what I wanted to happen there. I told them last night was a mistake, so why do I feel let down that Owen really did come out here to have a fun, frivolous day?
“Uh, I’m gonna pass on the sledding thing.” I stand up and brush myself off.
