AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wind probably. Again?” I ask.
“Sure,” she says, unconvinced.
We connect solidly with the trunk. Snow falls through the branches again, but so does a family of raccoons. Two land behind us, screeching as they scurry away while the last one lands next to Eva.
Eva screams, clinging on tight to me as it rears back on its haunches. It chitters at us for a brief moment before spinning around and following the rest of its family up a nearby tree.
“Holy crap,” Eva says, her hands still on my chest. “Has that happened to you before?”
I stroke her back absently as I hold on to her. “Usually on the first swing.”
She stares at me and then gives me a little thump on my chest. “You couldn’t have warned me?”
I snort. “Rite of passage.”
She groans and then moves away from the tree, heading back to the sled.
“I need some more hot chocolate after that.”
I need more Eva after that. I meet her at the sled, dropping the axe on top of it.
“Tired?” She takes a sip of her hot chocolate.
“Not at all,” I say, bending down to open up the pack. “It’s time to take this tree down.”
I pull out my chainsaw and let her rip. I can’t help but laugh when I see Eva’s face.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What?”
“You had that chainsaw the entire time?”
I nod.
“Why didn’t you bring it out earlier? And don’t tell me rite of passage.”
Partly. The main reason is that I wanted to feel her body against mine, holding her as we swung the axe together. Can’t get that experience with a chainsaw.
“You’re going to make this up to me.”
“How so?”
“Sleigh ride. Tomorrow. I scheduled it with Evan, but we both know what happened there. I’m not going to show up to some romantic sleigh ride alone.”
“Romantic?”
If this is her idea of me making it up to her, sign me up.
“I mean. I guess. I’ve never been on one but all the sleigh rides in Christmas movies are with couples, right?”
“Sure,” I say. “Sounds great.”
“Good,” she says. “It’s a date.”
“It’s a date?”
Eva mumbles something as her cheeks flush bright red. “No—I mean. That’s what people say, right? It’s not like we’re dating. We don’t know each other. We just met. We—” she shakes her head.
