Sneaking out the back door, impressed with not only how stealthy but how quick she’d been, she was bummed to see she was last. Of six. Someone else had woken Nick.
The moonlight made the snow look like a glittery, glowing dance floor. Nick’s dark ensemble, from his hat to his boots, made him seem bigger. Edgier.
His gaze caught hers and locked, making her heart rattle against her ribs. She walked to his side, “I was going to wake you.”
He took her hand, not seeming to care if anyone else noticed. “You’re too slow, Smart. I’m already here.”
Looking over at Nat, she glanced at her belly, then up to her face. “Should you be doing this?” Not one to step on her sister’s freedom to do whatever the hell she wanted, Maisie didn’t want anything bad to happen.
“We’re building a snowman,” Kyle said, pulling Natalie into the curve of his arm.
“Probably for the best,” Maisie said, bringing her gloved hands together and turning to face the others.
“You’re only saying that because you know I’d take you down,” Natalie said.
Maisie laughed but didn’t reply.
Kyle shook his head. “Why are you three always so competitive?”
“Competition is good for the soul,” Nick said, clapping Kyle on the back. “So, what are we doing? Teams? Solo? Who am I hitting with a snowball first?”
“Nothing is ever that simple with this crew, Nicky,” Colton said from where he stood with his arms wrapped around Jake.
“Simple is boring.” Jake pulled something out of his pocket.
Everyone moved in close to see what he had.
“We’re decorating trees?” Nick asked.
Jake grinned, the moonlight making it a little creepy.
“You look like you’re inThe Shining,” Maisie said.
“Okay,” Jake said, his tone serious. “Two teams. Each team gets two ornaments. You have ten minutes exactly to hide them in the trees between the entrance gate to the first area and where people pay for their trees. Doesn’t seem like much but it’s about a thousand square feet and dark. You have to hang them visibly around eye level. Once that time is up, it’s game on. The first team to get both of the other team’s ornaments back here to Kyle and Nat wins. If you get hit with a snowball by the other team, you have to sit for ten seconds. No cheating.” He coughed into his hand, making it sound like a muffled “Maisie.” “You can be hit with a snowball at any time right up until you reach the porch. That’s the safe zone.”
The U-Pick part of the tree farm wasn’t far from the house, but running with ornaments in the wide-open space without getting pelted with a snowball would be a challenge.
“One more thing,” Jake said. “If someone is just about to grab your ornament and you hit them with a snowball, you can then use the ten seconds they have to sit out to run and hide it somewhere else.”
“Sounds easy,” Maisie said, hoping her pitching days came back to her like riding a bike.
“Good. You’re with King; Colt and I are together.”
Jacob and Colton grinned at her like two lovesick cupid do-gooders.
“Sounds good. Let’s kick their lawyerly asses,” Nick said, putting an arm around her shoulders.
Natalie told them when to go and then they were off with their two ornaments: a very round, upside-down elf who looked like he was doing weird things with a candy cane and a reindeer whose bright-red nose was so oversized, it seemed to be compensating for something.
Maisie pressed the button she felt on the reindeer’s belly. The red light started blinking.
Laughing, trying to turn it off so they wouldn’t be spotted as they took a left in the tree farm, Nick grabbed it from her hands.
“Remind me never to rob a bank with you. You’d probably call the police first.”
The light went out and they snuck down the first row of trees. When Nick grabbed her hand, pulled her close, and held her still, her body instantly filled with so much warmth, she worried she’d melt the snow.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
