He beamed back at them. “You two are too big to ride together!”
“No, we’re not,” Warren replied.
“You are!” Josh called out, giggling. “Two grown-ups can’t ride on one sledge!”
“I think I’ll take that as a challenge,” Warren said.
“No, you won’t,” Anna argued, just as Warren’s arms sneaked around her waist and pulled her back until she was flush against his chest.
“You better watch out,” he called to Josh, “because this is going to be the fastest sledge you’ve ever seen.”
“Probably,” Anna said. “Due to all the weight!”
“You really shouldn’t make such derogatory commentsabout yourself,” Warren said in her ear, earning himself an elbow to the ribs just before he pushed them off.
Laughter bubbled out of Anna as they gathered speed. She clutched at Warren’s arms around her waist as a flurry of snow flicked up around her and they sped toward the tree line at an alarming pace.
“We’re going to crash!” she shouted, not sure if Warren could hear her over the wind whipping around them.
“Maybe,” he replied, but he didn’t sound overly concerned.
The ground levelled out, slowing them enough that she was no longer worried about colliding with a tree. With that fear out of the way, she basked in the feeling of Warren’s arms around her.
He didn’t immediately get up once they came to a stop, but seemed to enjoy the closeness too.
“That was so fast!” Josh said, running over to them with wide eyes. “Can we all go down together on one sledge, so we’re the fastest sledge ever?”
Warren stood up. “We can’t all three fit on a sledge. And it’s time for us to go home and get warm. We’ve been out here ages.”
“I don’t want to go home yet,” Josh said. “Can we just go one more time, all three together?”
Anna stood. “I really need to go back to the house because I can’t feel my toes anymore, and I’m worried they might fall off.” She pulled a face at Josh. “And that would be quite disgusting, wouldn’t it?”
“Your toes can’t fall off, silly,” Josh said.
“Do you know what I’m going to do when we get home?” Warren said, crouching to Josh’s level. “I’m going to make hot chocolate – and it’s the best hot chocolate you’ve ever tasted.”
“Rachael makes the yummiest hot chocolate in the whole world,” Josh said, deadly serious.
Warren shook his head. “Does she make it with real chocolate?”
Josh seemed to mull it over. “She makes it with chocolate powder.”
“Then it’s definitely not as good as mine,” Warren told him. “But I’ll need you to try it so you can decide for definite who makes the best hot chocolate in the entire world.”
Distracted, Josh seemed to forget all about the three of them riding down the hill. Warren took his sledge from him and set off, pulling the two sledges up the hill while Josh and Anna followed slowly. They didn’t get very far before Josh stopped dead and declared his legs wouldn’t work anymore.
Warren backtracked a little. “Sit on the sledge and I’ll pull you up.”
With a radiant smile, Josh clambered onto the sledge.
“Hold on tight,” Warren said before setting off again.
“Wait a minute!” Anna said, hurrying to catch up with them.
Warren turned and offered her the rope from the empty sledge.
“I wasn’t offering to help,” she said cheekily. “I was thinking I’d quite like a ride back up the hill, too.” Her gaze was all challenge as she sat on the empty sledge.
