“Our snowman needs a name,” she said as she packed more snow onto the torso.
“Who says it’s a man? What do we humans know about snowpeople genders?”
She huffed out a laugh. “Fine, we’ll give our snowperson a gender neutral name. Something cool.”
“How about…Leslie.”
“Cooler than that.”
“Okay, you pick a name.”
She thought for a moment. “What about Alex?”
“Nope. That’s my cousin’s name.”
“Hmm. Charlie?”
“Is that a cool name?”
“I don’t know. Devon?”
“Maybe.” He sent her a sly grin. “How about Jessie?”
She kicked some snow at him. “That’s my name!”
He snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it. Frances.”
“No!” She kicked more snow, giggling her head off.
“Mackenzie?”
She stopped laughing and pursed her lips in thought. “You know what? I like it. Mackenzie Snow.”
“Perfect.”
“What are we going to use for the face?”
“I’ll go find something.”
The second he turned away, she scooped up a handful of snow, expertly packed it into a ball, and let it fly. It hit him square in the center of his back with a splat.
He froze, then turned around with a mixture of disbelief and humor on his face. His gaze tracked the snow at his feet, but then he looked back at her, still frozen.
Aww, that was sweet. He was hesitant to hit her with a snowball. His chivalry would be his downfall.
Ducking behind the snowman, she packed another snowball and threw. He dodged this one, then charged at her. With a squeal, she took off across the expanse of snow, giggling and trying to scoop up another handful as she went.
A snowball hit the back of her head and she shrieked. “My hair!”
She turned to see his look of horror. Little did he know, her hair was safely braided and protected by a satin cap inside her knit hat. She used the distraction to throw the snowball hidden in her hand. Nik tried to move, but was too late. The snowball caught him in the neck.
He hissed, trying to keep the snow from trickling down his collar. “That was a dirty move,” he called.
She just threw another one at him.
He charged her again, and this time she wasn’t fast enough to get away. With a soft tackle, he took them both down into a pile of untouched snow.
She lost it, giggling uncontrollably. This was too much fun. The snow was cold against her back, but the sun was warm on her face, Nik’s body was solid on top of hers, and she was overheated from layers and exertion. Nik rose over her. The adoration in his face scared her a little. What did you do when you’d never bothered to imagine the man of your dreams, yet he showed up anyway?
