Five
Caden
“Fuck, Mari.”
I rolled off of her and grabbed my dick with both hands. I didn’t even notice the snow against my bare back. I was too busy prayingmy balls where attached to my body.
“Fuck.” I groaned and curled into my side.
“Why did you fucking tackle me? What’s wrong with you?” Her voice squeaked. She slammed her hand against the snow and sat up. “What, is this your new thing now? You assault girls, shove them in the snow, and have your way with them?”
“Shut the fuck up.” I growled into the snow. I rolled back on my back.
She stared down at me. My vision began to clear, and the pain subsided. I rubbed my balls.
Amari shivered.
I shook my hands and blew on them to get the chill out of my bones.
She hugged herself, her teeth chattered. I attempted to stand up and tumbled onto my ass.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” Amari squatted beside me. Her left foot slipped from under her, and she fell and grabbed my biceps to steady herself.
Her fingers shook and turned blue. She stood and pulled me up with her. I outweighed her by 100 pounds.
I got to my feet and wrenched my hand away. I wiggled my fingers and blew on them. She did the same. Smoke escaped from ourbreath. Her face scrunched up. I arched my eyebrow, and she shut her mouth.
Please say something.
Neither of us spoke. We were both on the verge of frostbite, but neither one wanted to budge.
Smarter people would have headed inside to get warm. We were both stubborn and prepared todie to prove an unknown point. Amari could make my blood boil in two seconds flat. She got under my skin like no other.I was exhausted.Tired of the tension and the awkwardness between us. Tired of the hurt. I didn’t hate her, which would shock the hell out of her. Ididn’t want her tohating me, it made me hate myself.
I loved her—I just didn’t know how to show it. The things I loved were taken away from me. Amari was not mine to have. What was the point of admitting it now?
I blew into my hands again and scanned the surrounding forest. The house sat a few hundred feet to my left.
We were alone in the valley. Few people knew we were here. No one to take her away from me, no one to tell me I couldn’t have her. Except for Amari herself.
The chattering in her teeth had taken over her whole body.
Her clothes were wet and dripping off of her.I bent over, grabbed her around the waist, and flung her over my shoulder.
“What are you doing?” She didn’t put up a fight. She clung to my back.
“Getting you out of the snow. You’re soaking wet.” I marched through the deep snow and back to the path.
“I’m soaking wet because you tackled me in a snow bank.”
“I didn’t tackle you. I was grabbing you to bring you back to the path, and you fell and pulled me down with you.”
“That’s how you saw it?” Her nails dug into my side.
“Yes, Amari, that’s how I saw it because that’s what happened.” I approached the house. I kicked the snow off my boots and headed up the front steps. I tried the knob. It was unlocked. Amari knew about the dangers of her father’s business and his lifestyle, but she held on to a false sense of security in this house. The cabin meant a lot to her. She preferred being in this three-room shack in the mountains instead of her father’s ten-bedroom mansion in Los Angeles or the other houses, condos, and villas her father owned around the world.
I opened the door. The richness of garlic and butter clung thick in the air. I kicked my boots off at the door. I grabbed Amari’s boots as she balanced on my shoulder and pulled hers off, too.
My stomach growled. Amari grunted in satisfaction, a dig to her unanswered invitation.
