I peek around the bumper just in time to see another snowball flying toward me. I dodge, but not fast enough. It clips my shoulder, exploding in a spray of white.
“Two points for me!” she crows.
“Oh, it’s on now.” I launch myself from behind the car, snowball in hand.
JJ shrieks and attempts to run, but her movements are slow and cumbersome. Her boots leave deep impressions as she struggles forward, sinking with each step.
I pursue, finding it only marginally easier with my longer, stronger legs. Each step requires effort, lifting my knees high to clear the snow’s surface, then plunging down into the cold white mass.
Just as I’m about to catch her, my foot hits a patch of ice hidden beneath the snow. I slide, arms windmilling, before regaining my balance.
She uses my momentary stumble to her advantage, pelting me with a rapid-fire series of snowballs she must have prepared while I was shoveling.
“That’s cheating!” I call out, laughing as I advance on her while shielding my face from the icy projectiles.
“Payback for monopoly.”
I lunge forward, struggling through the deep powder to grab her around the waist before she can throw another snowball. She squeals as I lift her off her feet, spinning her in a circle.
“Put me down!” she demands, but she’s laughing too hard to sound threatening.
“Admit defeat first,” I counter, holding her firmly against my chest.
“Never.” She squirms in my grasp, trying to break free.
I lose my footing and we both go down, landing in a particularly deep snowdrift with her on top of me. Snow billows around us in a white cloud, some of it falling back onto our faces.
We stare at each other, breathing hard. Her cheeks are flushed with cold and exertion, snowflakes clinging to her eyelashes and dusting her dark coily hair where they’ve escaped her hat. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.
“You surrender yet?”
“Not a chance.”
I chuckle. “Then I guess I’ll just have to keep wearing you down.”
Reaching up, I brush snow from her face. I lift my head and press my mouth to hers. Her lips are cold, but they quickly warm under the leisurely onslaught of mine. The contrast of the frigid air around us and the heat building between our bodies is intoxicating.
I savor the moment, loving how her lips welcome me, how she feels in my arms. When I finally pull back, her eyes flutter open and I can’t resist leaning in for another kiss.
We lie there, half-buried in snow, trading lazy kisses and quiet laughs, neither of us caring about the cold seeping through our layers. I forget about the outside world, about contracts and deadlines and the life waiting beyond snow-covered streets.
Right now, it’s just us. And I’m not ready for that to change.
Eventually, though, the cold becomes impossible to ignore. JJ shivers against me, her earlier exertion no longer enough to keep her warm.
“We should head inside,” I say against her temple. “Before hypothermia sets in.”
She nods, reluctantly pushing herself up. The movement sends more snow cascading down her coat and into her collar, making her yelp.
“Now I remember why I don’t engage in snowball fights,” she says, brushing at her snow-covered clothes.
I stand, pulling her against me. We’re both soaked from the knees down, our gloves and sleeves wet from the snow.
“Was it worth it?”
Her smile is answer enough. “Maybe.”
I guide her up the four flights of stairs to her apartment, one hand at the small of her back, enjoying the feel of her in my arms. Throwing open her front door, I spot the glowing overhead lights.
