He'd forgotten, or maybe forced himself to forget, what it felt like to have a snowball fight. To be shoulder-to-shoulder with a teammate.
A friend.
His aim was awful, but he could pack a mean snowball.
The girls had admitted surrender soon after they'd instigated the fight.
Being together, Callum and Iris, Jilly and him, was better than he remembered from senior year. The camaraderie, the silliness and teasing...
Remembering the bleak years he'd gone without it was painful.
He didn't have time to dwell on it. They let him stop at home to change into dry clothes, and then he found himself herded along with the rest of the group into Jilly's big, drafty farmhouse.
It was a chaotic few minutes as the women stripped all five kids in the mudroom. He made a mental note to be careful not to trip on any discarded boots when he left.
Then, it became blessedly quiet as they tromped upstairs to dress in warm, dry clothes.
He was surprised when Callum started puttering around the kitchen.
"Gonna make some chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. When those terrors come back downstairs, they'll be hangry."
"The women or the kids?"
Callum laughed. "Make yourself useful." He clunked something wooden onto the counter. "Here's a cutting board and some carrots. If you could peel 'em and turn 'em into sticks, I'd be appreciative. That work?"
Noah sidled up to the counter and got oriented. His friend apparently had no compunction putting him to work, and it was one of the highest compliments he could've been given.
"So... You and Jilly huh? I never would've thought it. You hated her back in high school."
Noah felt heat roll up from the base of his neck. "I never hated her. Besides, we're just friends. She is..."
"Still annoying as all get out?"
"No!" His voice was sharp and, when he strained his ears to hear whether Jilly was coming back down the stairs, Callum had the audacity to chuckle.
The muffled babble of voices from upstairs hadn't changed.
"You can deny it all you want, but I see how it is between you. The way she looks at you..."
Noah's heart leapt, but he worked to eradicate the unreasonable hope that rose in him. He focused on peeling the carrot beneath his fingers, refusing to rise to the bait.
"We're friends," he repeated. He shook his head. Even if he wanted more, she was so far out of his reach... "You know why I can't ask her to be with me." He kept his voice low and his face pointed at his hands. "She doesn't know. About Chad." Crap. He got choked up just saying the name after all these years. "I'd like to keep it that way."
The air crackled between them. Long-held secrets hovered so close he could reach out and touch them.
"Noah." Callum's voice was deep and serious. "You don't think that's why we lost touch—"
But before he could continue, footsteps stampeded down the stairs and they were besieged by a horde of small hungry people.
