“She’s carnage,” Evan replies. “Which is why I brought her here.”
Frankie slides her chair back, and the others follow suit.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
Rory grins at me like I’m about to be initiated into a cult. “Annual Parnell snowball fight.”
“Wait, what?”
Eli nods. “Every year at Christmas. Kids versus adults. Adults are usually outnumbered, but emotionally more stable when they lose.”
“Debatable,” Tamara mutters.
Frankie brushes past me, throwing a look over her shoulder. “You coming, Fireboy? Or are you still too humiliated from my wine assault?”
I stare after her, still seated. “She’s gonna kill me.”
“She absolutely will,” Eli says, smacking my back. “Now come die with dignity.”
Chapter nine
Mason
Snow hits the side of my face before I’ve even got my gloves on.
“What the—”
I turn to find Frankie already grinning, one mittened hand cupping another snowball while the other adjusts the ridiculous hat on her head. It’s soft and light blue, with a knitted daisy on the side and a pom-pom so oversized it bounces with every move.
“You’re a daisy-hatted assassin.”
“What’s the matter, Fireboy?” she calls, already retreating across the lawn. “You afraid of a little snow?”
Logan snorts behind me. “Careful, bro. She’s got an arm.”
“She’s got a death wish,” I mutter, wrenching my gloves on.
The snow is thick and fresh, coming down in fat flakes that blur the yard in every direction.
It’s the perfect kind of snow for this. Soft, packable, and just wet enough to hurt when someone aims with purpose.
Frankie aims with purpose.
I step off the porch, and a snowball immediately explodes against my chest.
She waves. “Oops.”
“Oh, it’s on.”
Within five minutes, the lawn’s a war zone.
Rory’s crouched behind the firewood stack, pelting Eli with precision. Logan and Lulu are fighting dirty—he keeps shielding her with his body, while she’s half riding on his back, shrieking with laughter and hurling snow at Tamara.
I’m stalking Frankie like prey.
Or maybe she’s stalking me. Hard to tell when she’s circling like a smug little fox in that ridiculous hat.
Elle suddenly pegs me in the thigh with a snowball that feels suspiciously dense, and while I’m bent over cursing under my breath, Frankie pops up behind a hedge and nails me in the shoulder.
