But then again, there’s a giant centaur standing next to me asking if I’d like something to read while he finishes building a rocking chair, so... Normal doesn’t exist, apparently.
“Just hand me my phone, please? I need to call Mr. Joe, that nice trucker, and my mom and sister. I don’t want to get in your way.”
Nigel hesitates, then bends to kiss my head. “I like it when you’re in my way.”
“You do?” I tentatively reach out and pat his side. Stroke down his leg. The body is alien, but the sounds Nigel makes are universal. I sit up and move my hands with more purpose, stroking him, glossy brown under my perfectly manicured nails, velvet over solid muscle. “Wow,” I whisper.
Nigel’s sounds stop, replaced by measured breathing through his nose. “If... If it was only because you were sad, or you weren’t quite awake... Or if it was for the thrill of something different...”
“Is that why you did it?” I challenge.
Nigel’s scowl returns to its place on his chiseled lips. “No. I told you. Centaurs don’t do that.”
“Well, this woman doesn’t do that, either. Maybe you think I would because I just got dumped and hours later I’m in someone else’s arms...” I hang my head. “Yeah. I can see why you’d think that.”
“No. I didn’t say that. I only wanted to give you an out before my heart broke for the second year in a row,” he sighs.
“I get that. No. I would like to stay in. Not out. But, if you want space...”
Nigel grabs my hand and looks outside. The sun is peeping out now. The icicles are glistening like diamond spears hanging down in front of the window, and the picturesque mountain view I thought I would be getting proposed to in is shimmering and breathtaking—even through a slightly foggy window.
“You paid for a life-changing experience. Care to go for a ride this afternoon?”
“Into town?”
“No,” Nigel smirks, and my heart throbs. My lady bits join in.
“THIS. IS. SO. MUCH. Better. Than. Skiing!” I shriek, holding onto Nigel’s shirt for dear life. I let out another screech, but I’m laughing.
His gloved hands wrap over mine as they tuck through his arms and wrap around his chest. I’m riding him, bouncing against his back as he takes me on a gallop over the snowy hills,jumping over downed logs, sliding so that sprays of snow make rooster tails that glint like crystals against a blue-gray sky.
“Good! You know, we don’t let people ride on us like horses. Not unless it’s an emergency.”
“Oh! Should I get off?” I worry I’ve committed a cultural faux pas, even though he’s the one who offered this little excursion.
“Nope. Just pointing out that this is one of the perks of being courted by a centaur. Travel included.”
I pull myself forward and kiss the back of his neck. “I’ll tip the driver very handsomely.”
“Flirt.”
“You asked me to ride you. I thought... Well, I wasn’t sure how that would work.”
“Oh, there are ways it would work,” Nigel murmurs. “But I’m in no hurry. No pressure.”
“Me, either. But it’s getting cold out here. I have calls I really have to make once I get to a place with stronger signal, and you have a rocking chair to build. Maybe we could have a date night tonight? At my place?”
“I don’t know if I’d feel good about leaving you alone in a strange lodge. What if your ankle gave out?”
“Oh. Well... You could always spend the night?” I suggest, hugging him tighter, pressing my breasts into his broad shoulders.
“Wake up with you beside me on Christmas morning? I think I’d like that.”
I think I’d like that to be the way it is every morning, but I don’t say that. I need to talk to my sister.
“I DON’T KNOW IF YOUneed to come out,” I tell Leah.
“Why?” she demands. “If you took that loser back, Briana, I swear, I’ll—”
