Snow laughs. “Such a gentleman.”
“Remember that when I’m fucking you later,” I whisper, burying my words into her hair.
The flush on her cheeks remains by the time I climb into the car and she fixes me with a faintly narrowed look.
“You really just threw that out there?”
“I did,” I say, pulling away from the curb. “Unless you’d prefer we do something else?”
She presses her knees together while unthreading her scarf from around her neck. “Oh, I’m game. If you think you can handle me.”
My smile rises and remains all the way to my planned picnic destination.
On the outskirts of the town are several rundown, abandoned farm buildings, remnants of a time when this town was little more than open land for animal raising and crops.
No one’s lived on these farms for decades, yet they’ve become a staple landmark, often housing festivals in the summer and hired out for parties and dances.
I haven’t been here in years but as we drive down the winding lane between clusters of trees and bushes, my destination springs upward.
Large, untouched fields stretch out right to the edge of the lake miles away in the distance.
Each one is a perfect patchwork of pristine white snow, broken up by the remaining fences and hedges that divide the fields into individual sections.
Parking near the gate of one, I climb out of the car and extend my hand to Snow in order to help her out.
“Wow,” she gasps, gazing around while taking a few steps toward the fence. “This is… It’s beautiful.”
“I thought you would like it.” Sweeping the blankets and basket out from the back seat, I drape them over one arm and hold out my other hand for hers. “It’s our own private wonderland.”
“I haven’t been out this way since I was a kid.” Her cold hand slips into mine and I grip firmly, then lead the way down the footpath and through a gap in the fence.
Crisp snow crunches pleasantly underfoot, a pale blue sky stretches infinitely above us, and the ice-cold wind gradually fades until the world around us is as still as the snowy ground.
I pass the basket to Snow and she holds onto it with both hands, watching as I spread the first heated blanket down onto the snow.
Two more blankets are piled on top, then I spread out the picnic blanket and encourage Snow to sit.
She does after kicking off her boots and she makes a pleased noise as she sits. “Oh, wow, how is this warm?”
“It’s a heated blanket, like a hot pack but bigger.”
“It’s amazing!” She shrugs off her coat, and I drape the last two blankets over her shoulders.
After removing my own shoes, I join her on the picnic blankets and wrap the other blankets firmly around us to trap the heat and chase away the cold.
“You know…” Snow looks at me and tilts her head. “When you suggested a picnic, I kind of thought you were crazy.”
“But you came anyway.”
“I did.”
“Thank you.”
She squints at me, then she leans in and presses a sweet kiss to my cheek. “Don’t thank me, dummy.”
“Why not?”
“That makes it sound like I’m here as some kind of favor. I’m here because I want to be.”
