“No, there’s plenty more outside,” I say. “Maybe we should bring some in before things get worse?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
So we bundle up and head outside into the storm. There’s an ominous feeling in the air, and it's so cold it almost hurts to breathe. While the snow has slowed down for the moment, there are still a few lacy snowflakes drifting slowly down from the gray sky. There's so much snow, our cars look like oddly shaped, giant marshmallows, and the soft white blanket is so thick that it muffles any noise, making it feel peaceful.
We tromp across the big yard, and I show Case where I found the extra firewood and also point out the generator. After what feels like about two hundred trips back and forth across the yard with heavy armfuls of wood, we finally decide our next load will be the last. I walk toward the house ahead of Case, sticking to the trench we’ve already cut through the knee-deep snow. I feel like I’m in pretty good shape for my age, but nearly an hour of plowing through two feet of snow has me winded and sweating. I glance over my shoulder to say something when I realize Case isn’t behind me anymore.
“What the hell?” I mutter. Still holding the heavy load of wood, I turn to look for him when I’m hit squarely in the face with a very soft but extremely cold ball of snow.
I let out an un-manly squeal and drop my pile of firewood into the snow, bending over immediately to make some of my own snowballs for retaliation. I hear Case cackle, and see him disappear around the side of the main house. I have no idea how he got ahead of me without my noticing, but I don’t care, as I chase him through the snow, armed with a few hastily put together snowballs, my earlier exhaustion gone. The snow is so light and powdery it doesn’t stick together well, so it doesn’t make good snowballs, but on the upside, getting one in the face doesn’t hurt. It’s just a shock to the system.
Turning the corner where I saw him disappear, I realize I’ve made a rookie mistake, charging into battle without doing any recon, because he’s lying in wait for me. As soon as I get around the corner, I’m hit three times in succession with more soft bombs that explode in a cascade of white when they hit my jacket, my hat, and the side of my head.
“Oh man, now it’s on,” I yell at his retreating back as he hurries to round the far corner. I move fast when I’m motivated, and I’m highly competitive, so by the time he looks over his shoulder to see how far behind him I am, I'm close enough to target him squarely in the face, getting him as good as he got me moments earlier. He lets out a strangled-sounding yelp and keeps running, but I can hear him laughing as I pause to reload with more ammunition.
Our war goes on for a while, both of us getting in some great shots, and we’re both breathing hard and drenched in sweat with red cheeks and runny noses when we decide to call a truce. Case shucks off his gloves and hat, and steam rises from his damp hair. He grins at me, extends both arms out to his sides, and lets his body fall backwards into the soft snow. He opens and closes his arms and legs as if he’s doing horizontal jumping jacks, making a perfect snow angel. Gasping with laughter, I flop down beside him, taking off my own hat and gloves and enjoying the feeling of the cold snow against my hot skin.
Fuck me sideways, Case is gorgeous.With his red cheeks and bright blue eyes against his pale skin, I can see a few light freckles sprinkled across his nose and cheeks that I haven’t noticed before, and all I can think about is how I want to kiss each one of them and trace them with my tongue.
Bloody hell. I want to kiss him. I want to feel his lips against mine, his tongue in my mouth, his skin pressed against me. My mind flashes back to last night and the feeling of his smooth skin, lightly covered with fine, blond hair, so different from my own, which is covered in coarse dark hair. I remember our first night together, and how different it felt to be with a man. So different, but so amazing. I can feel his whole body pressed tight against my own even as we’re lying here in the snow, fully dressed. My breath hitches when I look into his eyes and find their icy blue color has darkened with lust, and they look almost indigo.
Shifting closer to me, he lifts his hand and traces his fingers over my jaw as gently as a butterfly kiss before curling his hand around the back of my neck and pulling me into a kiss. Leaning in, he presses his mouth to mine, softly at first until I open for him and he slides his tongue into my mouth, pulling a groan from my throat.Fuck the man can kiss. Suddenly, I’m struck by the thought that for the first time ever, I don’t have to be the one in charge during sex. I can just enjoy it and let him set the pace. Case seems to be naturally comfortable leading in the bedroom, and that thought settles me even more. I’ve never thought about it, but I think I’ve always wanted a partner who’s more dominant in bed, and right now Case feels fucking perfect.
He slides his hand from the back of my neck into my hair as our tongues tangle together, hot and wet. Keeping our mouths fused, he rolls us so I’m on my back in the snow, with him lying on top of me, still kissing me like I’m the last man on earth. I can feel the heat from his body even through all of our layers, and the contrast with the icy snow at my back is delicious.
His sandy-colored beard is delightfully rough against my neck as he kisses his way over my jaw to the sensitive spot behind my ear, and I gasp when he gently sucks my earlobe into his hot mouth. I shiver when he traces the shell of my ear with the tip of his tongue, his breath is hot against my skin.
“Fuck, you taste so good,” he whispers, taking my earlobe into his mouth again. “But if we don’t get inside soon, we might end up buried under three feet of snow.”
I snort with laughter. The snow is falling faster again, and it looks like we’re going to get another couple of feet overnight.
He grins as we both sit up. “I haven’t had a good snowball fight since I was a kid, that was awesome!” He gets up and dusts the powdery snow off himself, and then extends his hand to me, pulling me to my feet.
As we gather up the wood we dropped earlier, I realize how much fun I’m having. I can’t even remember another time when I’ve had this much fun with another person. To be honest, lately I feel like I’ve forgotten how to even have fun, but something about Case reminds me. And I like it. A lot.
MATT
After we get back inside and warm up with more coffee, we spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing while the snow falls. We read, we each take a nap, and later in the afternoon I break out another bottle of red wine and we nibble on meat and cheese in front of the crackling fire.
As predicted, the cabin loses power part way through the afternoon when the wind picks up, and we’re left with only the fire and candles for light since we’ve agreed we should use only the generator to power the fridge and freezer. But the afternoon bleeds into the evening and the feeling of being in our own world is amplified because there’s only firelight.
"Can I ask you something?” Case says. We’re lying at opposite ends of the couch, our legs tangled together, each of us covered by a cozy quilt. We’re both feeling pleasantly dreamy from the wine and the warmth of the fire, and I don’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed.
“Of course,” I say.
“It sounds like you and Michele are still really close, I'm just wondering why you split up.”
“There’s really no big story,” I tell him. “Just another stereotypical, middle-age divorce where the woman raised the kids and the man worked outside the home.” I let out a sigh. Even though I know it's the right choice to split up, it still feels like a failure. “I was raised in a traditional family, and even though I didn’t consciously believe it, on some deeper level, I believed my job took priority over everything else. I wouldn’t say I took her for granted, but I would say that on some deep, subconscious level, I felt like what she was doing wasn’t as important as what I was doing. I would say all the right things, but when it came down to actions, I fell way short. It’s ten kinds of fucked up, but that's the gist of it.
“Do you still love her?” he asks nonchalantly.
“I’ll always love Michele. We were best friends before we got married, and to be honest, we were more friends than lovers for most of our marriage. But we haven’t been ‘in love’ for a very long time. I’m not even sure we ever were.”
Case smiles. “I’m glad you’re still able to be friends.”
“I am too. She’s a great mom to my kids, and like I said, we’ve been best friends for more than twenty-five years. But I’m excited about the possibilities in front of me now. For the first time in a long time, I don’t know what the future is going to bring, but I can’t wait to find out.”
We spend the rest of the evening talking about everything and nothing as the snow falls. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so I’m thankful we discovered the cabin’s wired internet connection before we lost power, since we were able to to send emails letting people know we’re safe and warm but will definitely be trapped here for a few more days.
