I went to get out, but Lanche stopped me with his hand on my forearm. “Dain, the last thing I want is for you to be uncomfortable. It’s really okay if we go somewhere else. We can come back here another time, once we know each other better.”
After staring into his sincere eyes for another long moment, I nodded. “Nope, I’m good.”
“Are you sure?”
I awkwardly patted his hand. “Yep, I’m sure. Let’s go.” I got out, then popped my head back inside. “Wait. Did you bring skates?”
He smiled at me. “Sure did.” He got out, grabbed his bag from the backseat, and came around to the front of the car, staring at the lake.
I really needed to break the tension I’d started. Of course, I was the one who had to make things uncomfortable. I really didn’t want him to think I didn’t want to be around him, though. Because I did.
I really, really did.
Being around Lanche felt almost like a balm to my soul after missing him so much last night—although that wasn’t something I’d be sharing with him either. Not with anyone.
I wasn’t sure what possessed me to do it, but I found myself bending down and scooping up some snow while Lanche was looking away. Quickly, I formed it into a ball and threw it at his back.
Lanche jumped in surprise and turned to me. As soon as he did, I scooped up more snow and lopped it at him.
He jumped out of the way so the snowball went flying past him, then he faced me with a grin. “You really wanna start a snowball fight with a snow yeti?”
“Yep!” I ran around to the side of the car so I could use it as a shield, and a volley of snowballs followed me, some flying past, others hitting me in the legs, butt, and back.
Lanche laughed, and I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh myself.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d let myself just… play around like this. Usually I’d be the one sitting on the sidelines like an absolute curmudgeon. But for whatever reason, playing around with Lanche felt… natural.
I quickly formed an arsenal of snowballs so I could throw a bunch in a row, then stood with half of them cradled in one arm and the other locked and loaded. But when I peeked over the top of the car’s roof, Lanche was nowhere to be seen.
What the…
A snowball hit me in the back of the head, and I gasped, turning around to find where the giant man could possibly be hiding.
It took me a few seconds to find him. He’d somehow moved all the way across the clearing and was hiding in the tree line. How the hell did he even throw a snowball that far?
I watched in fascination as he chucked another snowball at me. It looked like he didn’t even use any effort either, and yet, the thing came flying right at me. I moved to the left, and the snowball course corrected, still aiming for my chest. I moved to the right, and the thing followed me.
I only had a few seconds to trick him—trick it?—so I waited until it was only a foot away, then jumped to the side.
Somehow, the thing still hit me square in the chest.
That damn snow yeti’s using his magic!
“Cheater!” I yelled, but my voice sounded amused rather than annoyed, and I couldn’t help but feel a small amount of warmth growing in my chest as we played in the snow. Which was weird. Shouldn’t I be getting colder? It was absolutely freezing out.
“How is that cheating?” he called back with a laugh.
“You can’t use magic in a snowball fight!”
“Says who?” He slipped behind a tree so I couldn’t see him anymore.
“The rulebook!” I rushed closer to him, keeping my eyes peeled.
He barked out a laugh. “What rulebook?”
“You know… the snowball fight rulebook.”
He laughed again. “I want to see this rulebook.”
