“Doesn’t mean I like standing outside with no coat.”
“You could always stop being a coward and come join me,” she teased. My feet were carrying me forward before I’d even made a decision. Her grin widened as I walked toward her. “There you go! I knew you couldn’t resist me.”
“I’m only coming out here so you don’t get hypothermia and ruin my weekend,” I said, trying to be casual.
“Sure, sure.” She smiled. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
The snow was coming down a little harder now, soft flakes sticking in her hair and melting on her cheeks. I reached up without thinking, brushing a few off her shoulder. She went still for a second, eyes flicking up to mine, and I froze too, pulled in by her gaze. Sometimes when I looked at Lilah, it felt like it was impossible to look away again. Like I never wanted to see anything but her for the rest of my life.
The spell was only broken by her shivering. I wasn’t even sure if she noticed it, but I did. I pulled my sweater off as fast as I could and practically shoved it in her direction.
“Here. At least wear this.”
She glanced down at it but didn’t take it from my hands. “Then you’ll freeze.”
I watched her for a second longer than I should, the way her arms folded tighter around herself, the way her breath fogged unevenly in the cold. She would probably argue with me until the end of time about this if I let her, so instead, I took matters into my own hands. I stepped in close and lifted my hands, pulling the hoodie over her head before she even had the chance to protest. She stiffened for half a second, clearly startled, but didn’t argue as the fabric settled around her.
I stepped back and awkwardly cleared my throat as she watched me with wide eyes.
“You were freezing,” I said simply.
“But now you’re freezing,” she said. Her arms moved under the fabric and for a moment, I was worried she was going to take the sweater off and throw it back at me, angry at me for even doing that. Instead, she did the opposite, as she slid her arms into the sleeves and wrapped the ends of the sleeves around her hands, keeping her fingers covered. My heart warmed as I stared at her, wrapped in my sweater like it was always meant to be hers. Suddenly, I was so overwhelmed with the urge to kiss her that it was almost impossible to resist. I wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to fall asleep next to her tonight. I wanted to be able to walk down the street holding her hand and wrap my arm around her every time we sat down somewhere. I wanted her, every piece of her.
But all of this was still fake, and I couldn’t let myself forget it.
She was still staring at me, so I tried to pull myself back into the moment and remember what she said.
“I’ll survive,” I said. “Like you said, I’m a hockey player. I’m built for the cold.”
We stood there for a minute, just listening to the quiet. The whole world felt muffled, like the snow had wrapped everything in cotton. The only sounds were the distant hum of traffic and the faint crunch of flakes under our shoes.
Then she reached out her hand. “Dance with me.”
“Lilah—”
“Come on. Don’t overthink it.”
“I don’t dance.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I really don’t.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You skate, right?”
“That’s different.”
“Same principle.”
“It’s not?—”
Before I could finish, she grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. “There. Step one accomplished.”
Her fingers were freezing against mine, but I didn’t let go.
“Now,” she said, grinning up at me, “just follow my lead.”
I snorted. “You’re bossy, you know that?”
