When I was situated to Jake’s liking, Declan leaned over and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I found myself angled toward him. We were both looking down the hill. The bottom was so far away. People who went down to our right hit the end of the hill and shot way out into a field beyond. How fast did these things end up going?
Jake popped to his feet and grinned at me, and then he leaned down to kiss Declan on the cheek. He patted the top of my head. “Just do what Dec tells you. Don’t lose your head and wiggle off. Stay put.”
“I’ve got you. I’ll keep you safe,” Declan said.
“All right, all right. I’m not going to wuss out. You don’t have to lay it on so thick.” Sweat coated the back of my neck and gave me a chill that had me shivering.
Jake snorted out a laugh. “You do remember the one rule of sledding, right?” His dark eyes were friendly as he leaned toward me.
“Um….”
Heat flitted around inside me as his expression softened and he shared a look with Declan. “Bail if you’re going to hit something!” they singsonged together.
“I must have forgotten that.”
Declan squeezed his arm around me. “I’ll roll you if we need to, don’t worry.”
“What?” I gasped out.
Jake laughed and ran around behind us. “Hold him tight, babe.” He pushed us hard. My stomach floated for a second before it swooped the same as missing a step when walking down stairs. We seemed to hang in the air, then tipped forward down the hill. The wind whipped my face and snow danced down from the gray skies above us as the sun slipped back behind the clouds. My heart raced, and I reached over and held tight to Declan’s leg because it was the only thing I could grasp easily. I held the handle to my left with a death grip.
“Crap!”
Declan laughed, and by the time we made it to the bottom of the hill with zero problems, I did, too. He smiled at me, and I grinned back. We skidded far out into the field. Going back up the hill along the trail that other people were taking to stay out of the riding paths was far less fun than the exhilarating trip down.
Though it was a little heavy, Declan didn’t seem to have a problem hefting the snowtube with one hand. He carried it behind his back so I only had to worry about myself. “How was your morning with Jake?”
I tensed at the question and double-checked he didn’t sound angry. Part of me was trying to figure out if this was some sort of trap, even though I knew he wasn’t the type to set me up. I clenched my hands, then hid them in my pockets.
“Did something happen?” he asked, concern in his eyes.
Now I felt even worse. I’d worried him. “No. We had fun at the market and got bear claws like he said and walked around.” I was babbling but couldn’t stop. “That’s all. We did what he said.” I pulled my hands out of my pockets, because I was unbalanced that way, and tried to pay attention to my footing on the hill.
“That’s good. Are you all right otherwise?” He snagged my hand for a second, then let it go, almost like he was simply letting me know he was there beside me.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I shrugged, embarrassed at how strangely I was acting but unable to rein myself in.
“Jake can sometimes be… colorful. He didn’t—”
“He was good,” I said between long puffs of air. It was no joke, walking up the hill.
Declan was quiet in a way that made me wonder what he was thinking about, but he shot me a warm smile, and I gradually relaxed. When we reached the top, I was a huffing, puffing mess, though Declan was fine. He turned, reached for my hand, and tugged me up the last little lip of the hill.
“You made it.”
My cheeks were blazing hot, and I told myself it was from all the exercise.
Jake was sitting in his snowtube and hadn’t gone down the hill yet, apparently content to watch everyone. He popped to his feet as Declan dumped the two-seater snowtube on the packed-solid ground again. “My turn!” He grabbed my hand and dragged me down onto the two-seater beside him.
“Oh, you two can—”
“Nope, my turn to play knight in shining armor.” He slung his arm around me, and I felt slightly ridiculous.
“Is that something you’d like me to talk about sometime?” I asked, mischief striking me out of nowhere. “How you’re big and strong and keep me safe?”
Jake’s mouth fell open, then he sucked in a long breath. “You’re too much,” he whispered. “Oh my God.”
Much the way Jake had, Declan planted a kiss on Jake’s cheek before he shoved us down the hill with little warning. Something about Jake was different, maybe because he weighed less than Declan, and we wobbled as we zoomed downward, which had me gripping the handle in terror because it seemed like we were going a gazillion times faster. He cackled as we skidded even farther out into the field than Declan and I had. There was a near miss as someone coming down behind us breezed by and went around my elbow by inches. I shuddered. Turned out it was Declan, and he waved at us as he stood. “Don’t worry. I’d have dumped it before I hit you.”
