“Sorry. Static electricity or something. You okay?”
“Yeah. That was weird.”
“I’m going to get dressed, and then I want to build a snowman. A huge one. The biggest ever. And I want it to have a carrot nose and sticks for arms, and he’ll need a scarf so he doesn’t get cold.”
“Okay, Anna,” he teases, using the name of the princess fromFrozen. “Go get dressed, and we’ll build a snowman.” She flies out of her chair, runs her plate over to the counter by the sink, and zooms upstairs like her ass is on fire. “And put on the thermal leggings!” he calls after her, chuckling when her door slams without a reply. He gives me a shrug. “She’s been talking about this storm all week.”
“She sounds very ambitious about this snowman. Micha doesn’t have a huge backyard.”
“She also gets bored quickly, so we’ll see how far we get. There are only like six inches on the ground so far.”
I fork a bite of pancake and pop it into my mouth. Aston is a killer at breakfast and seems to love making it. No complaints from me. “Maybe this afternoon, we’ll bake something. I wouldn’t mind some chocolate.”
He smirks. “I can’t wait to see what you’ll send me out in the middle of the night for once the cravings start.”
My heart hiccups in my chest, and he must realize how that sounded because he clears his throat and looks away. Thankfully, Zoey comes back down, saving us both. Ten minutes later, after we’re all bundled up, we step out onto the back deck into inches of crunchy, wet snow. Ice crystals mixed with fat flakes fall steadily from the pearl-gray sky, and everything around us is covered in layers of white as the wind whips and howls past us
Zoey charges into it with a squeal of delight and immediatelyfalls onto her back to make a snow angel. “Sky, make one with me.”
“She’s been wanting to do this with you all morning.”
“With me specifically?” I ask, surprised.
He brushes some of the snow sticking to my cheek and nods. “She adores you. She talks about you constantly with her friends at school and with her therapist. I know we’re in an odd arrangement but thank you. It’s all I wanted for her. To see her smiling and happy.”
Warmth runs through me that completely eclipses the frigid temperatures.
I swallow and nod, a little choked up. Stupid pregnancy hormones. “I’m glad she’s happy and okay with our… situation. I hope you know, my friendship with her won’t change even when this ends.”
He turns away from her to look at me, his expression unreadable. He opens his mouth to say something when Zoey nails my back with a snowball. My eyes pop open wide, and my jaw unhinges.
Aston’s lips bounce. “Nice shot, kiddo!”
I sputter, bend, and pile a wad of frozen snow into my gloved hands, ball it up, but instead of retaliating against Zoey, I nail Aston right in the face.
He chokes and laughs. “Did you really just do that?”
I take a step back, my hands stretched outward toward him. “You wouldn’t attack a pregnant woman.”
He wipes the melting snow and ice from his face, his expression dangerous. “Wanna bet?” He charges for me, and I scream, turning to run when he swoops me up, swings me around, and takes us both down into the snow with me on his lap to shield the impact. Zoey jumps on him, pulling him back and burying him in snow.
After that, it’s chaos. Snow flying and feet slipping and sliding. We end up building a pathetic little snowman, whom Iname Baby Yoda. Zoey doesn’t get the reference, but that’s what he looks like to me. After far too long in the cold, we come inside, and I end up baking cookies with Zoey’s help. Aston turns on the fireplace and puts on a movie that quickly calls Zoey’s attention away.
“Sorry,” Aston says as he comes over and pops a chocolate chip in his mouth. “I stole your baking buddy.”
“It’s fine. She’s wiped out.”
She’s curled up on the sofa under the blanket, and I wouldn’t be shocked if she fell asleep.
“My mom called a little while ago. They want to know what colors we want for our wedding party.”
I snort out a laugh as I put dollops of dough onto the baking sheets and slide them into the oven. “Whatever will make them cringe the most.”
He smiles, his eyes glittering. “Neon yellow and taupe then?”
I laugh. “My mother would collapse with those.”
“You Fritz women are so difficult to please.”
