“You want a pair of sunglasses? That would help with the wind.”
“Yes!” she responded with way too much enthusiasm. “Then I’ll be protected head-to-toe.”
“That’s the idea.” I handed her my favorite pair, my lips curving up at her ridiculous outfit. She was totally endearing and needed to be protected at all costs.
“Do you need more layers?” Her voice came out all muffled from the scarf. “You should, Harrison. I heard the radio this morning. The temperatures are still reaching negative forty with the windchill. You almost lost a toe in your basement, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.” I mollified her by adding another scarf and a hat. “The snow stopped but the wind is wicked. Stay close.”
“Yes, sir.” She saluted me.
I chuckled. She was a damn hoot.
We held hands once we stepped outside and, holy shit, it was cold. Drifts were three or four feet deep, and each step took all my strength.Get to the street.Making sure Becca was behind me, I gripped her tighter and forged a path toward the sorority house.
Managing the snow was easier on the road, but my face stung from the cold, and worry lodged itself into my chest. Was Becca okay? I tried blocking the wind from hitting her, but she was accident prone. I grunted and guided us toward the front of the house.
The large front door was situated inside a nook, and thank God, there wasn’t a drift blocking the entrance. “Key?”
“Here!” She shoved something into my hand.
It took a couple of tries to get the small metal device into the lock, but finding it, I turned the knob and nudged her inside before following her.
“God, it’s not much warmer in here than it is out there, huh?” I said.
“At least we have a break from the wind.”
I pushed down my scarf so I could speak easier. I marched into the living room, checking for anything out of place or broken. Seemed fine. Cold, but safe. Something did catch my eye though: the stack of presents under the tree. “Are the presents from you to the girls? Could they be ruined from the cold?”
“Oh man. I forgot about them in my haste to survive!” She walked toward them and bent down, all her colors clashing with the beige carpet. “Those dang girls didn’t listen.”
Her voice took on a different tone, and I joined her as I eyed at least fifteen small gifts with her name written on them.
“When you care about someone, you show them. This is their way of doing that.” I put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
The girls loved her, and while a little sliver of jealousy weaved its way into my spine, I ignored it. She deserved the adoration of the girls, and my issues with the team had nothing to do with her. I could be happy for her, while planning to be better for the team. Becca inspired me, plain and simple.
“Let’s check the rest of the house, and we’ll grab them before we head back.” My voice was tighter than I intended.
“Okay.” Her eyes glazed over as she stared at the gifts. “My heart feels eight times its size right now. Do you ever feel like that? Overcome with gratitude and love?”
No.“I’m sure I have. Probably with my niece and nephews.”
“I can’t believe they’d do this.” She put a hand over her heart.
“I believe it.” I smiled at her and ignored the warm feeling rising in my chest. It was foreign and weird, like drinking really hot soup too fast. I scratched it, hoping the sensation would go away. “You’re easy to like, Becca.”
She scrunched her nose, and her watery smile shifted into joy. “Thanks.”
“It’s the truth.”
Becca threw her arms around me and pressed her lips to mine, squishing them in a hard, not-sexy kiss before jumping back.
“Uh, Becca, what was that?”
“I wanted to kiss you.” Her face flushed, and she winked before walking past me. “Now let’s scan the premises and get back to that fire. I go up, you go down?”
“Sounds good.”
