I saluted my son, catching a subtle wink from Alex before he vanished into his room, Chase right on his heels.
It didn’t take long to bundle up and make our way outside. The sun was low behind the mountains, painting the snow in a pale gold.
As expected, the second Trevor saw me, he started in on his lecture. Orders to stand down. Sit on the sidelines.
My response was to pack a snowball and let it fly right at him. He reluctantly agreed after that, but not before barking out “Go easy on her” commands to everyone.
Chase then pulled Trevor and Alex into a huddle, gesturing animatedly as he mapped out their battle plan as team leader. I loved how both men deferred to a nine-year-old without missing a beat.
Eden’s boots crunched across the snow as she joined me. “Think we have a chance?”
“A pretty good one, since they’re going to treat me with kid gloves.”
She laughed, tugging her pink hat lower over her short blonde hair. “Your brother’s friend is cute, by the way. Like sexy, manly hot—not boyish cute.”
I knew she wasn’t pointing out the obvious because she was interested. She was trying to let me know it was okay if I noticed a guy. A gentle nudge of support. We may not have been sisters-in-law anymore, but we’d stayed friends since the divorce.
“I have no plans to date again.”
“So you keep saying, and I’ll keep hoping you change your mind.” She hip-checked me.
Before I could shut her down, Chase’s excited shout cut through the air, along with a snowball. It smashed into Eden’s jacket, dead center.
Eden and I took cover, pelting them back as fast as we could.
I landed a decent shot against Trevor before spinning around and getting hit in the butt by one. Not too hard, but enough to surprise me.
I faced forward, finding Alex smirking, another snowball already cocked in hand.
“Aren’t you supposed to take it easy on me?” I reminded him.
“Believe me, I am,” he returned, that handsome, lazy smile doing a number on me.
Like distract me from my snowball-making mission.
I knelt for more snow too abruptly and became dizzy. I lost my balance and fell.
Alex somehow not only caught me, but he also managed to pad my fall, using his body as a cushion. But now I was smack on top of the man. Sitting right on his crotch, because, you know, why not make things more awkward?
“You okay?” His breath clouded the air between us.
“I got a little dizzy. Thanks for the save,” I whispered, hating that both men had been right about me not joining in on the fun.
Alex continued to stare into my eyes like he could read my thoughts and see my soul.
It took Trevor slicing through the tension to remind me we weren’t alone. “You good?” he barked out, and I remained sitting on top of this man like it was the most natural thing in the world for me to be doing.
What is wrong with me? Oh, right. Bump to the head to blame. Phew.
“Are you okay?” Trevor asked again, but in a slightly more neutral tone than he’d used before as he offered his hand to help me up since I had another man trapped beneath me with nowhere to go.
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured once on my feet as Alex stood.
“Time to sit out,” Trevor ordered, and I decided to behave myself and listen.
Alex gave me a small smile before Chase hit him with a snowball. “Turning on me, are you? Well, then ...” His husky laugh filled the air before he took off after Chase, and my son squealed and ran.
Trevor joined in on the pursuit as Eden came over.
