I drop into one of the chairs, sitting close to the edge to get all the heat from the fire.
“Hot chocolate?” Logan hands me one of the mugs. “Added a shot of Bailey’s to keep us warm.”
“Thank you.” I hold my mug up to him. “What are we toasting to?”
Logan clinks his mug against mine, but doesn’t move it. “To fresh starts.”
“To fresh starts.”
It’s music to my ears as I take a large gulp. Not too hot. It’s perfect.
“I’m nervous as fuck.” Setting his drink down, he rubs his hands down his jeans.
“Does it help that I am too?”
His gaze rolls over me, from the top of my head to the tips of my boots. “You don’t look nervous. You look fucking gorgeous as ever.”
“Trust me, I was. Still am.” I take another warm sip. “This was the third outfit change.”
“Maybe we should’ve toasted to our nerves.”
“Fresh starts mean no nerves,” I tell him.
“Am I allowed to tell you how nervous I was on our first date? I mean, before?”
I suck in a breath, waiting for the pain to hit when I think of us in the past. But it doesn’t come. Maybe this really is our fresh start.
“Nervous about little ol’ me?” I say with a Southern accent.
“Fuck yeah. You are the most badass person I’d ever met. Still are, for that matter.”
“Not quite there yet.”
Logan leans back in his chair, giving me an assessing stare. He looks relaxed, at ease now. “Who would’ve thought we’d both be here at this point in our lives?”
My laugh is sardonic. “Certainly not me.”
“More than just one kind of fresh start, I guess.”
He’s right. And the more I’m around him, the easier it is to slip into our new roles. I don’t carry the same anger toward him that I once did.
Logan never hated me, he just left me.
But that’s in the past.
“Can I interest you in a s’more?”
“Can you?” I laugh. “Of course.”
Logan readies a stick for me and hands it over. When I grab it from him, he doesn’t let go. The contact from him does more to warm me than the small fire in front of us.
“This is really nice.” Logan huddles closer to the fire.
Quiet settles over us as we each toast our marshmallows. Eat our s’mores. Hide our smiles when we’re caught looking at each other.
The darker it gets, the more I’m pulled under the spell of this evening.
The igloo.
