Page 95 of 10 Things I Hate About Mistletoe

“I’m the type to jump in with both feet,” she said, stepping back to let him take his stance.

“Fine. It was my senior year with my girlfriend of six months. We had sex in a tent on a group camping trip. She cried and a few of her friends came to the tent to check on her, so we didn’t finish.” Anthony threw the axe, which hit just above hers. “Not exactly my finest moment. What about yours?”

“Mine was college with a guy I had been dating a few months.” They walked alongside each other to retrieve their axes, their hands brushing. “I tried to pull out all the stops to make it perfect. Rose petals. Champagne.”

“Was it perfect?” Anthony asked, yanking both of their axes from the target.

“Not at all. He didn’t understand what foreplay was and brought a jar of Vaseline because it was cheaper than lube. I ended up getting a bladder infection. It sucked,” she said, taking her axe from him.

“I’m not supposed to laugh, right?” he said, his lips twitching.

“Shut up,” she giggled, bumping him with her hip.

They continued to take turns throwing, asking personal questions, and laughing so hard their stomachs hurt.

Delilah threw the axe again and asked her fifteenth question. “Do you want to have kids?”

Anthony paused, watching her expression for any tell about what the right answer would be. Finally, he said, “I want kids, but there is always that fear I’m going to be a shitty dad. I didn’t exactly have the best example.”

“But you had your mom, right? She was pretty great.”

Anthony smiled, stepping up to the line. “Oh, yeah. She was awesome. On December first, she’d pull out the advent calendar and fill it with See’s Candy, which is really expensive. I held on to the calendar when she passed, thinking that maybe I’d have kids one day if I ever met someone.” Anthony threw the axe and it hit the edge of the target, but he didn’t care. Facing Delilah, he asked, “What about you? Kids?”

Delilah smiled warmly. “I’d like a few kids running around. Of course, I’m not sure how I’ll do during the toddler stage, but once they hit middle school, I’ve got it handled.”

“Oh, yeah? Because you’re a substitute?”

“Because I am the cool sub,” Delilah said, taking his hand this time as they walked across the sawdust.

“I have a feeling that I’ll be okay with littles,” Anthony said. “I’m not sure about diapers though.”

“What if we have kids and you take them for the first nine years, I take them for the last nine years, and we find someone to change their diapers?” Delilah teased.

Anthony didn’t freak out at the thought of having kids with Delilah. In fact, spending all his time with her, for the rest of his life, sounded pretty damn good.

“I think that’s the perfect compromise,” he said, kissing her softly. She stretched into him, deepening the kiss and murmured, “If we’re done playing twenty questions, wanna go make out somewhere?”

“Hell, yes.”

Chapter Twenty-six

Delilah stood at the top of the hill, staring down at the white expanse below and the tiny moving dots that represented people. The lump of fear that had been climbing up the back of her throat since she and Anthony had climbed onto the ski lift threatened to choke her and she leaned back slightly. The entire drive up, she’d been wavering between anticipation and apprehension, but now that she was standing there, all the excitement disappeared.

“I don’t think I can do this,” she said, swallowing hard but the lump didn’t go away.

Anthony chuckled, placing his hands on her shoulders and giving them a squeeze. “Yes, you can.”

Delilah took a breath, inching her board closer to the edge. “It’s so high.”

“This is the bunny hill, Lila.”

“I don’t care if it is the mouse hill, the ant hill, or a microbe hill! It looks huge, okay?” Delilah was aware of people around her stepping up and heading down the hill on skis and snowboards. When a little girl who couldn’t be more than five and her mom went down together, Delilah glanced up at Anthony and groaned. “You think I’m a wuss.”

“I didn’t say that,” he said, kissing her forehead. “We could catch a lift down and practice falling some more.”

Delilah shot him a dark look. “You’re so funny.”

“I’m serious, if you don’t think you’re ready, we can keep practicing until you feel comfortable.” He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her to him. “I’ve got all day.”