“What’s it say?” she asks.
I read aloud. “Hey, heard you were snowed in. Just checking on you.”
“Aww,” she murmurs, touched. “That’s so nice of him.”
Something warm stirs low in my chest. “Yeah. Good guy.” I thumb back a reply, letting him know we’re safe and raiding the kitchen like starving bandits.
I’m about to put the phone down when it pings again. This time it’s Rip Hart. “I hope you’re snowed in with a hottie who’ll keep you warm.” I chuckle, flashing the screen at Jaylynn. “Group chat.”
She grins wickedly. “So… are you going to tell them you’re with a hottie?”
“No,” I say immediately. Too fast. She cocks her head. I scramble. “I mean, you are a hottie. Absolutely gorgeous, really. I’d scream it from the rooftops. But if you get that job in Boston, I don’t want the guys circling like sharks.”
Her brow quirks. “Isn’t Rip married?”
“Yeah. But not everyone in that group is.”
Her smirk deepens. “Aww, is my little Radman jealous?”
“Fuck yeah,” I admit, catching her waist and tugging her against me. “You’re my fiancée, remember?” I tease, but the word feels… less like a joke than it should.
My phone pings again, and my blood runs cold. “Oh, fuck.”
“What?”
I hold the phone out, groaning. Jaxon’s latest gem to the group. Careful what you say, dude. The girl he’s snowed in with is his fiancée. My screen lights up like a pinball machine as the guys go wild.
“Shit,” I mutter. “If you do come back to Boston?—”
“You know what?” Jaylynn cuts me off, her hands sliding up my chest as she rises onto her toes. She kisses me, soft and certain, silencing everything—my doubts, the storm, even the buzzing phone. “Tonight, we don’t exist in the real world. Tonight, it’s just us. No jobs, no group chats, no gossip. Just this. Our own little fairy tale.” Her eyes search mine. “When are we ever going to get another chance to be this far away from everything?”
The words hit deep, and I glance around the dimly lit kitchen, the snow and wind outside battering the windows. She’s right. This is ours. “Yeah,” I whisper. “And no elf in sight.”
I flip my phone off and toss it on the counter, then pull her back into me and kiss her like the world won’t be there waiting in the morning. The fridge dings behind us, yanking me back to reality, but even that feels like part of the spell we’re caught in—like this night is stitched together with magic and mishaps.
When I finally let her go, she lingers, eyes closed, holding on to the kiss like it’s a memory she can carry into the future. She exhales slowly as I nudge the fridge door shut, and then she straightens, practical again, flipping the oven on.
I get to work on the potatoes while she fills a pot to steam broccoli. The storm rattles against the windows, the whole world muffled and white, and for the first time in a long time, I feel steady. Like we’ve carved out something safe here, something that belongs to us.
“How’s this for making new Christmas memories?” I ask, half-teasing, half-serious.
Her lips curve into that soft, heart-punching smile. “It’s definitely going to be a good memory.”
I move closer, brushing her hair back from her face, letting my fingers linger just a beat too long. “And the best part?” I murmur, my forehead dipping toward hers.
“What’s that?” she whispers.
I smile. “We’ve only just gotten started…”
15
Jaylynn
With the fire roaring, I curl up on the sofa beside Penn, a slice of pizza in hand. We eat like it’s our last meal, grease on our fingers, laughter in our voices.
“Who knew frozen pizza could taste this good?” I say between bites, washing it down with a warm soda. The freezer ice cubes looked like they’d been fossilized a century ago, so… warm it is.
“Try this.” Penn scoops up a heaping spoonful of buttery mashed potatoes and holds it out. His eyes dare me to refuse. I lean forward, open my mouth, and let him slide the bite past my lips. The salt, the butter—it’s stupidly perfect. I close my eyes, savoring.