feral.”
I laughed at her choice of words. “Definitely some wild ones in the bunch.”
We checked in with the volunteers, looked at some of the completed ornaments the kids made and were waiting to dry, and finally made our way back outside.
“Want to hop on one of those sleds and take a run down the hill?” I asked her.
“No,” she gasped. “I could never.”
“Sure, you can.”
“Chase, I haven’t been on a sled since I was a kid. I’ll probably break a hip.”
I laughed. “Live a little. Be adventurous.”
“I think I should stick to skiing.”
“It will be fun. Where is your sense of adventure?”
“It went with my health insurance when I lost my job.”
“I will cover all medical bills in the event of an injury, but I know you’ll be fine.” I leaned close to her ear. “I happen to know firsthand that you are bendy and plenty flexible.”
She blushed, slapping me away. “Stop.”
“Come on. Look at the kids going down the hill. They are having a blast. Even the ones that are going down face first.”
She winced, her face twisting as we watched one particularly brutal wipeout. When the kids jumped up laughing and begging to go again, she was finally convinced. “All right, I’ll go but I do not want to go face first.”
“I would never let that happen,” I assured her.
We grabbed two of the sleds at the bottom of the hill and made the trek to the top. She stood at the top, staring down. “I don’t know,” she hesitated.
“It’ll be fine. Sit down and I’ll give you a push.”
She pulled another face before finally sitting down with her legs stretched out in front of her. Her gloved hands gripped the handles as she looked up at me. “Not fast,” she said.
“Baby, it’s gravity, I have no control,” I said with a laugh before I gave her sled a solid push that sent her on a slow slide down the hill.
I knew she’d be picking up speed in no time. I put my sled on the snow, took a few steps back, ran, and flopped on my belly onto the sled. The momentum had me moving down the hill in no time at all. It was just like it was when I was twenty years younger and a lot smaller. I kept my feet up as I flew down the hill, snow flying into my face and blinding me completely.
I heard her scream and assumed I passed her on the way down. I was having an absolute blast. I truly felt like I was flying. I felt carefree and wild, and for one brief moment, I remembered what it was like to be young with no worries.
The sled began to slow, and the next thing I knew, I was thrown off. I rolled through the snow. When I finally stopped moving, I wiped the snow clinging to my face from my eyes.
Harper was looking at me with concern. “Are you okay?”
I grinned and got to my feet, dusting off the chunks of snow that clung to my coat and jeans. “Never better.”
“You are covered in snow.”
“That was awesome. Do you want to give it a try?”
“On my belly? No thanks. Are you cold?”
I ran my hand through my hair, shaking out more of the snow. “Not at all.”
“You are crazy,” she exclaimed.
“Don’t you remember going down on your belly?”
“No. Only boys do that.”
I reached for her. “It was really fun.”
She dusted off my shoulder where more snow was clinging. “You’re nuts.”
She turned to grab her sled and I couldn’t resist. I bent down, scooped up a chunk of snow, and stuck it down the back of her jacket. She squealed and turned on me. I was laughing so hard I didn’t see her grab a handful of snow until it was smeared against my face. After my wild ride down the hill, my face was partially numb anyway.
I grabbed her again, wrapping my arms around her waist and tugging her against me. She fought, laughing as she tried to get away. “Not a chance, woman.”
“Chase,” she cried out while laughing.
Her struggles and the slippery snow had us falling to the soft snow-covered ground. I rolled, pinning her under me for half a second until she found her own strength and rolled again. This time, she was on top. She grabbed more snow and smeared it into my face.
“You’re going to pay for that.”
I rolled over and pinned her to the ground. I stared down at her eyes filled