Man, I haven’t felt this free with a woman in a long fucking time. We drive to the closest, biggest hill we can find and there’s no one there. It’s sunset and the orange rays are practically bursting through the trees. Everything is just perfect: the snow is like powder and we have a 12 pack that we keep going back to.

I grab my old sled out of the back, pick her up in my arms, and walk up that hill. We’re both laughing and when I almost slip and bust my face open, she falls onto the snow, landing in a cloud of powder.

“I’m sorry!” I scream, falling myself. We’re laying side by side, feeling the cold snow soak our clothes, but everything is perfect.

“You almost broke your teeth!” she yells, laughing so loudly it echoes.

“Not funny,” I smile. And then I hold her and it’s all good. “Alright let’s do this,” I say, picking myself back up and dusting the snow off.

We continue our climb up, until we’re at the very top. “You can see everything from up here,” she says, eyes wide and full of glittering light. Down below are the Christmas lights people have put up and they look incredibly beautiful from up here.

“Not much to do in this town, but at least it feels like home,” I say, holding her close to me.

“Yeah,” she smiles. “It really does. Like, surprisingly.”

We both sit in the sled, but we don’t move it forward yet. Instead, we just watch as the little ants below us drive their cars and move around the downtown area. “I like this,” I nod to myself.

“Me too,” she says.

“What’s it like in New York City during the winter?” I ask her. “Like Home Alone or something?”

“Nah,” she sighs. “It’s worse. And better. It’s just a lot different. New York is just so big. It’s easy to get swallowed up.”

“Seems like it. Seems… intense,” I say. “I mean, you know I’ve seen a lot, but I don’t think I could survive in a city like that.”

“You can if you work every day and every single hour of your life,” she says. I nod.

“Well, you don’t have to do that around here. You just have to be friendly. That’s sort of the currency around here. If you give a lot of that, you get a lot in return,” I say.

“Mmhm,” she moans. “So, you gonna push this thing or what?”

I laugh and start pushing the sled with my foot. We get to the edge of the hill and I call out, “Hold onto your big ol’ butt.”

“I’m scared!” she exclaims, but it’s already too late. No time to chicken out now. We feel the push of gravity and we fly down that hill, going at least twenty miles an hour.

“Ahhh!” we both scream in unison.

I hold onto the edges of the sled, while she holds onto me. It goes by fast, but it’s fun and brings me back to when I was just a young boy. That was back when I didn’t know I would meet a woman like this, back when I prayed I would meet a woman like Helena. When we get to the bottom, we’re ready for more.

“Take me back up,” she says, out of breath. “We gotta do it one more time, at least.”

“Hell, at this rate, I can go all night,” I say. For some reason, the small things in life can sometimes feel better than sex. Shit, maybe I’m getting soft. Maybe I’m fallin’ in love. We race down that big hill, one last time, and feel the cold wind rush against our skin, the freeness from enjoying ourselves. She takes my hand as we go down and I feel that surge of electrifying energy shooting through my body. My cock grows hard and my heart turns full. It’s a feeling I want forever.

“Come on,” I say. “Let’s get out of here.”

We run back to the car, slam the doors, and speed off toward the downtown area. There are lights in the distance, and I know there are people who just want to feel close to someone for the night. We’re all searchin’ for the same damn thing out here and for once in my life, it doesn’t feel sad. It feels warm and good, and… shit, I’m getting all soft again. But how can I control my emotions when I’ve got her next to me, in this car, driving toward oblivion?

We pull into the parking lot and she turns to me, looks me in the eye, and sighs. “Wait,” she says.

“What are you thinking?” I find myself asking. “What’s wrong?”

She looks at me and I feel like she’s going to cry. Or get angry, or I don’t know. I’m so used to women turning on me in these pivotal moments that I guess I keep my guard up and wait for the worst. But she doesn’t do any of those negative things. Instead, she smiles and closes her eyes.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” she says. “I just want to remember this night forever.”

And then something fucking crazy happens. Outside our car, little white snowflakes begin to fall, all around us. I grab her and pull her close to me. The heater in this car may be broken, but our hearts aren’t tonight. And when I feel that warmth against my body, I kiss her, feeling her lips crush against mine.

Pure joy. Elation. Pure, utter, happiness. Fuck it. I’ll admit it. I’m in love. I don’t give a damn anymore about saying it. I’m in love, love, love, and there’s no chance in hell that’s going to change.

Tonight, our hearts are free.