Two

Jarrett

It’s Christmas Eve. Dad and I are sprawled out in the living room, watching basketball. Ever since he decided to take this job in Ohio, I’ve tried to be supportive and go with the flow. He and Mom divorced about six months ago, and even though he travels with his crew most weekends during the NHRA season, I could tell that even being in the same city as Mom was making him mental. So when he decided to take a break from being a crew chief for a year and come work for the high-performance engine shop, I was happy to come along. Summit Motorsports Park isn’t very far, so we still hit the track every weekend during the season, and Dad has finally started teaching me to drive a race car.

At first, I thought he wanted me to come along to Ohio to keep him company. But with each passing day, and the less and less my mother checks in on me, the more I realize that she wanted me out of her hair. Instead of asking me to come home for the holidays, she took off for the Caribbean with her new boyfriend. I don’t know if it’s the holidays or the fact that it’s just Dad and me, but I feel like a total pussy right now for checking my phone every fifteen minutes to see if I’ve missed a call from her, my inner boy still wanting the love of his mother. Especially on a day like today. And just like the last time I checked… there’s nothing. Snow is falling outside, and I’ve settled into the idea that this is going to be the most depressing Christmas ever.

“Rollin’ down the street, smokin’ indo, sippin’ on…” I grab the phone, my bleak mood already lifting a little.

“Hey, Gin.” I try to hide the anxiousness in my voice, grateful for her interruption of my pity party.

“Merry Christmas Eve, Juice!” Her excitement reaches out and grabs me through the line. “Can you sneak away for a little bit? Or has your dad made plans?”

I look over to see that my father is now clonked out catching flies, and I wonder if I should even bother waking him before I go. “Nope, I’m all yours.”

An hour later, we’re at the top of Old Man’s Hill for what feels like the hundredth time. My face is borderline frozen, but other than that, I’m as toasty and happy as they come.

“You get in the back this time.” I get into position and pat the back of my sled. She’s only gone down with me a couple times and refuses to let me drive, insisting I’ll kill us both.

She clasps her own sled a little tighter, holding it against her chest. “Hell no.”

“Gin… get your ass on the back. I promise not to kill you.” I give her my puppy dog eyes that I know she’s a sucker for and raise an internal fist pump the moment she decides to give in.

She hangs her sled on a tree limb and gets on behind me. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Her tiny form straddles my back, and even between the thick layers of our snow suits, the minute her front hits my back, I’m instantly hard as steel. I shiver, thankful I can pass it off as being cold, and try to focus on calming my body. The day may have started off shitty, but it will end up being one of the best holidays of my life.

“Hold on tight.” I push off the sides as hard as I can, chasing the need for speed.

“Juice. You dickhead!” she screams as we fly down the hill.

She has me laughing so hard that I accidentally steer us off center a bit. When I go to guide us back, I overcorrect, hit a patch of ice, and send us flying.

“Son of a bitch!” filters through the air as we both land in the snow before rolling to a stop. “I hate you, Juice.” Puffs of smoke come from her mouth. “I’m glad we’re not dead, because now I can kill you myself, asshole.”

Good, she’s okay. I resume laughing at her temper tantrum. “That was your damn fault for distracting me.”

I crawl over to where she’s lying on her back and do the same. We take a few minutes to catch our breath, and as I look at the sky, I realize without a shadow of a doubt that this girl is so much more than my best friend.

I grab her mitten-covered hand and give it a squeeze. “Thank you for today, Gin.” I roll to my side and she follows suit. “It’s been… well, it hasn’t been the best holiday.”

“You still haven’t heard from your mom?”

She’s the only person I’ve ever talked to about this stuff. “No.”

Her hazel eyes glow in the reflection of the snow, and her almost-black hair spills a little out of her hat. She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on, and in this moment, I am full-blown goner.

“She’s a bitch.” She interrupts my revelation with her smart-ass mouth.

“Yeah, I have a feeling you’re right.”

“I’m always right.” She smiles, and even though our conversation has turned serious, her fat lips that are practically blue from the cold send another shot of heat to my dick.

“So you’ve said.” I offer her my sarcasm, not wanting her to know how she’s affecting me right now.

Her black lashes, wet from the snow, frame her uncharacteristically serious eyes. “I’m really sorry, Juice. I’m here if you need me, don’t ever forget that.”

I swallow the lump in my throat that her comfort creates and decide we’ve been serious long enough. “You’d never shut up long enough for me to forget it.”

Her widening smile has me falling even harder, but at the same time, I wonder how I can ever risk losing her friendship by trying for more. I know I’ll never be able to watch her with another man because this girl is the girl of my dreams. Problem is… I don’t have the first clue how to move her out of the friendzone without fucking everything up.