Stone thought it had been horrific when his wife and daughter had died, and it had been, but he’d still had Abi. She’d pulled him through and helped him see light and happiness. Now, he had nothing and nobody. Over the last few weeks, he’d worked extra shifts at the fire station, pushed himself in the gym, and made a ton of progress on his house remodel. Work didn’t take his mind off of Abi, but it did pass the hours of the day. Tuesday morning, he was methodically texturing the walls in his dining room. Unfortunately, it gave him too much time to think. Seeing Abi last night had brought everything back to the forefront. He’d wanted to fight the richie businessman who was touching her. It was juvenile and cave-mannish, but he had wanted to plant a fist in the guy’s face then yank Abi into his arms and kiss her longer than he had in the snow cave.

His mind wandered back to that day. Had Abi really said she loved him standing outside his cabin, or was that just something he conjured up in his head? Everything seemed like a blur since that awful moment when he’d let her walk away, but what else was he supposed to do? He wasn’t worthy of someone angelic like Abi, not until he could let go of the guilt, anger, and frustration and somehow reconcile himself to breaking the promise he’d made to Virginia. Could he really do that? What kind of man was he if he didn’t have his honor, his integrity? Yet what kind of purgatory would his life be if he couldn’t love Abi?

He thought he’d let go of all his anger at Jace, but it had resurfaced. His former friend had ditched them all and let Stone pick up the pieces. Admittedly, Stone had done a piss-poor job of picking them up, but at least, he’d stayed and tried. He’d wanted baby Abigail so much, and he liked to think he would’ve at least been a good dad, even if he’d sucked as a husband, but he’d lost that chance. It all came back to Jace’s choices. If Jace would’ve kept to the pact and not blown past the boundaries with Virginia, or if Jace would’ve stepped up and taken care of his responsibilities instead of leaving them all for the military, where would Stone be now? Would he have had a chance with Abi?

He hung his head and swirled halfheartedly at the wall. When he’d had Abi in his life, he looked forward to days off because, even if she had to work, she’d finagle a way to spend time together. They would have lunch together or go for a quick hike, or if she could find enough time, they’d go skiing in the winter or mountain biking in the summer. He’d always known she was the joy in his life, but being robbed of that joy was almost enough to make him wish he could join Virginia and the baby. Sheesh, that was morbid.

The front door banged open, and Stone turned in surprise. His parents and brother weren’t supposed to be coming for a visit, and his buddies from the fire station were all busy doing their own projects during their four-day break. Blue was in New Mexico visiting Lucy, but the rest of the guys had planned to get together tonight at Pineapple’s for dinner and drinks. Stone still hadn’t decided if he would go. Last night had been pretty miserable with Nikola and Jeremy talking nonstop about that loser pretty boy Abi had been with and how Stone should’ve laid claim to “his woman.” Abi wasn’t his woman and, sadly, would probably never be. Stone knew that was his fault, but he still didn’t know how to change anything.

He walked toward the entryway as the door slammed shut again. Abi pushed back the hood of her white coat. Her dark hair seemed to shine, but her dark eyes shone more. Stone’s heart slammed against his chest. He wanted to run, pick her up off her feet, and kiss her until they both passed out from lack of oxygen. Of course, he stood there and did nothing.

She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him. “You look like crap, and your stunt last night was completely ridiculous.”

He nodded. She was here. He’d agree to anything she said.

“What have you been doing the past three weeks?” She demanded.

Missing you. He cleared his throat. “Working.”

“Well, that is completely lame. Man was not made for work alone. Can you seriously have no fun in life if I don’t force you to?” She arched her delicate eyebrows.

Stone smiled. It had been so long since he’d smiled it felt like his face was cracking. He suddenly realized he’d missed the motion. “Nope.”

“You are truly pitiful. Come on. The slopes are calling my name, and while you suck as a friend, you’re a great skiing partner.” She whirled on her heel and strode to the front door. Stone set his scraper down and followed. He was more pathetic than she would ever know, and he was so happy she’d come for him. If only he could find a way to be the friend she needed. If only that could include nonstop kissing and listening to her talk when they had to take a break and come up for air. Why was it necessary for him to talk? Yet he would try if it meant Abi would never ditch him again.

* * *

Abi was the pitiful one. Why couldn’t she stay away from him? Sleeping fitfully last night, all she could think about was how Stone had looked at her when she first saw him at the restaurant, like she was love and hope and joy all combined. Did he feel any of that or was she reading something into nothing?

She’d driven past the house he was remodeling in Midway ten times this morning before finally admitting the truth. She missed him … horribly. It was like a root canal that she had to deal with or she knew she’d be eternally in pain. Stone didn’t want her as a girlfriend. He didn’t love her. It ripped her up that she had no chance with the love of her life, but they’d been friends for too long. She couldn’t just dump ties she’d made since childhood, and she couldn’t tell her heart not to love him.

She and Stone had gotten their gear and skis on and were riding up the ski lift named “Quincy” at Deer Valley. The air was crisp, and the view was spectacular, but she was just thrilled to have Stone by her side. He stretched his arm behind her on the seat. He hadn’t talked much on the way to pick up his skis and season pass and drive to the resort, but that was okay. He’d asked her a few questions about work, and she’d rattled on with stories and had even gotten him to smile a few times. Thankfully, he hadn’t asked about Truman. Her date last night had been lame and confirmed once again that nobody could compare to Stone for her. Dang him.

She let herself look away from the picturesque view below them to his handsome face, sadly remembering how the smooth skin had felt against her cheek and lips. His dark hair curled out from underneath his helmet. She wanted to touch it. She sighed.

“You okay?” he asked, turning to her.

“I’ve missed you.” She admitted, ducking her head. She hated that she always had to be the one to bring up anything like that, to always put her heart out there, but it was what it was. She’d chosen to be best friends with Stone Cold for probably the thousandth time, and it obviously wasn’t going to be easy.

Stone nodded slowly.

“You could say you missed me too.” She practically threw the words at him. Honestly. It was like pulling a seven-year-old’s teeth.

Stone chuckled. Then he started laughing and couldn’t stop. They reached the top of the lift, grabbed their poles, and stood, gliding down to the right side toward Blue Bell, a moderate run they both enjoyed.

“Oh, Abi.” Stone swiped a gloved hand over his face, shook his head, and started laughing again.

Abi put her hands on her hips. “You’re a jerk, you know that?” She put her goggles in place, pushed off with her poles, and took off down the slope.

She veered off through the trees into the powder, knowing he would follow, but she needed to keep her distance for a few minutes to remind herself that this was Stone. He wasn’t going to go gushing about how he’d missed her, and it was completely her choice to be with him. When she’d gotten home after seeing him and his firefighting buddies at the restaurant last night, she’d had a good cry and told herself she had to choose. Stone would never love her, but she could choose to be his friend. She decided she couldn’t live without him, so she’d been the one to reinitiate friendship. She had to take him as he was, not expect him to change, but why did he make it so hard? Laughing at her when she said she missed him? Cold-hearted meanie anyway.

She came to a small clearing in the trees, filled with powder. Suddenly arms came around her and tackled her. Snow poofed into the air and settled slowly. It didn’t hurt falling into the thick powder. Her goggles got shoved up onto her forehead, and she pushed them onto her helmet.

“Stone! What are you doing?” She glanced up into his handsome face, so close she could see that scar above his lip.

“I’m sorry for laughing at you.” He grinned, his eyes a true blue and still full of laughter.

“It’s okay.” She immediately forgave him. She was a sucker like that. “I’m glad to hear you laugh.”

His eyes turned serious, but they weren’t gray and cold, they were blue and serious. She was so glad he didn’t wear goggles and she could see those beautiful eyes. “Thank you for making me laugh. I’ve missed you more than you’ll ever know, Abi.”

“Yeah, I’ll never know because you would never talk enough to tell me.” She’d been annoyed with her date last night for never stopping talking, but she’d love for Stone to talk, to say anything.

Stone nodded. “You know I don’t like to talk, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.” He cleared his throat and whispered, “I care a lot.”

Abi smiled, loving his admission. She cared about him far too much, and those kisses in the cave were never far from her mind. With him this close and saying words she’d longed to hear, she couldn’t resist as she lifted her head and kissed that scar on the side of his lip. Stone’s quick intake told her she’d crossed a boundary she shouldn’t have. So when he said he cared about her that didn’t mean cared about cared about, it meant like cared for a friend. Well, shoot, should’ve seen that one coming. She was truly dense when it came to Stone.

She lay back in the snow and sighed. Stone stared down at her. His eyes dipped to her lips then came back up to meet her gaze. Heat pooled in her stomach, and she held her breath. Suddenly, he lowered his head, and his mouth connected with hers. The cold snow underneath her couldn’t counteract the warmth Stone aroused inside of her. Abi wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. His lips were warm and tasted like sunshine and mint. Joy exploded in her chest. Stone was kissing her, and they weren’t stuck in a cave. It felt like fireworks were going off, and her nerves were on high alert, especially the overly sensitive ones in her lips. He tasted and felt tremendously fabulous.

Stone abruptly pulled away and looked at her with such remorse in his eyes she wanted to punch him in the gut and then have a good cry. “Abi, I’m sorry. I’ve thought about kissing you far too much. Now I’m crossing boundaries again.”

Why was he so stinking worried about boundaries? They’d set the dumb boundaries in junior high school. A world of hurt and life had happened since then. Forget the boundaries! She’d learned to tread carefully with Stone, so instead of telling him where he could shove his boundaries, she asked, “Do you like kissing me?”

His eyes widened. “Do you like breathing?”

She giggled, thinking she’d never heard a better response. “Yes, yes, I do.”

He studied her as he took one glove off and traced his warm fingers along her cheek until he was cupping her chin. Abi held her breath, terrified he was going to pull away again but loving the way he was looking at her. “I love kissing you,” he whispered. Then he lowered his head and was kissing her again, and she was completely lost in the passion and joy of it all.

“Whoa!” The voice came from above them before zooming by. “Make-out session.”

They broke apart. Abi laughed, but Stone’s eyes went serious again.

“Stone,” she said warningly.

“Abi,” he replied. At least, he smiled.

“Don’t overthink everything. You say I talk too much, but you think too much.”

Stone just stared at her, big surprise. He pushed off of her and stood, offering her a hand up. Abi stood on her skis and held onto his hand. Even though she still had her glove on, she liked the connection.

“You’re so worried about boundaries,” she said quickly before she wussed out or he said something to ruin the fire they’d just reignited. “Can we just be us, with some kissing thrown in for a little while, then talk about it again when you’re more comfortable?”

“Did a woman seriously just ask a man to be friends with benefits?” Stone smirked at her, his eyes a lighter blue and teasing.

“No!” She slugged his shoulder with her free hand, not doing any damage with her glove on and his coat padding his shoulder. “Can I say something serious, and can you not run away or clam up?”

He looked at her for half a beat before nodding.

Abi screwed up all her courage. She shouldn’t be so nervous saying this to her best friend, but they were finally crossing boundaries, and oh, how she wanted to keep crossing them. “I want to be with you, like be a couple. Why don’t we slow it down and look at it this way—If you and I didn’t know each other and were just starting dating, we wouldn’t have a DTR because we kissed.”

“DTR?” His brow wrinkled. It was adorable.

“Define the relationship talk.”

“Oh.” He paused. “So you do want to date me?”

“Yes, you thick-skulled man.” She’d wanted to date him since puberty.

He bent down and picked up his glove, tugging it back on. Abi waited, dying in the suspense. Stone swallowed and looked at a nearby copse of pine trees. “What if I can’t guarantee that I’ll ever be ready for a relationship?”

Her heart seemed to sink at the realization that there was a high probability he never would be ready, but at least, he was talking. Not just shutting her down and giving her no hope at all.

“I think you’ve underestimated how persuasive I can be.” She tilted her head and winked.

Stone laughed, focusing in on her again, his eyes more blue than gray right now. “No, I don’t think I would ever underestimate you.”

“So we’re agreed?” Abi pushed her advantage.

“On what?”

She blew out an exasperated breath, fear of losing him making it hard to pull in another one. “Seriously? How thick are you?”

He wrapped his arms around her and smiled. “Pretty thick.”

Abi’s breath shortened, and she wondered if every one of her dreams had just come true. “I’m not talking about the size of your biceps.”

He chuckled again. “Let me get this all straight in my head because I’m … thick.” He leaned closer. She was tempted to knock him over into the snow and take advantage of those beautiful lips. “You want to date me, and you won’t pin me down to talking until I’m ready.”

“I’ll pin you down when I’m good and ready.”

He arched an eyebrow. “I like the sound of that.” He pulled her in and kissed her.

Abi was shocked at Stone’s flirtatiousness and initiation of kissing, but she didn’t waste time thinking about it. Flinging her arms around his neck, she returned the kiss and then some.

When Abi was lightheaded from lack of oxygen and overuse of her lips’ pleasure receptors, he pulled away. “We really need to stop kissing in full snow regalia,” she murmured, sneaking one more taste of his lips.

Stone’s cheek crinkled. With the way his blue eyes were warming her up from the inside, she wanted to kiss him again, snow clothes or not. “For our first date tonight, you want to sneak into the Grand Summit Hotel swimming pool?”

Abi’s head was swimming from being in his arms and the joy of possibility they’d initiated today, but she still had enough presence of mind to tease him. “That’s a teenage date.”

“I feel like a teenager around you, not using my brain and much too smitten by a certain dark-haired beauty.”

“Ah, you big old sweetie. I didn’t know you had it in you.” She winked and blew him a kiss. “I’m in.”

He laughed and released her. “Don’t tell Jeremy about me being sweet.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” She skied off down the hill. He was at her side quickly, and they cut back and forth down the mountain and through the trees. She loved the sun glistening off the groomed snow and the whoosh of wind against her cheeks, but most of all, she loved the man by her side.