“I’m perfect.” He squeezes me closer.
Remembering the other times we were in this exact position, those unwanted butterflies make an appearance low in my belly. His hand swipes my hair behind my face, and I’m so damn tempted to lean down and kiss his cold lips. Suddenly, he flips us over, so my back is to the ground, and before I know it, freezing snow is shoved down my pants.
“You son of a bitch!” I screech as he bolts up and runs away.
“You heard my brother… all’s fair.”
I don’t know about the love part, but the war is on.
CHAPTER4
JACKSON
The girls may have won the snowman-building contest, but we definitely won the snowball fight. Lindsey, Kasey, and Abigail trudge up the stairs to the house, their cheeks rosy from the cold and hair sticking to their heads from the melted snow they were pummeled with.
“I’m going to go soak in a hot bath while you guys make dinner,” Abigail declares as she makes her way up the stairs.
That was the deal we made at the end of our epic battle. The guys would cook dinner if the girls stopped trying to shove snow down our pants. All of us agreed we would rather not get frostbite on body parts we planned to need later… I hope. I saw the way Abigail looked at me when we were on the ground. I would have done something about it, but I need her to come to me—thenwithme.
We all decide it’s probably a good idea to take our wet, messy selves upstairs to take showers and get ready for dinner. Donovan is already prepping the steaks when I walk into the kitchen, with Aidan trailing behind me.
“Ah, good choice. My girl enjoys her meat.” Donovan and I chuckle at Aidan’s accidental innuendo, and Aiden looks at us with confusion in his eyes. “A bunch of bloody wankers you two are,” he drawls when he catches on to what we’re snickering about.
“Hey, I wasn’t the one talking about my girl and her meat,” I retort.
“What are you boys giggling about?” Kasey asks as she wanders into the kitchen.
“Nothing, Beautiful. Why don’t you grab the potatoes and wash them for me?” Donovan says.
“Oh, I would, but…” Kasey looks at him as she grabs a wine glass and an unopened bottle of wine. “The deal for our surrender was you guys would make dinner, and we get to relax.” She blows my brother a kiss, grabs the wine opener, and makes her way into the living room just as Lindsey and Abigail come down the stairs.
“Ladies, I grabbed us a bottle,” Kasey calls. “The boys are going to be busy making dinner while we’re busy drinking this fantastic wine.”
“Another one of my favorites.” Abigail eyes the bottle Kasey is opening.
I turn around with a small smile tipping up the corners of my mouth. Knowing it was one of her favorites, I stocked it the last time I was here. My brother notices my smile and looks at me questioningly.
“That’s not a label Mom usually stocks here, is it?” Donovan asks.
“I don’t know. Maybe she’s broadening her taste in wine.” I try to pretend like I had nothing to do with it and that his suspicion isn’t warranted. He scrutinizes me a bit longer, then shakes his head and points to the potatoes on the counter.
“If you’re going to stand there and spout some bullshit, you can do it while you’re peeling potatoes.”
“Sure thing, brother.”
This whole pretending for Abigail’s benefit is getting harder and harder around my nosy brother and reporter friends.
Dinner is delicious, as usual when my brother is the one cooking, and we’re all stuffed as we make our way into the living room. Exhausted from playing in the snow, none of us can muster the energy to get out a deck of cards and play a round like we did last night. We’re all content to stare into the fire and unwind.
“I’m beat. I think I’m going to head up to bed to relax,” Abigail announces on a yawn. Standing, she grabs her wine glass and makes her way to the stairs. “Good night, love muffins,” she calls as she heads up to her room.
“I think Abigail has the right idea.” Kasey looks at Donovan, then bends and gives him a light kiss on the lips. “Don’t be long,” she tells him before retreating up to their room. Lindsey heads up as well, and it’s just the three of us left.
“Jackson, want to tell the class what the hell is going on with you and Abigail?” Donovan turns his attention to me as soon as the girls leave.
Aiden raises his eyebrows, interested in my explanation as well.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say, trying to deflect his question.