He flicked the end of my cherry nose, and my teeth chattered through my smile. “And you look like Rudolph.”
I crinkled my nose. “Don’t even think about throwing that in my face. I will make you wish you’d never saved me.” It was an empty threat, but, hey, a girl has got to stand up for herself. As usual, my mouth got me into trouble one way or another.
Not that I actually thought I could intimidate him, so of course I spun on my heels, squealing, and took off running—a pointless endeavor. I would never be able to escape Chase’s speed or accuracy. I knew it, and he knew it.
His dark laughter was infectious, even as I was under fire. I wasn’t just hit with one snowball. I was ambushed. He could make and throw them before I could recover from my fits of giggles. When the attack finally ceased, I looked like the abominable snowman.
He flashed me a charming smile. “Only you could look sexy covered in snow.”
I rolled my eyes, yet a ripple of pleasure raced through me—mine and his. He dropped a warm kiss on my lips, chasing the chill from my frozen limbs like embers.
Despite the cold, I was having a blast. I dropped flat on my back, fanning out my arms and legs. We might have gotten only three or four inches, but I was going to make the most of it. He wanted a snow angel, so I was going to give him the best darn snow angel.
He plunked down beside me. “You’re a natural.”
My smile shriveled and died on my lips. Whatever I had been about to say got stuck on my tongue as the front door slammed shut at my neighbors, followed by Travis strutting down the driveway. It was the first time I had seen him leave the house. Actually the first time I had seen him. He wasn’t talking to anyone. Not even me, but I had to try…
“Travis!” I called, sitting up and ruining my snow angel. “Travis!”
His purposeful strides led him away from me without even a flicker of acknowledgment. My shoulders sagged. I didn’t want to let his icy treatment get to me, but it did. Understandable was his anger—I couldn’t blame him for that—but his rejection still stung. I was worried. I missed my friend.
Travis was different. The way he acted. The way he looked. The way he walked. Everything about him was hardened and less carefree. He had always been the less scary one and easygoing. It was hard for me to wrap my head around his transformation.
“Don’t let it get to you,” Chase encouraged, feeling my disappointment. “Travis is being a sourpuss.”
I still hadn’t gotten used to Chase being able to sense my emotions, or that we could feed off each other. “You miss him, too,” I said, realizing I wasn’t the only one who was hurting.
Standing up, he dusted most of the snow off his jeans and stared in the direction that Travis had gone supersonic, leaving behind a trail of snowy footprints. “Every day.”
I imagined, before I came, the three of them zipping around in the snow, having epic snowball fights that would probably seriously injury a normal person. Sometimes I wondered if my moving here had been the best thing for either of us. Look how much I had already disrupted his life. I loved him fervently. I wasn’t sure what we had was healthy, but part of loving someone was wanting the very best for that person. Was I the best thing for Chase?
It didn’t really matter now, because we were tied in ways that were outside our control, and even if we could break those ties, I wasn’t sure that I would.
I was selfish with Chase’s affections.
There had to be a way to fix this, turn things back the way they used to be. Why hadn’t I been mutated with the ability to turn back time?
My mood took a turn south after that. Chase offered to make me dinner, his way of trying to cheer me up—food. Mom had gone out with Devin, which still grossed me out most days. Thoughts of her dating him made my stomach churn. Not that Devin wasn’t a catch in old people terms—it was just weird.
I had been waiting for the right time to bring up my plan about Emma, the one where I thought it was a good idea to compel her—erase her memories. There never seemed like a good time to tell him, especially when I was sure that Chase was going to go nuclear. But he had to see the benefits. Travis would probably be able to get Emma back. He wouldn’t be flipping out, going demon bonkers and doing God knows what. Chase wouldn’t have to go out after him, fight the raging demon that took possession of Travis nightly. Plus, it would get Emma off our backs.
Sounded like a win-win situation.
Chewing my lip, I jumped up on the kitchen counter, watching him dance between the stove and fridge. “Chase, I have the most superb idea.”
“Superb, huh? Why do I feel scared?” He set down an armful of ingredients, half of which I didn’t even know the names of. His hair was still damp and had a messy wave to it. Only Chase could look even hotter after romping in the snow all day.