His tone carried no room for arguing. Stopping by the table, he said his goodbyes to a pouty Sexy Sasha and then we headed to the door. A whole group of big dudes were doing the evil-glare-thing from the corner, Zach among them, but Kyler didn’t notice. And the evil-glare-thing from a group of big dudes born and raised in West “by golly” Virginia could be a pretty frightful thing. Brought up images of long and dark backwoods and graves in hastily covered ditches.
Shuddering, I realized I was freaking myself out.
As soon as we stepped outside, harsh wind smacked me in the face. I gasped. “Holy crap, it’s cold as balls out here!”
“Balls are not cold, Syd. Trust me,” said Kyler. “Didn’t I say you should wear a coat?”
“Bah!” I pulled free and started stomping through the fresh snow that had fallen since we’d gone in. It was only a couple of inches, but I was kicking it up everywhere. “We should have driven down here.”
“You wanted to walk.” He pulled his hoodie over his head and off. “Here—put this on.”
I shook my head and started down the hill, but Kyler sighed as he stepped in front of me, his jaw set in a determined line. “Lift your arms.”
“What if I say no?”
His lips twitched as he held his hoodie out. “I’ll hold you down and dress you.”
That kind of sounded like it would be fun. Actually, Kyler holding me down and undressing me sounded even better. I sighed, completely lost in the fantasy. We could be like snow bunnies getting it on.
Kyler stepped closer, tipping his chin down. “What are you thinking about?”
“Snow bunnies,” I replied.
He let out a deep laugh. “Come on, lift your arms and tell me why you drank so much. Please?”
“Since you said please…” I lifted my arms and felt him step forward. He slipped the opening over my head and then moved onto the arms. “I just wanted to have fun.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” He got my left arm into the sleeve and then he started working on the right arm, his brows furrowed in concentration. “But you’ve had fun before without drinking so much.”
“So?” I balled my fist, and he sighed, trying to work the sleeve around it. I giggled as I straightened out my hand. “What’s the big deal?”
“There isn’t one.” He tugged the hoodie down and it swamped me, ending just above my knees. “There you go.”
When I looked up, he’d stepped back and he had this strange look on his face—like approval. “Aren’t you cold?” I asked.
He shrugged, stretching the material of the black thermal he’d had on under the hoodie. “I’ll be fine.”
I opened my mouth to say okay, but something totally different came out. “I don’t want to be boring anymore.”
“What? Shit.” Kyler thrust his fingers through his hair. “Baby, you’re not boring.”
“Yes. I am.”
His eyes pinched at the corners. “Sydney, you are so far from that. I shouldn’t have said that shit in the car. You’re perfect—”
“Just the way I am?” I finished for him. “Isn’t that from Bridget Jones?”
“Maybe.” One side of his lips tipped up.
“You are such a vagina.”
Kyler nudged me. “But seriously, Syd—”
“I don’t want to talk.” I was suddenly about a million times uncomfortable. Walking again, I heard him keep pace with me a few steps behind. “Talk. Talk. Talk,” I muttered.
Snow kept falling in a steady light shower that coated my head and shoulders. I had an urge to tip my head back and catch snowflakes on my tongue, but I ended up throwing my arms out, tipping my head back, and belting out, “If you want a woman with a tight little kitty, then find one with itty bitty titties!”
Kyler got an arm around my waist, laughing. “God, you are so trashed.”
“You haven’t heard of the song.” I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around his waist, but my grip ended up around his thighs. Odd. “It’s by Haven Palen Pole.”