Yes, friends, I have woken up from a nap during which my head rested on Adam Iberico's chest.
What the ever-loving hell has my life become?
The last thing I remember is arguing for thirty-five minutes over what to watch. Carter, sick of hearing our bickering, finally came out and chose a movie for us. I had never seen it before and therefore had no fun film facts to contribute. I remember the title screen of the movie, grabbing the blanket Adam had slept with last night, and a few lines of dialogue about a treasure and American history. Everything that transpired after that is a mystery to me.
I lift my head off Adam's chest, careful not to wake him, and roll my neck a few times until my bones make a disgusting and wonderful crunching noise. It's the sound of late nights bent over a dress pattern, hours spent ripping seams on wedding gowns at work, and apparently it's the sound of falling asleep on a Peruvian-American baker's chest.
I reach for my phone that's laying on the coffee table, happy to find that Grant finally texted me.
"u ok u never came back last nite" - Sent at 11:47 a.m.
I fight the groan rising in my throat. Dude, you are twenty-four years old. Please learn some basic punctuation. And, come on, the boy has a smart phone. He has literally no excuse to not type out full words. He even has his phone autocorrecting everything to lower case meaning that he has managed to make his phone dumber.
I set my phone back down. It took Grant this long to text to make sure I hadn't become a human popsicle out in the snow, he can wait a little longer to find out that I'm warm and toasty and, from the way things look, sharing a blanket with Adam Iberico.
I lean over the back of the couch to peer out the window. There are still snow flurries blowing around outside but I think the worst of the snowstorm is over. The street in front of Adam and Carter's apartment is pristine; not one tire track has sullied the seventeen inches of snow. I take a deep breath and smile at the winter wonderland outside. It's annoying, yes, but it's also beautiful. Everything is quiet and peaceful and, even though I'm inside, I just know it smells amazing out there right now.
"How long was I out for?" Adam asks, his voice groggy. I look over at him and can't help but chuckle. His glasses are askew from where he fell asleep in them and, when he runs a hand through his hair, curly strands stick out in every direction.
"About four hours?" I guess. "I fell asleep too."
"You know, when Florida gets hit with hurricane warnings, they have these huge parties inside their boarded-up houses. When we have a snowstorm, we take naps on the couch."
"Yes, but Florida has alligators. I'd rather take naps than have to deal with an alligator in my backyard."
"Fair point," he says as he comes to a sitting position. He takes a glance outside. "Looks like you're stuck with us for another night."
"Afraid so. Sorry."
He waves a hand. "Don't be. I don't want you to risk life and limb getting out of here because you feel like you're in the way."
I don't know why, but this damn near brings tears to my eyes. I think I've been cooped up too long.
"Have the lovebirds come out yet?" he asks, nodding at Carter's closed bedroom door.
"Not that I've seen," I say. "But, you know, we could get them outside and have a friendly snowball fight."
"Because nothing says romance like pelting the one you love with snow."
I roll my eyes. "No, we'll be on teams. Us verses them. And, once Carter defends his lady love, we'll all come up here and you'll make snow cream for us."
"How much of this is you wanting to help Rachel and Carter and how much of it is you wanting to get hopped up on snow cream?"
I grin. "Honestly? Fifty-fifty."
Adam matches my smile. "Fine. Go rally the troops."
***
"You look ridiculous," Rachel tells me as we walk down the stairs. I want to protest but I can't argue with the facts. Since all I have clothes-wise at Adam's is a sweater, skirt, and leggings, I've had to borrow some clothes in order to face the elements. Namely, sweatpants with a superhero I've never heard of shoved into my boots, a grass green hoodie with Hulk eyes across my chest, and a toboggan that looks like Captain America's shield. Thankfully, I have my own boots and gloves; I'm terrified to know just how far Adam's comic book love stretches. I have a sneaking suspicion that if I dug in his closet, I would find a Thor costume from a comic book convention, complete with patent leather boots and matching gloves.
"And you look fresh off the runway," I say to Rachel, who is decked out in Carter's pajamas and is wearing his most prized beanie from The Chive.
"I still don't like this," Carter says, pulling up the rear. "I know how competitive Adam is and, Evie, you aren't exactly easygoing."
"Are you scared, Carter?" Adam asks in a mocking baby voice.
"I can't wait to knock those hipster glasses off your face," Carter mutters as we walk outside. A chilly breeze blows past us. "Sweet Jesus. You know what? You two win. I'm going back inside."
"It's not that cold," Adam says, but I can hear his voice shake and his glasses have gone foggy.
I clap my gloved hands and do my best to bring back some of our energy. "All right, let's get this started. This is a snowball fight. Street rules apply."
"Says the white girl," Carter says just as Rachel asks, "What are the street rules?"
"Don't aim for the face?" I guess. Everyone else nods in agreement. "All right. Scatter!"
I grab Adam's hand and drag him behind my car. With no traffic, we've taken over what was, just an hour ago, a pristine snowy street. Now, it's covered in long, sweeping footprints. I start crafting snowballs from the snow on my car so that I'm cleaning off my car while also building us an arsenal. Two birds, one stone.
"I regret this decision," Adam says next to me. I pull him down to me quickly so that he avoids getting hit by a snowball. His face is so close to mine that I can't help but gulp. His cheeks are already red from the cold. "Thanks."
"No problem," I say and release him just as quickly as I had grabbed him.
"I didn't realize Carter's aim was that good."
"That was me, you sexist asshole!" Rachel shouts from an unknown location.
Shit. I forgot that Rachel played softball in high school. We're dead meat.
"I'm not sexist!" Adam shouts back.
"He's just an asshole," I add with a laugh. I turn to Adam's less-than-amused face. "Sorry. It was an easy shot."
"An easy shot, huh? You know what else is an easy shot?" he asks as a smile that can only be called suggestive spreads across his face. He raises his arm, a snowball in his hand, and aims it directly at me.
"We're on the same team. This is mutiny," I shout as I take a step back. I laugh as Adam wriggles his eyebrows, and I take off in a run. Or the closest thing I can get to a run when there's snow up to my knees. "Every man for himself!"
I'm able to hit Rachel with one snowball, and only miss Carter by a few inches as I dart past him. Adam, though, Adam manages to stay one step ahead of me. Every snowball I whip at him, he manages to slide out of the way just in time. When I see him slip behind the apartment building, I run down the other side of it, planning to finally nail him in the alley.
I stop a few feet before the corner of the building and wait for my breathing to level out, not wanting to give myself away. I watch the ground for Adam's shadow and listen for his breathing, but I see and hear nothing. I scoot closer and dare to peek around the corner only to see … nothing. Nothing but a fire escape and a few trash cans.
"Looking for someone?"
I do my best to spin around in the snow to find Adam standing behind me, a snowball in his hand.
"You are way too sneaky," I say, my breath catching in my chest as the cold causes my lungs to ache.
He looks down at the snowball in my hand. "Want to call it a truce?"
"Yeah, hell no," I say as I wrap my arms around his neck in an attempt to get the snowball down the back of his shirt. We're both laughing as he tries to get a snowball down my shirt and we both end on the ground with more snow in our shirts (and pants) than we could have inflicted on each other. Our legs are intertwined and we're both too winded to move.
"I'm so cold. This is how we're going to die," I say as my backside turns to ice.
"This was your idea," Adam reminds me. "Hey, look up."
I do as he says and stare at the sky. It's already getting dark outside, and the sky is a pale gray. The clouds sit still and I wouldn't be surprised if it started snowing again.
"That's my favorite sky," he says, and his words warm me a little.
"It's a nice sky," I reply.
We remain silent as we lie in the freezing snow and stare at the sky. You know, when we're not speaking to one another, Adam and I get along quite well. But the silence can't last forever.
"We should spend tonight helping Rachel and Carter with wedding stuff. Dates, venues, caterers … "