Christmas in Virginia. She looked out of the window, bemused. Snow wasn't supposed to happen here. She sighed and buttoned her coat to the top. She'd have to walk now. Her car was spectacularly bad on snow. Fortunately, her home town was so small, just about everything was within walking distance.
So she walked, head down against the snow, hands stuffed in her pockets. This Christmas Eve gathering of a bunch of her old friends had the potential to be very weird. She tried not to think about the fact that he would be there, her dear friend and unrequited love. She tried very hard not to think about the fact that she would be in his house.
Most of her qualms were forgotten in the joyous reunion once she got there. Six months and more had passed since most of them had seen each other. She only had to get past that little hesitation when he walked over to hug her. Her internal awkwardness. She suddenly realized that the months gone by had eroded her defenses against him, and she resolved to stay as far away from him as possible during the evening.
She did fairly well, laughing and joking with her other friends, moving unobtrusively away when he got too close. Until she became too warm and decided to take off her sweater. Suddenly, he was there beside her, his hands around her waist, almost encircling her.
"Have you always been this thin?" he asked quietly.
That was when she made her mistake. She looked up, into his eyes. Those gorgeous, bewitching eyes, as green as the tree that stood in the corner. She felt her reserve and her resolve shatter. More than that, she felt a wave of almost overwhelming desire wash over her. She didn't want his hands around her waist. She wanted them sliding up under her shirt, to cup the breasts that hung free, to play with the nipples that were already hardening under his gaze. Right here, in front of everyone. She wanted to fuck him with abandon that moment, never mind that they would have an audience.
She closed her eyes and shook her head slightly. This would never do. Instead of stepping closer to him, as she so wanted to do, she pulled away. "Yes. In fact. I have." She tried to make herself sound - and feel - like the ice princess she needed to be. She couldn't quite decipher the expression in his eyes as she moved away, but she thought he seemed...disappointed. Could that be possible? She'd always thought he held no feelings for her beyond friendship. A very close friendship, true, but nothing more.
She began her maneuvers again, trying to stay away from him while still talking to as many of her friends as possible. Again, she was successful for a time. Then...the party games started. And somehow, the two of them wound up as partners. She tried to be annoyed, but found she couldn't. It was too comfortable, sitting there next to him, thighs touching, working seamlessly together again.
Halfway through a game of charades, he put his hand on her leg and smiled. "It's like we're reading each other's minds."
She tried to ignore the thrill of desire that went through her. Mentally, she worked through several things to reply, then finally decided to say what she really wanted to say, for once. "We've always been able to do that, though, haven't we?"
His smile broadened and his hand tightened on her thigh. "Yeah. I've always loved that about us."
Her concentration was shattered. She completely lost track of what they were doing in the game. His smile was amused, tolerant, not annoyed, as their score slipped from the highest to, well...not so high. She tried to get her attention back on the game, but she was far too aware of him, of his warm musky scent, of all the things she wanted him to do to her, consequences be damned.
She suddenly became aware that the party was breaking up. He stood to begin ushering people out the front door, but she remained seated, feeling chilled without his body next to hers. She didn't want to leave. Didn't want to go back out into that absurd White Christmas snow. Most of all, didn't want to abandon this opportunity. But she still felt unsure, fearful. What if he was just being friendly? She wasn't sure she could handle rejection from him, especially not at this most happy of seasons.
With a sigh, she pushed herself up from the couch and looked around for her discarded sweater. And then he was there, hands encircling her waist once more.
"Just where do you think you're going?"
She ran her hands through her hair, nervous. "I...don't quite know. But I thought probably I should leave, too."
