With Tom deep in thought, I bent down and quickly scooped up a handful of snow. Shaping it into a rough ball shape, I glanced up to find him glaring at me.
“Don’t you da—”
It was as far as he got before my snowball hit him on the cheek. I gave myself a couple of seconds to enjoy his indignant squawk and then hightailed it along the path. I got about halfway to the hotel when he nailed me in the back of the head. Snow fell down the back of my coat and under my top.
“You fucker!” I grinned at him over my shoulder, only to get another one right in the eye. “Dick,” I hissed, wiping at my eye, and walking backwards as I saw him readying another. “I threw one snowball. One.”
“Yeah, but you should know better than to start this with me.” His grin turned feral and he stalked towards me, snowball at the ready, and a laugh burst out of me.
How did I ever think I could cut him out of my life?
I’d missed him so fucking much.
“Truce?” I edged towards the car park, knowing full well he’d never go for it.
“I don’t think so.” He raised his arm to throw and I darted behind the nearest parked car, skidding as I tried to stop behind it and ending up on my arse.
Tom’s laughter rang out in the quiet surrounding us, and I cursed under my breath as the cold damp seeped into my jeans. Quickly scooping snow into a ball, I waited until I heard his footsteps crunching towards me, then shot up and launched it at his face.
Of course it missed by a mile, and before I could ready another, Tom barrelled into me, sending us both crashing to the ground.
We landed with an oomph, took a second to catch our breath, then it was a mad scramble to see who could shove the most snow down who’s coat. Between laughter and muttered curses, we rolled about on the snow until both of us were soaked and I realised I could no longer feel my fingers.
“Okay, okay, enough!” I grabbed at his hands as he tried to shove more snow down my back.
“I win.” He smiled so smugly I had no choice but to rub a huge handful of snow in his face. His look of outrage was so worth the retaliation.
“You’re so going to pay for that, Matthews.” I was laughing too hard to put up much of a fight, and Tom had me pinned on my back in seconds. He looked down at me, eyes alight with amusement. “Now what you gonna do?”
I bucked my hips to try and throw him off, but since he was straddling me, all I succeeded in doing was rubbing up against his arse.
We both froze.
I licked my lips, and he watched the movement with a hunger that made my heart race. “Tom?”
He swallowed, gaze drifting up to meet mine. “Yeah?” He leant forward as if drawn by an invisible string, and I lay there waiting, pulse thundering in my ears.
Are we really going to do this?
I didn’t voice it aloud, not wanting to break whatever spell we were both under.
He was so close his breath ghosted over my lips.
Fuck this.
I couldn’t have him so close and not touch him. If he didn’t want this, then he had to be the one to move away. Sliding icy fingers into his hair, I tugged him forward.
Warm lips covered mine, and I closed my eyes, sinking into a kiss that seemed both familiar and brand new. He tasted faintly of strawberries, from the dessert we’d eaten, and I chased it with my tongue. The last time we’d done this we’d been a little worse for wear, drunk enough to throw caution to the wind.
We weren’t drunk now, and as much as I didn’t want to stop, we needed to have that talk. Pulling back, I met his gaze, but Tom beat me to it.
“I know.”
“What? I didn’t say anything.”
“But you have that look.” He smiled down at me, tracing a finger over my cheek. “The one that means you have to do something that you don’t want to but know you should. And you’re right. As much as I like where this is going, we need to talk. Inside?” He raised an eyebrow and I nodded.
“Yeah.”
He pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand for me. Slotting my fingers into his felt like the most natural thing in the world. I kept hold of his hand after I was upright.
“I made a mistake,” he began as we walked towards the doors of the Premier Inn. “I shouldn’t have sent that text. It hurt you, and I’m sorry.”
I sighed and gave his fingers a squeeze, knowing full well most of this was my fault. “I shouldn’t have ignored you like I did. You didn’t deserve that treatment. I was being a petty arsehole. I’m so sorry I cut you out like that.”
He was quiet for a moment, and then, voice soft, he said. “It was the worst four months, Jared. Please never do that again.”
“I won’t.” Whatever happened next between us, I knew I’d never behave like that again. I couldn’t think about it without feeling guilty and a little ashamed. “I promise.”
Once inside, we stamped snow off our shoes and headed for our room. Tom got his key card out, then hesitated. He looked over his shoulder, bottom lip caught between his teeth. “We doing this?”
I nodded. I knew what he was asking, and any doubts I’d had vanished as soon as he said the words. “Yeah. We are.”
He slid the card in and opened the door.
I hurried in after him and found myself pushed up against the wall as the door clicked shut. “We done talking?” I’d thought we needed to discuss what happened, but did we really? The past was the past. As long as we were on the same page now, what did it matter?
He had his hands either side of my head, only an inch of space between us. “Anything else you want to discuss?”
“No.”
“Good. Me neither.”
And then he kissed me, hard. Nothing like the soft kisses we’d shared out in the car park. This one told me he meant business, and I was so on board with that. Except now we were in the warmth, my jeans were uncomfortably damp, the wetness seeping through to my underwear. Tom’s had to be the same. With my hands on his chest, I gently eased him back a touch.
At his questioning look, I said, “I really need to get out of these wet clothes.”
He leant in for a quick kiss, then reached for the button on my jeans. “That’s a great idea.”
Taking skinny jeans off is a chore at the best of times, but wet ones were their own special challenge. I fell back on the bed laughing as Tom tried to tug them off my legs.
“It’s like they’re superglued on,” he growled, pulling harder.
With one last yank, they peeled off over my feet, and Tom held them aloft with a triumphant grin. “Fucking finally!”
I shimmied out of my wet boxer briefs, watching Tom as he got naked. I’d seen him sans clothes countless times, but I’d never taken the time to actually look before. He was lean, even though he ate like a horse. A flat belly, courtesy of genetics rather than a workout regimen, and lovely wide shoulders. I found the whole package sexy as fuck.
Leaving his clothes strewn all over the floor, Tom bounced onto the bed next to me, his smile turning soft as he faced me. “You sure about this?” The uncertainty in his eyes stopped me from making a smart-arse reply.
“Yeah.” Cupping his jaw, I ran my fingers over the stubble, loving the way it tickled my skin. It might be new and a little weird to be lying there naked with my best friend. But the one thing I was sure of was that it felt right. “You?”