Page 93 of Slashes in the Snow
“Feels good to get it all out?” I tuck some of her dark hair behind her ear.
“There’s way more.”
“Hmmm, I can think of a few ways to help you relieve some of that stress. I’ve been missing you these last few days.”
“Have you?” She tilts her face up to look at me.
“So much.” I drop my head and skim my lips across hers. “I’m here for you. Better or worse.”
“I know you are.” She regards me with warmth and love returning in her eyes. The way she’s looked at me for the last three years. The way it’s intended to be. “Now take me upstairs and fuck me slow, and make it mean something.” She reiterates what she said to me on our first date.
It makes me as hot and bothered now as it did then. We’re finally rekindling the embers that have been left smoking the last few days, and I couldn’t be more thankful for it.
Kristen, Ky, and Kira are my life. They’re my family and my reason to be.
Nothing is ever going to jeopardize that again.
I trap Kristen in my arms and plant a slow, hot, possessive kiss on her lips before I drag her upstairs.
If she wants it to mean something, it will.
I’m going to make it mean more than just something. I’m going to make it mean everything.
Ky
Ihold Kira’s hands up against mine as I watch my father drag Kristen from the kitchen. They look like they’re working things out. I don’t know Kristen well, but from what my father has told me about her, she’s very much like Kira, happy and loving and loyal, but lately some of those sentiments have been distant in this house.
“C’mon, Snow, just a short swim. We’ll stay in the shallow end.”
“I don't want to, Ky,” Kira fights me, squeezing my fingers with hers. “You’re never going to get over your fear if you don’t try.” Kira hasn’t gone near the water since we’ve been home. Even showers have been difficult for her.
She glances down at the crystal blue H2O and shivers. “I’m not ready.”
“What if I gave you a little incentive?” I bait her.
“What kind of incentive?” She raises an eyebrow.
“Not that kind of incentive. Not yet anyway.” I lick my lips salaciously. Kira rolls her eyes, and it’s comforting to see her sense of humor retuning little by little. For a minute there, it was touch and go. When she finally broke down, there was a moment when we thought more professional accommodations were needed – i.e., twenty-four-hour observation in an institution — but luckily Kira persevered. She’s been seeing her psychologist daily, and I think it’s really helping. Her therapist gave her a journal to write in, too, to jot her feelings down so she can pinpoint the triggers, but all she keeps writing is “tears may have fallen, but strength has risen.” She says the saying soothes her, so far be it for me to interfere in her healing process. I’m just here, for whatever she needs. Hopefully for life.
Letting go of one of her hands, I pull something out of the pocket of my shorts and hold it up.
Kira stares at it. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yup. An engagement ring.” The jeweler called it a Stargazer ring because of the “stardust” like diamonds on each side of the square center stone. I just liked it because it screamed Kira — elegant, delicate, and feminine. It made a statement, just like she does.
“Don’t you think it’s a little fast to get engaged?”
“No,” I state matter-of-factly. “Our parents got married after three months.”
“They’re a special case.”
“And we’re not?” I argue.
“You have a point.”
“It doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m not officially proposing.”
“You’re not?”
