Christmas Kisses Read Online Free PDF Page B

quickly, like she knows something I don’t. I march outside with my bare arms and tiny dress. Ryan comes up behind me and puts his jacket over my shoulders. “ Ry , it’s too cold. Really, I’m fine. Keep it.” I turn to give it to him, but he walks past me, ignoring my outstretched arm. “Don’t make me drop it,” I warn.
    He looks back over his shoulder at me holding his leather jacket over a puddle of icy goop. Black stuff bubbles a t the surface like it’s a witch’ s brew. “You will sorely regret that. I wouldn’t do it if I were you.”
    I laugh, “Or you’ll what?” What could he possibly do? I shouldn’t have asked.
    Wi t h out warning, Ryan turns and snatches my wrist. He pulls and I’m about to slam into him, but he bends at the knee , and grabs my waist with his other hand. Within seconds, I’m hoisted over his shoulder kicking and screaming.
    Ryan laughs, and walks us to the car. My hands tangle in his hair, half clinging to him, half trying to climb down. The frigid air is blowing my skirt over my head and the people in the diner are getting a really good show. “Here we are,” he says and slides me down between him and the car.
    I shove the jacket at him, and pound my fists into his chest. “Never do that to me again!” I continue to pound his chest and scold him, but when his fingers wrapped around my wrists, all the venom drains out of me.
    I like his touch too much . I like it when he acts like I’m his to do with as he pleases. It makes my skin grow hot and the pit of my stomach twist . The proximity of his body is too close. I can feel the heat coming off of him. H is scent fills my head.
    I calm down and Ryan still holds my wrists. He tightens his grip slightly, and leans closer, crushing his jacket between us. His dark lashes lower as he studies my lips, drinking them in like they’re hypnotic. Parting his lips, he breathes through his mouth. My heart feels like it’s going to burst. I can’t sta nd how he lingers so close , like he could kiss me, but he cho o ses not to. I shiver and he presses his body against mine, pinning me.
    He finally moves toward my lips and do d ges sideways at the last second and whispers in my ear, “Better get going.” Then his hands are gone. His coat is gone. Ryan is gone. He walks to the other side of the car and gets in.
    I stand there with my heart pounding like I’ve been attacked by a bear. I try to shake it off, but he’s gotten to me much worse than before. If I ge t home without hav ing sex with him, someone needs to give me a fricki n ’ medal. I suck in the icy air and held it in my lungs. Exhaling loudly, I sit down in my car and turn the engine over.
    _ ____ _
     
    The heater starts slowly and eventually I stop shivering. Ryan doesn’t offer his jacket again. As I head toward the parkway, I notice flashing yellow signs. They illuminate the night, flashing, PKWY CLOSED. It take s me a second to realize we have a problem. While we were in the diner, the storm worsened. It laid down a sheet of ice, followed by more snow. The streets are slick, but as long as a plow gets through them, so can we. The problem seems to be a general lack of plows.
    I say as much to Ryan, “Where are the plows? And why is the parkway closed?” I glance over my shoulder and slowly move my boat of a car into a parking lot. I’m trying to remember, but I can’t. My maps of Long Island and Texas merged. I can’t remember if 231 merges with Southern State or if that’s Loop 820 that merges with 30. “I can’t remember how to get out of here. We can get home on the L.I.E. or try to cut across to Sunrise, but the roads suck.”
    “You can’t get to Sunrise from here, and the roads that you’d need to connect to are going to be closed too. It’s the ice. The plows aren’t out yet, because they’ re expecting more ice.”
    “Don’t they salt and sand?”
    “Yeah, but not now. It’s late and the storm just started. They’ll do it in the morning