13 Flames | gxg

67 - SLEDDING

Lexa

The festival kicks off with the performance of a local band playing Christmas songs. Apparently, Sleigh Ride is Palmer's favorite. Will manages to drag the two of us into the dancing crowd with him. His 'dancing' consists of jumping around while holding onto Palmer's hands. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Once the short concert concludes, Christmas music plays through the speakers around the town square. Palmer leads me around with Chloe and Nick, showing me every booth and activity offered.

We stop at a ring toss booth and Nick fishes out a few dollars. Chloe groans. "Every. Year."

"This is the year! This is it!" Nick promises. The worker hands him the rings and it's clear they've met before. Small town. Nick successfully manages to miss all three shots. He pays another dollar and tries again. And fails.

Palmer is cracking up beside me. "Bro, you suck," she laughs.

Nick rolls his eyes. "Alright Drake, work your magic."

Palmer grins and drops my hand. She pulls a dollar from her pocket and exchanges it for three rings.

I give Chloe a questioning look. "Just watch," she whispers.

I stare in surprise as Palmer lands all three rings around the center bottle.

"Fuck you," Nick mutters under his breath.

"That's Lexa's job," Chloe responds, also having heard him.

"Guys!" I giggle. Palmer glares at her friends but fails to hide her smile. She pulls me closer by my elbow.

"What do you want?" she asks.

I look at the wall of prizes and pick out a red Santa hat. The worker hands it to me and I grin at Palmer. The quality is shit, but it's cute. I place it on Palmer's head and tug it over her ears. The pom-pom falls into her face and she hits it away.

Her eyes cross as she tries to look at the hat. "Really?"

"You're cute," I giggle. "What's next?"

Palmer readjusts the hat and takes my hand again, leading me away from the booth. "Sledding."

"YES!!!"

"LET'S GOOOO!!

Nick and Chloe run ahead of us, grabbing tubes from the small collection of them twenty feet away. A steep hill is before us, marking the edge of town. Kids and adults alike are tubing down the mountain, plenty more trudging to the top.

Will is already at the hill with Caitlyn and her husband Eli. He sees us coming and runs to meet us. "Aunt Palmer! Auntie Lexa!"

I stop in my tracks and turn to Palmer. "Did he just call me auntie?"

Palmer grins and pulls me along. "You're officially part of the family."

"Come on!" Will takes my other hand and drags me towards the tubes.

He hands one to Palmer and takes one himself, the tube as big as he is. "I wanna go with Lexa!"

Palmer puts a hand to her chest as if offended. "And not me?"

Will giggles. "I'll go with you next." I don't even have a chance to interject before Will drags me up the hill, each of us carrying one side of the tube. Palmer runs after us, shouting to wait up.

We finally make it to the top and I'm already breathing heavy. We put down the tube and I crawl inside. I hold onto the handles and Will sits in my lap. Palmer plops down beside us. "Race?" she offers.