The Dark Ice Chronicles - The Magi

Chapter 19 - Could Be A Winner, Boy, You Move Quite Well

...and, exactly as I hope, it doesn’t.

Evan stands on her tiptoes and pulls my head down to her level so she can start a kiss of her own. Her style, if I can call it that, is nothing like I expect. I guess I was expecting Evan to be soft, sweet, and gentle. Instead, she’s pretty unrefined, her teeth banging into mine more than a few times.

But I don’t care. Any kiss from Evan is better than no kiss at all. It helps that I’m feeling the same chill I get every time I hold her hand, but multiplied by a thousand, so it feels like Icy electricity.

I end up being the one to pull away again - it doesn’t take long before I’m out of breath.

“Wow,” Harris says. I turn around and see his mouth hanging wide open, just waiting for insects to fly in. And he’s not the only one. Everyone else in the room has adopted the same expression. Even Henley - although he’s got his hands over his eyes.

“Is it safe yet?” Henley asks.

“Don’t try and fool us,” Michelle says. “We all saw you sneakin’ peeks.”

“But yeah, it’s over,” Kevin says.

Henley uncovers his eyes. “Thank God.”

“Hey, why don’t these two take some Seven Minutes in Heaven?” Rachel suggests.

“Oh no,” Henley grumbles. “Not another girly game. What’s next, Spin The Bottle?”

“Yeah, doesn’t Spin the Bottle usually come before Seven Minutes In Heaven?” Michelle asks. “And nobody tell me I should know ‘cause I’m a girl.”

“Whatever,” Adele says. “And let’s make that Six Minutes, ‘cause I think they’ve already used up one.”

“I agree with your decision, fellow Game Mistress,” Rachel says.

“Thank you, cousin. But before he leaves, Jason needs to make a Truth or Dare request of his own.”

Everyone looks at me, and I look back at everyone before finally deciding who to ask. “Henley, truth or dare?”

Henley trembles in his seat. “Um...I don’t want a dare. Truth.”

“Okay then. Are you a natural blond, or do you bleach it?”

Henley reaches up to his hair. “How’d you guess?”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“Yes,” Henley says. “I’m not a natural blond. I just did it ‘cause my mom did it first.”

“Cool,” I say. “Now if you’ll excuse me…” I take Evan’s hand and lead her out of the main room, and down the hall. “Wait a minute,” I say when we’re far enough away from the main room that we can’t even hear the game anymore. “I’m lost. Where are we goin’ again?”

“I think this door leads outside,” Evan says, pointing to a door at the very end of the hall.

“You sure you wanna risk it?” I ask. “It’s hella cold, even for us Ices.”

“Just ‘cause we’re Ice doesn’t mean we can’t use our body heat to keep each other warm and cozy,” Evan laughs.

“All right, you got me.”

We go outside and sit on a white metal bench that’s been put up on the small concrete stoop. Outside the confines of the building, the wind is blowing, and the chill is deepening. But as long as we sit together, holding each other closely, neither of us really minds the weather.

We don’t really kiss, other than a couple of quick pecks on each other’s cheeks and noses. And, at one point, on my ear. We’re so close right now that we don’t really need the extra contact. Right here, right now, it’s perfect.