Wicked Winters: A Collection of Winter Tales

by Lucy Smoke

  I looked out at the designated area and saw that two of the plots were taken, various decorations and accessories scattered on the snow waiting to be used. We had put out crates with old scarves, sticks for arms, jars of buttons, and odds and ends. Mostly donated things, but there were a few fun things if people searched.

  “Looks like they are having a great time,” I said as I turned back to them. I offered Christian one of the eggnogs and leaned in to whisper, “Pretend I said something secret, it’ll annoy Steph.”

  He smiled at me conspiratorially and whispered back, “You’re terrible, but okay.”

  “That other one better be for me sugar,” Steph interjected, hands on her hips.

  I turned to her and feigned indifference. “Well, sure if you want it, but I ordered you and James some flavored eggnogs in the theme cups. I thought maybe you could take his over to him. But if you really want this one, I guess I can just take James his.” I offered her my ordinary eggnog with a cute smile.

  “A flavored one? It better be hazelnut, missy, or I’ll be looking for a new best friend.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave me the look. You know the one, raised eyebrow, skeptical slant to the eye.

  “Well lucky for me, it is the hazelnut one,” I replied as sweetly as possible.

  The next thing I knew I had her arms wrapped around me. “This is why you are my best friend, always feeding my hazelnut addiction and being the best wing woman ever. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” And then she was gone.

  “Well then.” I felt a bit wind-blasted by the speed of her exit.

  “Well then, indeed.” Christian chuckled. “Steph is hilarious, playing up her Southern Belle cliché. She had me going up until about ten minutes ago. Apparently, my attempts at being polite in return were just too much and she cracked under the pressure. Once I realized what was going on, I played heavy on my hockey player status and acted like a dumb jock.”

  “Yeah she can be a real hoot. Seems like she likes you though,” I replied as I looked down and fiddled with my cup.

  Christian reached out and put a knuckle under my chin, tilting my head up. “Not as much as I like you.”

  I sucked in my breath. I really hoped that wasn’t a line. That I was the first girl he had used that on. But I doubted it.

  I attempted a small smile at him. “So want to build a snowman?”

  He let go of my chin to rub his hands together excitedly. “Yeah sure thing. So about my idea, it’s actually two snowmen, is that against the rules?”

  “As long as it all fits in our plot, we are good to go.”

  “Okay, why don’t you go pick a plot and I’ll grab a few supplies.” Christian quickly headed over to the crates and grabbed a few things.

  I wandered over the plots and randomly picked one three rows in that was still relatively close to the marquee so that we could help anyone out that came by. I stood there sipping on my eggnog while I watched Christian stuff a bunch of things in his pockets and grab two sticks.

  “So, what’s the plan?” I asked him as he approached.

  “A snowman building a snowman,” he replied with a big smile. I’d seen that done once a few years ago, and remembered how funny the fake snowman had looked.

  I let out a chuckle “That’s cute. I am sure the kids will love it.”

  “I hope so, I really like to win.” He flashed me a smile as he emptied his pockets onto the snow.

  Yeah, I bet you do.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket, but I ignored it. I was on a kind-of-date, everything else could wait.

  “Okay well, what would you like me to do?”

  “Well, we need a bit of soft snow, so want to go grab a couple of buckets? I already filled a few for everyone, and we can start there?” Christian replied.

  “Okay.” We both headed over to where Christian had filled a dozen or so tin pails with snow. I grabbed one and he grabbed two.

  “How’s everything going so far?” he inquired as he casually carried both of his pails. Me on the other hand, I struggled to stop it from slapping into my legs with every step. Sexiness was definitely losing the battle to practical. Regret, so much regret about these shoes. A sense of deja vu washed over me.

  “Good so far. When I left the ticket stall, we had let just under two hundred people in. Plenty of judges,” I replied with a smirk.

  “Excellent, the more the merrier.” He placed one of his pails on the ground by our plot and tipped the other one to empty its contents. “Okay, empty yours on top of this one, and I’ll make the base ball for the first snowman and you can do the torso.”

  “Got it.” I tipped my pail over and then knelt in the snow with Christian, both of us working on our balls. After a few minutes of squashing snow together, I had a ball a bit bigger than a soft ball.

  “How’s this?” I asked Christian.

  “You probably need to double that in size for the torso, ball size is really important. If they aren’t in proportion then it looks odd.” He responded while still concentrating on his ball.

  I snickered. Then, I chuckled. Then, I was full out ugly laughing almost smooshing my ball into my chest. Christian rescued my ball before I could kill it, which for some weird reason only made me laugh harder.

  He sat there staring at me quizzically for a few seconds, and when I finally calmed down a little, he just asked me, “What?”

  I gasped out between breaths, “Proportionate ball sizes.” And burst out laughing again. Okay, so I can be immature, sue me.

  I watched him through the tears in my eyes as he replayed what he’d said, a cute rosy hue touching his cheeks as he saw the double entendre in his words. “Okay, now I realize how dirty that was. I swear, I didn’t mean it that way.”

  Still giggling, I let him off the hook with a wave of my hand and an, “I know you didn’t.”

  However, that did set the tone for the rest of our snowman building. I would continuously ask him if my ball size was in the correct proportion to which he would good naturedly answer “Yes” or tell me to “Grow a bigger pair.” Christian had to keep ducking away every now and then to help people pick a plot and grab their supplies. Halfway through I had an idea and quickly got my phone out.

  “Selfie?” I asked Christian.

  “Sure,” he said and turned to face the camera so our perfect snowman was in the background.

  I aimed the camera having to adjust my hand several times to press the buttons right. How do girls do this all the time? Just as I was about to take the shot, Christian dumped a handful of snow on my head. After I chased him in my futile attempt at revenge, I gave up and pretended to sulk. When he got close enough I dumped the surprise snowball in my hand on his head. He cracked up laughing.

  By the time we were done, we had one perfect snowman with button eyes and mouth, a carrot nose, top hat and scarf, with two arms trying to hold up an incorrectly proportioned snowman who was determined to fall over. The whole thing was terribly cute.

  I stood there admiring our amazing entry into the competition, when I felt Christian come up and stand next to me; his arm pressed into my shoulder. I could feel the back of his wrist rubbing up against my mitten covered one.

  “Hayden, what was this?” he asked me.

  “A snowman building entry?” I offered, continuing to stare at our snowman; my heart started to gallop.

  “It was that, but what about you and me?” He hesitated for a second. “Was this a date?”

  This is it Hayden, get a kiss and encourage more and see what happens.

  I turned to face him. “That depends.” I smiled up at him. “Does it end with a kiss?”

  A slow smile spread across his face as he reached up with both hands and cradled my head. I stood up on tip toe, placing my hands on his chest; my eyelids fluttered closed as his face descended. Knowing it was going to happen, but then to actually feel his lips press into mine, his tongue snaking out to run along the seam of my lips, were two totally different things.

  I si
ghed a little, opening my mouth to his and letting his tongue move with mine. It was soft and sweet, and I could have paused time forever just to stay here, in this moment, right now.

  “Excuse me, could we get some help over here?” called out a man waiting with his children at the stall.

  Christian groaned as he stopped kissing me and pressed his forehead against mine. “I need to go help those people, and I’m guessing you need to go check on the other stalls?”

  I nodded in response, not quite ready to talk.

  “Okay, well, not to be all weird, but I got you a little gift when I walked in. It’s nothing really, and since this is probably the last time I will see you tonight, I’ll give it to you now.”

  Christian reached into his pocket and pulled out a little red wicker love heart. Just like the ones being sold in the craft alley. My heart ached as I reached out and took his gift, holding it in my aqua mittens.

  “Well, I’ll message you later tonight. Go make sure everything is running smoothly.” He dropped another quick kiss on my lips. I stood there watching him stride away as I raised my hand to my lips, a smile hiding behind it.

  Steph was suddenly in my face clicking her fingers. “Sugar, are you with me?”

  “Wow, what? Yes! Right here. What’s wrong?” I asked as I quickly stuffed the heart into my right jacket pocket as she literally snapped me out of one of the most romantic moments of my life. I might have glared at her a little.

  “You, you are what’s wrong! He is a source, a way to get your name on the Puck Board if you aren’t careful!” she hissed at me.

  “I know that,” I whispered back with vehemence. “But he didn’t ask me back to his place. I gave him the opportunity and he didn’t. That’s why I kissed him. So hush, I know what I am doing.”

  Steph just stood there with her mouth forming an O. “Did I just hear you right? You want to go back to their place and sleep with one of them? To intentionally enter the Puck Games?”

  I nodded back at her. “Yes. We need another Puck, and since neither of us have managed to find one, I figured it may as well be me. When they tell me I’ve been entered into the Games, I’ll ask them all the questions that we want answered.”

  “Hay, you don’t have to do that!” she whisper-shouted at me. “I don’t want your name on the Puck Board. It’s bad enough mine is up there. I think that maybe you’re taking this too far. What you’re doing, putting yourself on the line, that’s serious real-world journalism. We’re just in college. I know you want to help me, and you think this article will help you out with New York when you graduate, but this is starting to seem extreme. Kissing three guys in one night? Sleeping with one of them? Come on Hayden, this isn’t you.”

  “Steph, it will be fine. My name will only be on the Board until next Friday when the last paper of the year gets printed. Then the Puck Games will be shut down. I’ll only have to deal with the hockey team for a few days, and I can spend most of those hiding in our dorm room. Just trust me, okay?” I pleaded with her. Dammit why was she making me second guess myself? I was doing this article for her! To expose the Puck Games that she had gotten her name onto.

  Steph’s face dropped a little, but she gave me a small nod. “Okay Hayden, I just think you’re playing with fire. You’re going to end up developing feelings for these guys, and then what are you going to do when you publish the article? Be heartbroken three times over? Just be careful. I’m worried about you,” she stated as she reached in for a hug.

  I hugged her back. “I will.” But I kind of suspected it was already too late.

  “Well, I’m going to head back over there to lover boy. You might need to quickly swing by the wreath making stall, they were looking low on supplies.”

  I thanked her with a nod and headed off in that direction, pulling out my phone as I went. Eight oh four, running on time so far. I had a couple of messages from different stalls, and a few from Vinnie and Justin.

  I dealt with the stall things first, requesting supplies from the ticket stall to be sent to the other side of the festival, as I headed over to the wreath stall.

  Justin: I now know that his sister’s husband is the black spot on their family name; apparently, he is Californian and likes to wear sandals even in winter. And that his niece, to his other sister, is having her Bat Mitzvah early in the New Year. I’m invited.

  Justin: You are too :p

  I laughed at his messages and just sent him back the angel face emoji.

  Vinnie: There are people walking around with churros, can you plzzzzzz get me some.

  Vinnie: Please.

  Vinnie: Scoop?

  Me: Lol, yes Vinnie, I will get you some churros. Impatient much?

  I didn’t have to wait long for his reply as I approached the wreath stand.

  Vinnie: I love churros, they are the way to my <3

  Me: Haha ok ok, any dipping sauce?

  Vinnie: Caramel please.

  I checked through the supplies that were left in the crates at the wreath stall, talked to the couple manning the stall, wrote myself a note with the details of what they needed, and headed back to the ticket stall. We had decided at the beginning of the night that we would use the front stall as our store of reserves, until we closed the ticket stall at nine p.m. Then everything that was left over would be moved up to the empty marquee we had set up at the top of the alley way.

  Once I got to the ticket booth, I checked in with the same two girls from earlier and found out we were up to just over three hundred people with a steady flow still arriving. My eyes nearly fell out of my head. If I wasn’t already at maximum stress capacity with the sources situation, that would have flown me into a tizzy.

  I quickly opened my bag and placed Christian’s heart in it, zipping it shut to keep it safe. I then grabbed what I needed for the wreath stall and headed back. The guy manning the stall saw me struggling to carry the container and quickly rushed over to help me out, taking it off my hands. I asked him if he needed help sorting it out, but he said they were fine, so I headed in the direction of the dessert stalls.

  I grabbed two batches of churros and two caramel dipping sauces. I checked in with one of the campus security guards we had stationed about the place and was informed that all was well so far at the festival. Apparently, it was one of the biggest turn outs they had seen so far. I couldn’t wait to tell Elizabeth. Which reminded me.

  I placed all the food down on the table by the security guard, whipped out my phone, asked permission first, and then took a selfie with him. I quickly snapped a few pictures of the food alley, making sure to get as many people in each shot as possible. As I walked back past the wreath stall, churros in hand, I took a picture of them too. I quickly sent them all to Elizabeth so that she could see how it was going so far.

  Time check: eight twenty-nine.

  Had it really only been two hours ago that I had met with Christian at the ticket stall? My anxiety over tonight going smoothly was still bubbling away in the pit of my stomach, but so far everything was going okay, no major mishaps. I just needed to get through this last bit and get it all packed up. Then I could relax.

  I made my way over to miniature tree land and saw Vinnie kneeling on the ground next to a little girl in a bright pink snow coat, with red mittens and a matching beanie. The trees were almost as tall as her and she only came up to Vinnie’s shoulders. I stopped and watched as he pulled on a couple of the branches and spoke to her, pointing something out, while she nodded her head, little black strands of hair bouncing up and down. My chest felt big and full at the sight.

  Not wanting to interrupt their moment, I headed over to the stall where James stood with who I suspected were the parents.

  “Hey James, how’s it going so far?” I asked as I put the churros down.

  “Good Chief. Vinnie is a real ladies man, so I’ve been letting him handle all the pretty girls,” James stated.

  My head snapped to his face so quickly I thought I had kinked my neck. Instead of
finding a stern look on his face, I saw a happy smile as he spoke to the girl’s parents, who were beaming at the praise to their daughter. Sighing with relief, Vinnie had clearly worked his magic on the reticent James.

  “Sold many trees?”

  “Yeah, quite a few actually. All the ones with red ribbons are taken,” he replied. “Thanks for the eggnog, by the way, and for sending Steph. We picked out a tree together.” He pointed to the tree that was tucked into the back corner of their marquee, big red shiny bow attached.

  I turned back, and I let my eyes scan the forest of the mini trees and noted that over half were already all dolled up.

  “You are very welcome. And wow, you guys are doing a great job!” I exclaimed.

  “It’s mostly Vinnie, to be honest. I’ve just been here taking the money and putting ribbons on trees. The people seem to love him,” he said honestly.

  “Yeah, well that’s the whole issue isn’t it?” I muttered under my breath. Thankfully, James didn’t hear that.

  Vinnie came back to the stall holding the little girl’s hand.

  “James, Miss Lily has picked number twenty-seven, haven’t you Miss Lily?” he confirmed as he looked down at the little girl who was staring back at him with hearts in her eyes.

  My heart melted a tiny bit more. I could literally feel the ice dripping into a puddle inside my chest.

  “Yes, Vinnie. Number twenty-seven, please.”

  “Okay, well James here is going to help you tie your ribbon, and I am going to help this other young lady pick her tree, okay?”

  “Say thank you to Vinnie, Lily,” her mother said as she reached for her hand.

  “Thank you, Vinnie.” Lily smiled a sweet smile at him, one tooth missing from the bottom row.

  “You’re welcome, Miss Lily. I hope you enjoy your very own Christmas tree.” He smiled down at her. Once James had started his half of the process, Vinnie turned to me. “Scoop, finally. Please tell me you brought churros?” he pleaded.

  I laughed at him. “Yes, with caramel sauce, as requested.”

  He fist pumped the air. “Yes! You are my hero. Have I told you how much I love churros? I got addicted to them on a family trip to Disney World, and now whenever I see them, I just have to have them. I can’t help it. I have a problem.”