Snow Day

It was freezing in Pittsburgh, in the lower single digits, and the snow was falling softly, although it seemed to be never ending. Tommy was currently shoveling the drive, cussing under his breath and muttering about moving somewhere warmer where he didn’t have to deal with the ‘stupid white bullshit’ as he had called it earlier after telling his girl to stay in the house where it was warm, rather than coming outside and helping him.

She peeked out of the door, giggling when she heard him muttering, “How’s it going, babe?” She asked, laughing louder when he shot her a glower over his shoulder. “If you quit grumbling to yourself, you’d get done faster.” She watched as he stilled, and her eyebrows drew together when he bent over, “What are you do—.” She shrieked when a snowball sailed past her head, narrowly missing and splattering against her ear. “Hey! That’s not fair, Conlon!” She yelled ducking back inside when another snowball flew towards her, exploding against the door she’d just slammed closed.

She went running for her coat, stuffing her arms through it and shoving her feet into her boots quickly, barely remembering to grab gloves before she zipped out the back door. Pulling her hood up, she drove her hands into the snow and compacted it into a ball. Tromping as quietly as she could around the side of the house, she peeked around the corner and saw that Tommy had continued to shovel the drive, a smirk on his face.

“Oh, it’s on now.” She muttered to herself, bracing her legs and sending the snowball flying in his direction, her hand flying to her mouth when the snowball hit Tommy in the shoulder, exploding and sending clumps of snow into his face. “Shit, shit.” She giggled, trying to duck behind the side of the house before his gaze landed on her. But, just as her luck would have it, the snow she went traipsing through was deeper than she had expected, and a shriek slipped passed her lips as she sank down into it.

She looked over her shoulder to see Tommy gathering snow into his hands, a smirk spreading across his lips as he launched it at her. She winced, covering her head as it smacked into the back of her coat. Finding her footing, she took off around the back of the house, stopping to pack another snowball and throw it over her shoulder. Hearing him cuss, she knew she’d hit him.

“Two for two!” She shouted, hiding behind the steps that lead to their back door. Making as many snowballs as she could, she waited for him to come around the corner, frowning when he didn’t come barreling around it like she had expect him too. Having half a mind to look over her shoulder, she screamed when she saw that he was sneaking up on her. Launching snowballs at him, she scrambled up onto her feet and cursed when she saw her stash had run out, laughing with a gasp when one of Tommy’s snowballs hit her side, and her back as she turned to run. She couldn’t help but smile at the fact that he was purposely trying to avoid hitting her in the face with the cold substance.

Skidding on the slick driveway, she ducked behind his truck, peeking up and over the hood to watch for when he came back around to the front of the house. Formulating a plan of attack, she giggled to herself as she knew that it would never work. But hell if she wasn’t going to try anyway…she watched; her breath coming out in white puffs against the cold air, and she knew without having to look that her nose was redder than an apple at this point. Holding her breath when Tommy emerged from between the garage and house, his eyes scanning the area as he packed another snowball in his large hands with a small smile tugging at the corners of his plump lips as he did so.

Sucking in a quick breath, she decided it was now or never. Knowing that she was going to get her ass handed to her anyway, she ran at him. She wrapped her arms around his middle and tried with all of her might to knock him off balance. When she heard his laughter fill the air around her, she scowled. As a last ditch attempt, she tried pushing her booted foot into the back of his knee.

“Nice try, babe.” He laughed, and the next moment was pulling one of his MMA moves on her, making her laugh loudly as she would have toppled back into the snow as a result if it wasn’t for the firm but gentle grip he hand on her arms.

“That’s not fair!” She growled, “You know that I can’t compete against those kinds of moves!”

“You tried taking me down first, remember?” He muttered, enjoying the way that she clung to him and even more so when he knocked her feet out from under her, making her scramble to wrap her arms around his neck as he bent over her. “And ya hit me in the face, so it’s payback.” Tommy’s words were just a murmur now, his lips hovering over hers. She grinned, making the move to close the distance between their lips as she discreetly gathered snow into her hand that wasn’t clinging to his solid frame.

Knowing he was distracted as he brought them back up into a standing position, she moved her hand up and between them. Grinning against his lips, she then shoved the handful of snow into the front of his hoodie, knowing that he hadn’t thrown anything on underneath of it this morning.

“Babe!” He gasped, jumping back a step before his eyes narrowed at her, “Now that’s jus’ dirty.”

Dodging his hands, laughter rang out through air as he chased her back around the back of the house, neither seeing the dumbfounded looks that they were getting from their neighbors. Catching her without much effort, he made them both fall into the snow, this time as payback, his large hand cradled the back of her head to be sure that she didn’t smack it against anything that could be hiding underneath of the snow.

“Oh my god!” She gasped as Tommy hooked his hand around her shoulder and pulled her into his side, a lazy smile curling his lips. He couldn’t help but notice the snowflakes that were stuck to her eyelashes and caught in her hair. Tucking a few loose strands behind her ear, he kissed her lips lightly, twice, before muttering,

“Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?”