Snow Crushing

Chapter 8

Noa

I don't know what I was expecting Camden's house to look like but I was not expecting this. Everything is so green, the complete opposite of the city. The cabin is just a few metres away from the edge of the woods. Dark wood makes up the exterior. Two stories and plenty large windows.

A large porch with two wooden chairs leads to what I assume is the back door. The outside is well kept, wood piled on one side of the house and a fire place a few metres away.

He lets me down on the porch as he opens the door.

"You can make yourself comfortable in the living room and I'll grab you an ice pack."

I take off my wet boots and walk further inside the house. It smells like freshly ground coffee and a woody aftershave. Light shines in from the windows all around the room. The furniture is light and modern. I wonder if he did the interior design or if he left it to Marcie. There are a bunch of pictures on the living room wall and I stop to check them out. A few of Marcie and Cam with who I assume are their parents. Marcie and Cam as kids, Camden with a baby boy.

"Is this Aydin?"

Camden walks into the room, an ice pack and a towel in hand. "Yeah, that one's his first birthday, and that one is the first time I saw and held him."

He is looking at his son with a huge smile in every single photo. He looks at the little boy like he's the best thing that ever happened to him. He looks good with a baby in his arms. Good enough to make my ovaries explode a little.

"Here, keep your leg high for now."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, not the first time I missed a step."

He shakes his head softly. "Let me get you that hot chocolate, yeah?"

He messes around the kitchen for a few minutes and comes back with two steaming mugs topped with whipped cream. He places them on the coffee table in front of me and grabs the TV remote before sitting down next to me.

"How's your ankle feeling?"

"A bit stiff but okay." I'm not going to admit that it still hurts and walking back to the hotel will be terrible.

"Good," he lifts up my legs and slides them on to his lap. His fingers draw circles on my non-injured ankle as he holds the ice pack t my other ankle. A tingle fires from my ankle through my whole body. My entire being aware of his presence next to me, anxiously waiting for more.

"What would you normally do on Christmas?"

"Not that much. I'd spend some time with my friends before they go home for Christmas Eve and the rest of the day would mostly be watching movies, having takeout and hoping my parents leave me alone."

"We could do the movies part?" Camden lets me pick a Christmas movie to watch and we settle on the couch with our hot chocolates. It's weird to be spending my afternoon like this. The only person I've ever done something like this with was Gaby when we were roommates but even that has been a while. And she definitely didn't caress my leg while watching a movie.

No matter how often I've watched all the Home Alone movies, they never lose their charm. I still laugh at them as a child would.

"I had a moment like that once as a kid."

"What? Running after a stranger and getting on the wrong plane?"

"No, losing my family in the middle of a crowded airport. I wasn't courageous enough to just run after someone though. I sat on one of the benches until someone working there saw me and made an announcement over the airport intercom for my parents to come pick me up. I didn't let go of my mom for the rest of the trip."