FROSTBITE | S. Rogers/B. Barnes (FINISHED)

Skating On Thin Ice

"No offense," Janie began, "but don't you think it's a little too cold for ice cream? It's like, dead of winter."

Steve handed her the chocolate vanilla swirl cone he'd bought for her with a soft smile and grabbed hold of his own. He licked the side, savoring the flavor and allowing the creamy texture to run over his pallet while he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"It's nearly spring," he commented, "besides, it's never too cold for ice cream."

Janie shrugged and licked a stripe down the center, allowing a combination of both flavors to enter her mouth. She expected the ice cream shop to be closed for the winter, but the family owned business served it's icy cold treat throughout the entire year, even after the first snowfall and throughout January.

"Do you like it?" She asked, her cheeks reddening when she watched the tall man lick further along the edges to ensure it wouldn't drip down his hand.

The slowly setting sun hit his back when he turned to face her, causing bright light to encase him like an aura. Janie squinted and peaked at him through her lashes, placing a hand on her forehead to shade her eyes from the burning sun.

He looked at her, a boyish grin on his face when he handed her his Ray Bans so she could properly see him, "I like it a lot. I can't remember the last time I had one of these."

"Thanks," she replied, taking the shades and placing them over her eyes.

They crossed the street to the park, where they decided to take a stroll. It was mostly vacant due to the cold weather, apart from the occasional jogger passing them by in full-on winter gear. Snow crunched beneath their sneakers when they followed along the path, watching as a family of squirrels climbed up a tree.

The reflection from the sun on the snowy soil made it look like somebody had ground

"You have a little something," Steve murmured, reaching out his hand toward Janie's face.

Embarrassment struck her at the thought of a brown blob of chocolate ice sitting on her upper lip or chin and she stopped in her tracks, waiting for Steve to wipe the milky substance from her face. Instead, however, the hand that closed in on her face wasn't empty and before she realized what had happened, a white glob of ice cream sat on top of her nose, for real this time.

She gasped, smacking Steve in the arm when he doubled over in laughter, nearly dropping his cone in the process. In one swift motion, he grabbed her incoming arm by grasping her wrist, preventing her from reciprocating the action.

Her eyebrows creased and she huffed, "not fair," she said.

"What's the matter?" He asked innocently, his body closing in on hers while he held her wrist away from his face.

"You're too fast," she rolled her eyes, "can you get this stuff off of me please?"

"Only if you agree to a truce." He grinned.