Cry Me A River

Chapter Eighteen - At Each Other's Throats

{Dakota}

"Breakfast, guys!" Elle yelled from the kitchen. I nudged Landon again with my foot as I passed the futon bed that I was making him sleep on.

"Hmm?" Landon groaned.

"Breakfast," I repeated, walking out of the room and padding down the hall. Elle, Dillon, and Andi were already sitting at the table, so I slid into a seat on the other side of Dillon and Andi.

"So, you don't have sex hair, just normal bed hair, and you're not wearing any of his clothes, so I have to assume that you either chickened out, or Landon couldn't get it on. And knowing my boy, the latter is not the choice," Pierce commented, walking into the dining room without a shirt on. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh c'mon, Kota. Did you and Landon do the nasty or not?" Dillon teased.

"Shut up you guys," I mumbled.

"So you did chicken out," Pierce continued, nodding. I clenched my jaw and got up, shoving past him to get into the kitchen. We'd been snowed in for the past two days, which meant no leaving the cabin because all the doors and the majority of the windows were blocked with snow. I was honestly surprised no one had tried to kill each other yet, although there's a first for everything.

"Dakota, you'd be better off just confessing to being a big fat chicken!" Dillon yelled from the dining room. I let out a low growl and focused on pouring a glass of water.

"You know, if you're too nervous, I could always talk to him for you," Pierce offered. I grabbed a rag near me and threw it at him, hitting his face. "Hey!"

"Leave me the hell alone, Pierce. I don't want to talk about this," I warned. Landon walked out just as Pierce answered me.

"You're gonna have to put out eventually," Pierce remarked. I lunged for him, but Landon's arms wrapped around my waist, holding me back.

"Go to the bedroom, and walk it off," Landon ordered, letting me go by the entrance of the hall. I huffed and walked down to our bedroom.

"What the hell, Pierce!?" Landon snapped at him. Pierce let out a small chuckle.

"Look, I'm just screwing with her. I'm bored as hell in here. What else are we supposed to do?" he wondered. I heard a smack and then a chair scraped.

"Landon, what the hell?" Dillon gasped. I treaded carefully down the hall and into the kitchen. Pierce was on the floor on his back, propping himself up with one elbow, the other hand at his face, and Dillon was crouched next to him. Landon was standing over him, rubbing the knuckles of one hand with his other.

"Just because we're stuck in here for the rest of the day, doesn't give you the right to be an ass to not only my girlfriend, but our other friends too," Landon told him calmly. Then he turned and went about making two cups of coffee. Dillon narrowed her eyes when she saw me, but Pierce picked himself up.

"Sorry Kota. Landon's right," Pierce stated. I gave him a small smile and nodded before joining my boyfriend in the kitchen. This is gonna be a long day. The plow doesn't come until this afternoon. Thankfully, by this evening, we should be able to venture outside and no longer hate each other.

**************

"Freedom!"Andi yelled, running out the front door as fast as she could. "Thank you." She dropped to the her knees in the snow, running a hand over the smooth snow in the middle of the circle driveway. I chuckled as I followed everyone else out of the house. Landon grabbed my hand, pulling me with him to the giant patch of fresh snow where Andi kneeled. I leaned down and picked up a handful of snow, packing it into a snowball. Then I turned and threw it at Elle, hitting her shoulder.

"Hey!" she yelped with a grin. Everyone exchanged looks and then we were running and hiding behind things, a full out snowball fight happening. I ducked behind a giant bush at the edge of the driveway. A second later, Landon slid in next to me.

"Hey, I thought it was very man for himself," I told him. He cracked a smile.

"Come on, you really want to kick me out?" he wondered, flashing me a pearly white smile.

"Alright. Show me what you got, Hudson." We went about making snowballs when suddenly, one came soaring by Landon's left shoulder. He jumped back, almost barreling into me.

"Sorry," he breathed, sitting up again.

"You two better not be making out back there!" Pierce called. Landon stood up on his knees and threw a snowball over the bush. "Ow!"

"We will be after we beat your ass," Landon replied snarkily. I chuckled and kneeled next to Lan, scanning the trees and bushes for the girls. Finally, I saw a blonde head sticking out from behind a tree. I threw it and she ducked, the ball missing her, and poked her head out.

"Nice try, Dakota," Elle chided. I grinned and reached down to get another snowball.

"No!" Landon yelped, tackling me to the ground. I laid under him, six inches of snow surrounding me. "See? I saved you from Dillon. Good thing I'm on your side after all, huh?" I rolled my eyes, bringing him in for a kiss. He laid a gloved hand on my side, the rough material brushing against a sliver of my bare skin. I shivered as he shifted and the snow touched my sides. "Cold?" he asked, pulling back. I gave him a small grin and he sat up, giving me his hand. "Let's finish this fight." I chuckled and we went back to throwing snow until finally, we all moved inside, shivering and hungry.