Riven Lomax never really got along with the eldest Fisher brother, Conrad, he'd always teased her, annoyed her and spent most of his time with the boys and Belly. When she arrives at Cousins for the summer, as she always had, the atmosphere is diffe...
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The red jeep came to a stop outside of the Fisher's beach house in Cousins. Seeing the front door gave Riven immediate flashbacks to that late night in December with Conrad. She couldn't stop thinking about it. The most perfect night before everything slowly started to collapse.
"It's so cold." Conrad said as they entered the dark house.
Riven switched on a light, following after him through the hallway, "Want your sweater back?"
"Don't pretend you haven't already claimed it as yours." He chuckled.
She playfully rolled her eyes and smiled, "Fine, let me rephrase. Want to borrow my sweater?"
Conrad grinned back at her, "I'm okay. I'll start the fire."
"I'll see if there's any food." Riven told him, although it was highly unlikely, she was sure nobody had been here since the summer.
She began to pull open cupboards, finding them empty of food. Riven yanked open the fridge but that was also empty. Her hand trailed along the cold kitchen surface as she wandered to another cupboard.
Riven opened it and found a container of hot cocoa sitting beside a bag of unopened marshmellows, "Oh, hell yeah!"
"Find something?" Conrad asked from the fireplace in the room next door. He was trying to strike a match.
"It's a surprise." She told him as she began prepping the drinks.
"Are you going to poison me?" He tried to hold back his laugh.
"You just focus on the fire." Riven said, pulling out a Simpsons mug and one that said Worlds Best Boss, "I'll focus on the murdering, thank you."
"Ha ha. You're hilarious." Conrad joked in a monotone voice. The match wasn't lighting the logs that were sitting in the fireplace, "I don't know why I can't get this fire started."
Riven feigned a gasp, "What?! I thought you were an Eagle Scout?"
His laugh echoed through the house, "Shut up."
When the hot cocoa was ready, Riven brought the two mugs into the living room. She placed Conrad's on the coffee table and kept a hold of hers, warming her hands.
Conrad turned from the now lit fireplace, his eyes focusing on her sitting there in his sweater, her hair draped over one shoulder, the way the light from the fire illuminated her features with a warm glow. He thought she looked so beautiful.
It felt as though they were in their own home, living together. He could imagine coming home from work after a long day and getting to see her, every day and night, like this, for the rest of his life.
"Do you want your cocoa?" She asked with a gentle laugh, noticing he was just staring at her in silence.
Conrad grinned, "Uh, yeah."
He sat beside her, picking up his mug and admiring her work of art. A steaming cup of cocoa, with a mountain of white and pink marshmellows dusted with some of the cocoa powder.
"Pretty great, right?" Riven smiled, "Definitely my speciality. Well, this and strawberry milkshake."
She watched as he took a long sip, some of the melting marshmellow sticking to his upper lip. He gave a soft moan, "Not bad, Lomax."
"Thanks, Fisher." She mocked, lifting her hand to swipe away the mess on his top lip with her thumb then took it to her mouth to suck it clean.
Conrad couldn't take his eyes away from her, he was captivated. He lifted his hand, delicately tracing his fingers along the side of her cheek before tucking her hair behind her ear, "You're so damn beautiful."
That fire in her stomach was roaring, the magnet dragging her closer to him. Their lips almost touched but they were broken apart by their mugs clinking together and Riven swearing.
"Oh shit." She said, placing her mug on the table and staring down at the cocoa stain on her jeans.
"You all right?" Conrad asked, putting his own mug down and then pulling down his sleeve to dab at the soaked area.
"Yeah, it's not that hot anymore, and it'll dry." Riven told him. Her eyes lifted to meet his but instead she was distracted by something floating passed the window. Her face lit up, "Oh my God, it's snowing!"
Conrad glanced over his shoulder to look through the window. Delicate flakes of snow were drifting by. Riven slid her hand into his, pulling him up with her and running for the door, "Let's go on the beach."
"What? It's freezing outside."
"Hm." Riven nodded to herself, throwing a coat at Conrad before slipping on some rain boots, "I would."
He furrowed his brows as he helped Riven put on a thick coat, "Would what?"
"Still date you if you were a snowman." She grinned.
Conrad laughed, shaking his head, "You're so weird."
Riven smiled widely, tugging him out of the door with a laugh, "Come on!"
They spent the next fifteen minutes running around the beach, laughing together, chasing each other and messing around in the snowy sand. Their fingers, toes and faces were freezing but in that moment, they didn't even notice.
"That feels good." Conrad said with Riven's warmed up hands pressed against his face. They'd come back inside and were sitting by the lit fireplace.
