Once a year in Runswick, the dukedoms hosted a show of wonderment in the form of ice and snow. There were ice sculptures, an ice block maze, and best of all ice skating.

"Come on, Ray. This'll be fun!" I said, taking his hand.

"I don't do well on ice." He frowned, looking nervously out on the ice.

"You'll be fine. Trust me. Here"—I led him to the wall—"hold here."

"I really don't do well on ice," he mumbled but reluctantly followed me out onto the ice. Raydir clung to the wall while I glided across the ice doing a series of crossovers and twists. When I turned back, Raydir lifted a hand to wave at me.

I smiled. "Having fun?"

"Yeah. Can you show me how to do those cool tricks?"

"Of course. Take my hand?" I held out my hand again and we slowly made our way back across the ice.

Laughter echoed around us and little kids skated past, their hands stuck out to the side for balance.

"See? You've got the hang of it!" I skated backwards and slowly pulled Raydir along with me.

He brightened and let go. "Yeah, I do—woah!" Raydir's skate blade caught a dip in the ice and he crashed onto the ground. He grabbed at me for balance and ended up bringing me down with him.

I couldn't help but laugh at the way Raydir was splayed out on the ice.

"Stop laughing, Ar!" He pouted but still couldn't stop smiling. "See this is why I don't skate."

"You look pretty cute, splayed out like that," I said, biting my lip.

"Mm hm." Raydir tugged at my braid. "You know my butt is really cold right now."

I smirked. "Then maybe we should go get warm." Pulling him to his feet, we precariously made our way back across the ice to solid ground.

"I'm sorry this outing didn't really go how we planned," I said. Ray and I had wandered over to one of the holiday trolleys and bought some hot chocolate to warm up.

"Don't worry about it." He entwined our fingers together. "Any time I get to spend with you is worth it."

I rose up on my tiptoes and captured his lips with mine. He carefully moved one hand down to my waist and pulled me tight against his body.

"Mm." I deepened the kiss, drowning out the sounds of the palooza. There was no one I would rather be with in this moment than Raydir.

There should've been a rule about not making out while carrying a cup of hot chocolate because within the next few seconds, the hand that wasn't holding onto Raydir for balance twitched. The lid on the cup of my hot chocolate loosened and the liquid sloshed onto Raydir's clothes.

He let out a yelp and jumped backwards, but the damage was already done—a splotch of brown stained the front of his shirt. He held it away from his body to prevent any burns.

"Oh my god! Ray, I'm so sorry!" I grabbed some napkins and pressed them to his chest. My fingers lingered as his abs rippled under his shirt. "Um, we might want to get you a change of clothes."

Raydir grinned and leaned down to kiss me again. "Yeah, let's head home. I can certainly think of a few things we can do that won't involve clothes."

I smirked. "Good idea."

We walked home together and got Raydir cleaned up. I made sure he didn't have any burns from the hot chocolate. Then we kept each other warm all night long.