His words are anticlimactic, at the least. “Are you hungry?” I try to hide my irritation but I can’t. I feel my eyebrows furrow and I grind the snow beneath my sneaker. “Damn you, Todd. If you were gonna break the silence, you could’ve made it more profound.” And with that, another silence is born. For a long time, his eyes examine me shamelessly.

Finally he grabs me by the arms and pushes me back into the snowbank. For a split second it crosses my mind that the snow is freezing, and then he is hovering over me, blocking out the light. I can feel the heat of his breath on my face as he leans in closer. My eyes are closed. After what feels like an eternity he whispers, “I didn’t know you wanted profound. ...I can be profound.”

It takes all my strength to whisper, “I know, and I want you.” He responds by brushing his lips gently to mine. A hot shiver runs through me, and then we are soaring. His lips are pressed against me, and the heat of his body against mine blocks out all the questions; all the cold.