took the gaily wrapped box from her, not liking the wicked glint in her roommate’s eye.
“What is this?” She shook the box, hearing a thump come from inside it.
“Winter Snow, it would ruin the surprise if I told you.” Jasmine arched her brow, evil-villain style. “But I can give you a hint. Let’s just say I got my favorite holiday-named friend her very own icicle.”
“Jasmine Kingsford!” Winter yelled, shocked. “Tell me you did not buy me a vibrator!”
“Hey, I can’t help that you get loose lips when you’re drunk. You said you haven’t had one since yours broke last year.” Holding up a pillow to defend herself, Jasmine continued, “Plus, you’ve been a cranky bitch. The relaxation effects will help calm your ass down.”
Winter let her head drop down to her chest in embarrassment. “Remind me never to discuss my sex life with you again.”
“Don’t you mean lack of sex life?” Jasmine giggled, dodging the swat from Winter.
Deciding she didn’t want an audience when she opened her present, Winter tossed the package down onto the bed. “I cannot believe you went into a sex shop.”
“It was interesting for sure.” Jasmine started cleaning up their dinner containers. “I didn’t realize the place would smell so much like rubber.”
When Winter started to snicker, she got pelted with another fortune cookie. “Hey, you said it,” she defended herself.
“I lucked out though. They were having a sale. It was buy one, get one half off.”
“Wait, did you get me two?” Winter asked.
“No, silly. I got me a matching one.”
At Jasmine’s confession, Winter couldn’t hold it back any longer. Huge belly-shaking laughter came pouring out of her.
“What’s so funny, bitch?” Jasmine grumped.
“You got us matching vibrators?” Winter wheezed out, trying to control her tears of mirth.
“It’s not like we’re going to use them together or anything, you big pervert. They were having a sale and I wanted to get out of there quickly so I just grabbed two of the same thing,” Jasmine defended.
“Jas, friends normally get matching necklaces or something. You got us matching vibrators,” Winter cackled.
“Jesus, I never even thought about it like that.” Jasmine started to chuckle too.
Winter stood to hug her friend. “Thank you for the present. I promise I will not think about you while using it,” she said seriously, causing Jasmine to burst into a fresh bout of giggles.
Jasmine hugged Winter back, squeezing hard. “I’m only gone two weeks. Stay out of trouble, and don’t forget to turn in the rent. I left the check on the counter.”
“I’ll put a reminder in my phone,” Winter promised as she followed Jasmine out into the living room. “Have fun, and drive carefully.”
Jasmine picked up her luggage from the doorway and blew an air kiss. “I promise to be careful. I’ll text when I get home.”
Winter glanced at the clock. She had only an hour to get ready and make it to the bus stop if she wanted to be on time to her night job. Even though she had to work over the holiday break, she was still grateful she had the job. Winter had been lucky when she had answered the ad for a night custodian at the local mall. The job was fairly mindless and gave her time to listen to her class lecture notes when she needed to. Her coworker, Enrique, was a great guy and had been excited to have someone who actually did their share of the work. When he’d first seen her, Enrique had not been pleased. After a week of her busting her ass, he had realized she wasn’t there to slack off on the job, and they had become friends.
Getting dressed quickly, Winter threw her straight hair up into a bun and turned off all the lights. She wrapped herself in her snow gear before making her way to the bus stop. Riding the bus had been a new experience for her. When she’d been working full-time, she’d been able to afford her high car payment. After she’d decided to go back to school, however, it was an expense that had quickly stretched her too thin. With her car payment being more than half her rent, she knew she needed to trade her ride in or get rid of it altogether. After finding out students qualified for a cheap bus pass, her decision had been made for her. Not having to pay for car insurance and tags had been the icing on the cake. Jasmine had also insisted Winter borrow her car when she needed to work late or run errands. Winter always felt bad when she needed to take it but insisted on giving Jasmine gas money as often as possible.
She was very lucky she had Jasmine. That bitch was crazy, but she was a great friend.
Chapter 2
Winter shivered when the cold Kansas wind cut through her heavy coat as if it wasn’t there. Tucking her body as far into the covered bus stop as she could, she kept her eye open for the large blue bus that normally ran on schedule. She was relieved when she saw its large shadow moving through the flurries that were steadily coming down. Climbing the slick steps quickly, she slid her bus pass into the reader before finding a seat close to the heater.
The late-evening buses were normally fairly empty. This close to Christmas a majority of the students had left for break and emptied the town. The only riders on this particular night were the ones she had gotten used to seeing. She saw one of her favorite ride sharers. Smiling at the old man across from her eating a banana, she giggled when he winked at her.
“You hungry, missy?” he asked in a sweet voice.
“I’m good, Frank. My roommate surprised me with dinner tonight,” Winter answered, waving away his offering of fruit.
“I have apples too if you want,” Frank said as if he hadn’t heard a word she said.
“Frank.” Speaking loudly so he could hear her, Winter waited until he acknowledged her before she spoke again. “I already ate tonight, but thank you.”
He smiled at her, his toothless grin causing her to smile back. Frank was a sweetie. He made his weekly trip to the grocery store Friday evenings and always offered something from his bag to “someone who reminded him of his granddaughter”. He sat quietly going over his grocery receipt and accounting for every cent of his shopping trip.
“Are you visiting family for Christmas, Frank?”
“No, they’re going up north to see the new baby,” he answered as he shuffled his feet.
“Why aren’t you going?” she asked.
“It’s colder there than it is here!” he exclaimed. He shivered dramatically and shook his head. “I can barely handle this cold. Don’t even want to think about it being worse. Plus, it would mean a car ride with the little ones, and I’m honest enough to admit that doesn’t appeal to me at all.”
Winter smirked at his honesty. Frank seemed like a wonderful old man but he did tend to give the skunk eye when anyone had loud conversations on the bus. One time he had even interrupted a college girl who was yelling at her boyfriend on her cell phone.
“Well, this is my stop. You have a good night and be careful on the steps. Okay?” Winter warned as she stood up and braced herself for the bus to slow and stop.
“Get your spray ready, young lady. It’s dark out and there are hoodlums everywhere.”
“I’ll be careful,” she assured him. “See ya later.”
Winter patted his shoulder as she passed his seat, holding on to the overhead handrail with her other hand. Stepping off the bus, she reached into her pocket to make sure she had her pepper spray handy in case she needed it.
The walk to her night job was only a block away and was lit well enough for her to not worry too much as she made her way down the sidewalk. The large parking lot had been plowed enough that she was able to