I smile back and take her gloved hand in mine.

"You do know that this is insane, don't you?" She asks me, a slight wrinkle appearing in her eyebrows to go with the smile.

"Well, you asked me what I wanted to do," I shrug, resisting the temptation to kiss her. It's probably 20 degrees out on Christmas day, and here we are, walking to the park. We had time to kill before going over to Jen and Jack's place tonight, so when she asked me what I felt like doing, I told her.

"Will you at least tell me what's in the bag?"

I look at her mysteriously. "Nope."

We get to a clear, slightly hilly area in the park, covered completely in stark white. I stop walking and let go of her hand. "This looks like a good place." My breath creates a thick curl of fog as I speak. "Work."

An eyebrow arches up. Her hands go to her waist. "You're serious." It was half question, half incredulous statement.

"Joey, you're welcome to go back home and sit on your ass for the rest of the afternoon. I, on the other hand, plan to squeeze some physical activity in between all the eating we've been doing this Christmas." I grin, then begin rolling up a big ball of snow.

She sighs. "We're the only ones crazy enough to do this today, in this kind of weather." She glances around the deserted park before helping me.

"Bah, humbug, Joey. Where's you're Christmas spirit?"

"I think it decided to stay home, in front of a nice, warm fire."

"We don't have a fireplace, Jo."

"Whatever." She smiles cheekily.

We continue in silence, rolling one ball until it's almost up to my waist. We roll another one to nearly the same size, which is easy enough. It's the getting it on top of the first ball that's a little difficult. We heave and push, trying to roll it up the side of the first ball, but the weight is too much, and Joey is beginning to laugh.

I start laughing, too, until we're both too weak to get it up there. The huge snowball rolls back down to the ground, almost running over a giggling Joey Potter, who ends up sitting on the snow.

Her cheeks are a deep pink, from the cold and her laughter, and something in my chest squeezes. I kneel down beside her. My hand reaches up so that my fingers can run through her soft, dark hair, and I don't care if we're in the middle of the park - I catch her curved lips in mine, tasting sweetness and snowflakes all at once.

My fingers tangle in her hair, just under her blue knitted hat. She accepts the kiss willingly, parting her lips and stroking her tongue against mine. Her hand holds the side of my face. My teeth graze lightly against her lower lip. I can't get enough of her, and the only thing that keeps me from making love to her right at this very moment is the fact that we're in the middle of Washington Square Park.

I smile after we part, my lungs working to take in air. Her lips are red and a little swollen. My finger touches her there gently before I get up and pull her with me. "Let's finish Frosty here so that we can go home, huh?"

She pouts. "Can we go now?"

I raise an eyebrow.

She goes on tiptoe to whisper seductively in my ear, her breath warming my skin. "I think I need a shower. Wanna share it with me?"

I turn back to our unfinished snowman. I grab the bag I brought with me and take out what's inside: a carrot, two grapes, and several raisins. I arrange everything on our one big snowball so that it has eyes, a nose, and a smiling mouth, then stand back afterwards to survey my work. "Let's just say Frosty's body is buried underneath all this snow, shall we?"

Joey is laughing beside me. "Or that he lost his head because it got so big."

I drape my arm around her and we walk away. "So much for Christmas spirit. You, Josephine Potter, have just massacred one of the holiday's most prominent figures."

***

She goes straight for the bathroom as soon as we're back, peeling off layers of clothing on the way. I check on the thermostat of the heater to make sure we don't end up getting pneumonia. The voice of Johnny Mathis singing about taking sleigh rides in the snow drifts out from the bedroom.

I find her clothes deliberately strewn all over the room as the sound of running water is muffled by Johnny's voice. Scarf, sweater, thermal underwear, pants, gloves, bra…

Thick steam greets me when I open the bathroom door. Her final piece of clothing, bikini panties, is hanging seductively over the shower door. My own underwear soon falls to the tiled floor.

She's facing the wall when I get in the shower, her hands running down her wet hair. I hold the sides of her slender waist, planting a kiss on her shoulder. "Hey."

Joey turns and puts her arms around my neck. "Hey, you." She smiles and kisses the base of my neck. My pulse begins to accelerate. Her hands glide down to hold my hardening erection.

I reach for her shampoo and squeeze some onto my hand. I rub it into her hair gently, inhaling the scent and massaging her scalp. She flicks her tongue over my nipples. My knees are getting weak. We rinse off the shampoo from her hair and she begins to rub her hand over my arousal, moving slowly from base to tip.

She kisses me, her tongue invading my mouth without preamble. I move so that she is leaning against the cool, tiled wall. My hand touches her between her legs, my fingers parting and teasing the slick flesh.

"Pacey," she gasps in my ear, raising one leg to give me more access.

Her nails scrape across my back as I continue to touch her, her breathing short and shallow. I feel the base of her stomach clench before she reaches climax, her leg wrapping around my back as she leans into me weakly. I kiss her mouth and lift her slightly, seeking entry. Her hot, liquid tightness takes me in and wraps around me. We move together, going steadily until control snaps and I thrust into her one last time, my knees ready to give way from the release.

"Ho ho ho," she says after a few minutes of catching our breaths.

I chuckle. "Ho ho ho, indeed."