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An unpleasant scraping sound woke Rohan that morning. He frowned, but kept his eyes closed. He’d stayed up later than usual last night making sure he met his deadlines. A few more minutes of sleep couldn’t hurt.
His face slowly relaxed again as the sound stopped. The familiar weight of sleep began to pull him under—
Scrape.
This time, Rohan’s eyes snapped open. His irritation surged, giving him the motivation he needed to get out of bed. He marched to the nearest window and threw aside the curtains. Then he winced, momentarily blinded by white.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered.
The entire city seemed to be covered in freshly fallen snow—a lot of it, too. Somewhere between six and eight inches, if he had to guess.
He’d had plans to drive to Sendai today for a meeting with his publisher. But now there was no way he would make it in time. The city had cleared the streets early this morning, but his driveway would take at least two hours to—
Rohan blinked a few times and waited for his eyes to adjust. He had to be imagining things. Because there was no way in hell Josuke Higashikata was shoveling his driveway.
He slipped on a pair of loafers and a robe—and his warmest coat—before venturing out onto his front porch.
Josuke heard the door close and looked up, his nose and cheeks rosy. His breath was visible as he called out, “Morning, sensei!”
For a moment, Rohan just stared at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Shoveling your driveway,” Josuke said.
“Yes, I can see that.” He clenched his teeth as the shovel scraped against the concrete again. “That awful noise woke me up.”
Josuke looked up again, eyes wide. “Oh, shit. Sorry. I figured you were the bright-and-early type.”
“And I figured you weren’t,” he muttered, wrapping his coat more tightly around himself before coming closer. The path from the porch to the driveway had already been shoveled, so he didn’t have to worry about getting snow in his loafers. “There’s always some ulterior motive with you, so tell me. What are you planning?”
Josuke laughed nervously. “What? I’m not planning anything. I’m just trying to do something nice. Make amends, y’know?”
Rohan looked at him flatly.
Josuke was a liar, but he was a terrible one. It took less than five seconds for him to crack under the pressure. “Fine!” he exclaimed. “Koichi said you were going to Sendai today, and I was wondering if you’d give me a ride.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Why not? I can ride in the back. You won’t even know I’m there!”
Rohan rolled his eyes. “You can’t even shut up for two minutes, much less two hours.”
Josuke pouted. “I don’t have another choice. I can’t drive yet, and neither can my friends.”
“Take the bus,” said Rohan, turning to go back inside. His fingers were numb, and he was tired of this conversation.
“The buses aren’t running today because of the snow—wait!” He dropped the shovel and hurried to catch up with Rohan. He reached for his wrist with a gloved hand. “Please, Rohan-sensei? I’ll shovel your driveway, scrape the ice off your windshield, all of it. I really need to get to Sendai today.”
Rohan tensed when he realized how close the other man had gotten. He tried to pull away, but Josuke wouldn’t let him go. His brows were puckered over sweetly pleading eyes. A softer heart might have melted at the sight.
“Why do you need to get to Sendai so badly?”
Josuke’s already rosy cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. “It’s… for my mom. There’s this pair of shoes she’s been wanting, but they only sell them at a boutique in Sendai. I wanted to give them to her for Christmas.”
Rohan groaned internally. How was he supposed to say no to that?
“Fine. I’ll drive you.”
“Wait, really?” Josuke grinned. “Thanks, sensei, you’re the best!”
Rohan finally managed to pull away, shivering as he climbed the steps to the front porch. “We leave in an hour. Get back to work.”
—
When Rohan stepped outside again, he was fully dressed and holding a cup of coffee in each hand. Josuke was still hard at work, scraping the last of the ice off the rear windshield of his car.
“Not bad,” Rohan admitted, offering one of the cups to the younger man.
“What’s this?”
“A reward.”
Josuke took a tentative sip. “Mmm. Is that vanilla?”
Rohan nodded.
“You remembered.” He looked touched. Rohan looked away, taking a sip of his own coffee.
“You order the same thing every time you go to the café. It’s not hard to remember.”
He climbed into the car before Josuke could reply. The passenger door opened a few seconds later. “Do you, uh… want me to sit in the back?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He gestured to the passenger seat. “Sit down, Josuke.”
Josuke sat. In such a tight space, it was impossible to ignore the bulk of his body. I can ride in the back. You won’t even know I’m there! It was tempting. But with Josuke seated in the back, Rohan knew he’d feel too much like a chauffeur.
He settled for the lesser of two evils and let Josuke sit beside him. For the next two hours. Maybe longer, if the snow affected traffic.
Why had he agreed to this?
Josuke managed to stay quiet for the first fifteen minutes or so, just sipping at his coffee and watching Morioh disappear behind them. Then, as Rohan merged onto the westbound highway, he saw Josuke staring at him over the edge of his coffee cup.
“Y’know... I don’t think I’d ever seen you without your headband before.”
Rohan frowned, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“This morning. You came outside without your headband on.”
Had he? When he’d seen Josuke in his driveway, he’d been in such a hurry to figure out what he was up to. His face heated at the realization. “You woke me up, remember?”
Josuke grinned. “Oh, so that’s what Rohan Kishibe looks like when he rolls out of bed.”
Rohan clicked his tongue, but didn’t reply.
Josuke lifted his coffee to his lips again. “So unfair.”
That wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. He glanced at Josuke out of the corner of his eye. “Excuse me?”
“That’s so unfair,” he said. “No one should look that good when they first wake up.”
Rohan pressed his lips together to hide a smile.
“It takes me forever to get ready in the morning,” Josuke went on. The words came out in a rush, as if he was trying to cover up the previous sentence. “I always wake up with the worst bedhead—”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Rohan muttered. “You use an obscene amount of hair product.”
“I wash it out before bed, asshole.”
“And how many showers does that take?”
“Watch it,” he growled. “You should know better than anyone not to talk shit about my hair.”
Rohan smirked, his eyes still on the road ahead.
Josuke took a deep breath—to calm himself, presumably. “My hair is actually pretty long when it’s down. And I move around a lot when I sleep, so it gets all messy.”
Rohan tried very hard not to think about Josuke with messy hair, but his curiosity got the best of him. He glanced over. “How long is your hair, exactly?”
Josuke shrugged, then gestured to a spot just past his shoulders.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Have you ever thought of… leaving it unstyled one of these days?”
Josuke raised a brow. “You want to see me with my hair down?”
“Don’t look at me like that,” Rohan said, his hands tightening around the wheel. “It’s only fair, don’t you think? You got to see me without my headband.”
“Yeah, but you looked cute. It’s not the same.”
Cute?
Rohan wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or offended, but he gave Josuke a sidelong glance either way. The younger man paled as he realized what he’d said.
“Can we pretend I didn’t just say that?”
“No.”
Josuke swore under his breath and looked out the window—anywhere but at Rohan, who was now grinning fiendishly. He could think about how he felt later. For now, Josuke’s words were nothing more than ammunition.
“Tell me, Josuke,” he drawled. “What makes you think I look cute without my headband?”
“Shut up,” he complained. “Cute was the wrong word. You’re too mean to be cute.”
Rohan laughed aloud. “What are you, five years old?”
“Rohan.”
“This is why I never trust a word out of your—”
“Rohan!”
He followed Josuke’s panicked look and realized that there was a road sign blocking the highway up ahead. He slammed on the brakes, then released as his car skidded on the ice. Still, his quick response slowed their momentum, and then he tapped the brakes until the car came to a stop.
Bridge out. Two miles ahead. Detour.
“Shit.”
“What now?” asked Josuke.
“We take the detour. I might be late for my meeting, but we’ve already come this far.”
Josuke looked skeptical as Rohan followed the arrow to a snow-covered side street. “You don’t have four-wheel drive, do you?”
“We’ll be fine.”
“Rohan—”
“We’ll be fine. I’ve driven in worse.”
Josuke sank down in his seat, muttering something under his breath that sounded like stubborn bastard.
Their banter ended as Rohan drove down the increasingly snowy streets. Every few minutes, there would be another detour sign telling them where to go. And then, as if things weren’t bad enough already, it started snowing again.
“Maybe we should pull over,” Josuke said quietly.
Rohan didn’t reply. But he started to think that maybe Josuke was right. The snow was coming down heavily, blending in with the road ahead of them. Through the blur of white, he saw a flash of red. A stop sign.
He rolled to a stop, hearing the snow crunch beneath his tires. He pushed the gas pedal. Then pushed it again. His engine revved, but they didn’t move an inch.
“Damn it,” he growled.
Josuke was silent, but the look on his face was clear. I told you so.
“Shut up. I don’t want to hear it.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Josuke said, lifting his hands in surrender.
“You didn’t have to.” Rohan rubbed a hand over his face. He had a cell phone, but even if he managed to find a signal, it might take over an hour for a tow truck to reach them. Still, he made the call. Describing their location was a challenge in itself, but once he managed to do it, his fears were confirmed.
He closed his phone with an aggravated sigh . “They won’t be here for another hour.”
Josuke nodded. “I could always get out and push, if you want.”
“No. We have to keep the warm air inside.” He turned his keys and shut off the car to conserve whatever gas they had left.
Josuke took his gloves from earlier and passed them to Rohan. Seeing the confusion on Rohan’s face, he said, “You look like you get cold easily.”
He wasn’t wrong. “Thanks.”
The silence grew uncomfortable after a few minutes, and finally Rohan said, “Earlier, you said cute was the wrong word—”
“Not this again,” Josuke groaned.
“Well, it’s not like you can escape,” Rohan pointed out. “I’m curious. How would you describe me?”
Josuke bit his lip as he drew little hearts and peace signs in the frosted window. “You’re, like… stupidly attractive, but you already know that. You don’t need me to tell you.”
Rohan felt an unexpected flutter in his chest at the confession. He leaned across the console. “Look at me.”
Josuke tensed. Then, slowly, he turned to face him. He blushed when he realized how close the artist had gotten.
His voice dropped to a purr. “Are you attracted to me, Josuke?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“There were never any shoes at a boutique in Sendai, were there?”
His eyes widened. “How did you—”
“A wild guess,” Rohan admitted. “But it seems I was right.”
Josuke blushed harder, looking away again. But Rohan caught him by the jaw and ran a gloved thumb over his lower lip. “That was your plan all along, then? Shoveling my driveway for the chance to spend a few hours alone with me?”
His full lips twitched into a nervous smile. “Pathetic, huh?”
“No,” said Rohan. “I think the word you’re looking for is cute.”
He leaned in slowly, savoring the soft intake of breath as Josuke’s lips parted. The first kiss was unhurried, their lips clinging as they pulled away. Their eyes met for the briefest moment, and some unspoken realization seemed to pass between them.
They kissed again, more desperately this time.
“I thought you hated me,” Josuke whispered, every other word interrupted with a kiss.
“I do,” Rohan growled.
“Whatever you say, sensei.”
Rohan didn’t know if it was possible to kiss the smile off someone’s lips, but he certainly tried. The two of them had no trouble keeping warm until the tow truck arrived.