“Hi,” I whisper.
“Hi.” Her chest brushes against mine as she gulps in air.
“Babywas a nice touch,” I rasp.
Her lips twitch. “Liar.”
“You’re right. I like it best when you just say my name.”
“Is that right, Liam Hughes?” She draws out the words as a shudder rolls through me.
Somewhere in my mind, there’s a boxing match. In one corner of the ring, there’s common sense, telling me to get up. And then there’s the needy, desperate part of me that’s telling me this is fine as long as we have an audience, as long as I can use that flimsy logic to keep the lines in place.
Guess who’s winning.
Goodbye, common sense.
“We should get up,” I mutter.
“Yeah.”
Still, neither of us move.
“You two can eye fuck later. Dinner is going to get cold soon and you both need to change,” a stern voice calls to us.
With more effort than it should take, I roll to the side. “Hey, June. I know you missed me.”
Juniper is shorter than Penelope, but sharper. Her dark hair falls in soft, natural waves over her shoulders. She shouldn’t go to parties because her cheek bones would pop balloons. She’s colder than the mountain, but has a soft spot for the children she coaches. Out of all of us, she’s the only one who’s training and working on the mountain year round, and even has her own cabin. But over the holidays, she stays with the rest of us in the main house.
“Not that much,” she says before disappearing back inside.
Henri and I clamber to our feet and grab our luggage. We head up the steps of the wrap-around porch and through the familiar burgundy door with its gold handle to the tight entryway that’s already crowded with bodies.
“We have a mudroom for a reason. How many times do we have to go over this? You’re acting like a child.” June’s voice rolls through the corridor, as she blocks Pen’s path.
“I’m sorry,Mom.” Not backing down, Pen puts a hand on her hip. “I was just having a little fun. You remember fun, right? You used to have it before you went and had that stick-up-your-ass surgery.” She taps her chin and cocks her head.
Great.
Hey, Henri, here’s my family. They are really nice people who you’re going to love spending time with between them being constantly at each other’s throats.
“Well, excuse me for not wanting to slide on one of your puddles and break my back.” June thrusts out a hand, gesturing to the wet spots collecting on the wood.
“It’s fine, Pen can get some towels and take care of it—I forgot, too. So if you’re going to be mad at her, be mad at me too.”
Pen has always had the most freedom, the most promise, but also has managed to maintain the most joy. Competition has always seemed like play to her, and so what if she hangs on to being young as long as possible?
“Fine. I’m going to go help Mom with the table. Can you two hurry up and change?” June starts to turn the corner, but leans back just to say, “And. Liam, try to look put together.”
“I’ll make an attempt.” When June vanishes, I cock a brow at Pen for her to explain. It’s not unusual for June to be stressed around this time of year, but this is a lot, even for her.
Pen rolls her eyes and shrugs. “She’s been like this since this morning, checking when your flight will get in and trying to help Mom with everything. Don’t worry, I got thewear-something-besides-sweatpantslecture too.”
“Maybe she just wants to have a nice dinner?” Henri offers as a solution.
“Maybe,but we won’t find out until we get changed,” I say, and I have to admit, I would love to make it out of this trip without hypothermia.
We head through the living room, which is mostly decorated. Garlands of dried oranges droop over the tops of windows, and nutcrackers stand resolute on the mantle. But the three trees we pass, one at the base of the stairs and two tucked in the living room on each side of the brick fireplace, are naked.
