"Not helping."
"Look, I'm just saying sometimes the heart knows what it wants. Not everything needs months of deliberation and pros-and-cons lists."
I drag my fingers through my hair, the strands falling in disarray as a heavy sigh escapes my lips. "It's too fast. We literally just started speaking again after I fucked things up. I can't dump all these feelings on her now."
"Listen to yourself," he snorts, amusement dancing in his eyes. "You just spent ten minutes telling me the exact angle of her shoulders during her snowboarding runs. You practically puffed your chest out telling me how you stepped between her and her ex last night. Should I continue?"
"You're oversimplifying."
"And you're overthinking. Classic Bash move."
The coffee scalds my tongue as I take another sip. "So what am I supposed to do? Tell her I've fallen for her after a day and a half of fake-dating?"
"Maybe start with not pretending," he suggests, his voice softening. "Be honest. Show her who you are, what you want. The rest will follow."
My phone beeps with an incoming call. "My sister's calling, I'll talk to you later."
"Perfect timing. Ask Sarah what she thinks—she'll tell you the same thing."
"I'm not asking my sister for dating advice," I grumble.
I switch calls. "Good morning."
"Well, if it isn't my little brother," my older sister's voice comes through, bright and clear. "How are you?"
"Good. Actually, I'm about an hour away from you right now. In Aspen."
"You're. WHAT?" Her voice jumps an octave, piercing through the phone speaker. "Aspen? As in Colorado? As in where I live? What the hell, Sebastian?!"
I laugh at her reaction, holding the phone away from my ear as she practically shrieks. "Surprise?"
"Don't you 'surprise' me! You're literally an hour from my house and didn't tell me? I'm your sister! Is this a work thing? Why aren't you staying with me? How long have you been here? Are you alone?"
"Take a breath, sis," I say, tracking a second bird as it joins the first, their wings cutting dark silhouettes against the pine-lined sky. "It's not for work, I'm staying at a friend's family place and it was kind of... last-minute."
"Last-minute," she repeats, suspicion dripping from every syllable. "Sebastian Michael Montgomery doesn't do 'last-minute.' Who are you with?"
I hesitate, my thumb tracing the edge of my phone case as I brace for the inevitable explosion. "I'm here with a woman. And her family."
Long seconds of silence stretch between us before she erupts again.
"I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly?" Another pause. A WOMAN? You're in Aspen with some woman and her family and didn't even MENTION it to me?"
"Is it really that surprising I might be here with someone?" I ask, watching fresh snowflakes drift lazily from the sky, landing on the railing in front of me.
"Yes!" She exclaims. "You never bring women to meet family. Ever. That's like, your number one rule after a lifetime of 'keeping things casual.'"
I run a hand through my hair, an unexpected defensiveness creeping up my spine. "Well, technically she invited me, not the other way around."
"Oh, that makes it even more interesting," she says, her voice taking on that knowing big-sister tone I've heard since we were kids. "My little brother, meeting the parents, huh? This I have to see."
I hesitate, then decide to just jump in. "Actually, do you and Addie want to make a trip up here? You could come see me... and meet her."
"Oh, now you're inviting us?" She drawls out. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my commitment-phobic brother?"
"Very funny." I take a deep breath.. "Her name is Charlie and it's... complicated."
"Complicated how?" She asks, her voice softening.
