The snow crunches under my boots as I wade into the backyard. Mountain views are in every direction, peaks pristine white against the blue sky. It's breathtakingly beautiful, the kind of view that should calm me down.
Instead, I'm spinning like top.
Harlon's inside calling Jayce right now. Telling his brother that we—that we what, exactly? Had sex? Fell for each other? That he broke every unspoken rule in the sibling handbook?
I throw the ball, and Bear bounds after it with joyful abandon, paws kicking up powdery snow.
At leastsomeone'senjoying himself completely.
Just days ago, I was dreading having to spend time alone in a cabin with Harlon Giles, let alone the rest of the Christmasholiday. And now…I can't imagine going back to Denver without him. I can't imagine waking up tomorrow and not feeling his brawny arms around me, not hearing that raspy rumble of a laugh when I say something silly.
When did that happen? When did I go from tolerating his presence to absolutely craving it?
The first time Jayce brought me home to meet his family, Harlon was there. He'd just come off a two-week backcountry patrol, beard scruffy, flannel rolled to his elbows, and when he shook my hand, something electric shot up my arm. His gray eyes held mine for just a second too long before he pulled away and barely spoke to me the rest of the night.
I'd told myself it was nothing. That I was imagining things. That I was just nervous about meeting my boyfriend's family.
But then it kept happening.
Every gathering—that same electric awareness followed by his deliberate distance. I'd thought he hated me. Thought I'd done something wrong, said something offensive, existed in a way that annoyed him.
Turns out he was just trying not to fall in love with his brother's girlfriend.
Who would’ve thought?
Bear drops the soggy tennis ball at my feet, and I throw it again, watching him race across the yard.
My hand finds the small package in my coat pocket—the wooden bear ornament I bought at the general store. I'd been so sure it was the right gift, a memento of our time in that cabin, something to remember this by.
But what if Jayce loses his shit over this whole thing? Harlon might say he doesn’t care. But I know that’s not entirely true. What if Harlon decides family loyalty is more important than what we’ve started?
What if I'm about to have my heart broken on Christmas?
The back door opens, and I tense, but it's just Sadie who emerges carrying drinks. She's bundled in a massive parka that makes her look tiny, her red hair escaping from under a knit hat.
"Thought you could use this." She hands me a mug, and the sharp scent of cinnamon and rum hits my nose.
“Ah, your infamous spiked cider.”
“Yes, but itisChristmas. ’Tis the season for everything to be spiked.” She smiles and settles onto the porch step, and I join her, Bear flopping down between us with a contented sigh. "Also, you looked like you were about to vibrate out of your skin in there."
"That obvious?"
"Only to someone who knows you." She takes a sip, studying me over the rim of her mug. "So. My brother."
Heat floods my face. "Sadie?—"
She actually wiggles, sloshing cider onto the snow. "You both have this...glow."
"We do not have a glow."
"You so do. It's gross to think about too hard…Harlon being my brother and all. But it’s adorable." Her grin is triumphant. "I'm also taking full credit for this, by the way."
I blink. "What?"
“Why do you think I didn’t tell either of you the other was coming?” She says it like she's revealing a master plan. “I knew you’d both make excuses and bow out. But I knew—Iknew—if I could just get you two in the same place without escape routes, something would happen. I just thought it would bethiscabin…not some tiny shack in Hope Peak."
I don't know whether to laugh or strangle her. "Sadie!"
