I can hear my boots shifting and compacting the snow under each footstep to the front door. The sound is amplified in the silence of a snow-covered forest. “It’s so peaceful and quiet up here.”
“Just wait until you get one of Jesse’s drinks in your hand. You’ll never want to leave.” Henry holds the door and gestures me inside.
The warmth of the house quickly surrounds me. The smell of pine and hot apple toddies hits my nose in an inviting way, but the news Henry just softballed me hits me harder, and I hesitate in the doorway.
“Wait. Jesse? I thought it was just you, me, and your sister?”
An innocent smile creeps onto his face—one I know all too well. He’s trying to lessen the blow of whatever he is going to tell me next.
“Henry?” I ask, noticing almost half a dozen shoes in the entryway.
“Clara decided to join our parents in Paris for Christmas this year. I know; I was just as surprised as you are.” His face pinches with unease as I cross my arms. “Luke’s dad had some work to finish up in Japan, so he was going to be all alone. I invited him … out of the goodness of my heart! And then he invited Jesse …”
I work my jaw and wait, knowing there is more.
“And Jesse invited Baylor,” he mumbles under his breath as if I won’t hear him.
“Baylor is here?” I whisper in a hushed tone.
Henry winces. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Tell him to fuck off! Duh! He can afford a ticket to anywhere he wants in the world. Why does he have to behere?”
Baylor Frost, Henry’s oldest—and most infuriating—friend, is the last person I want to spend my Christmas with.
“I talked to him. He said he will be on his best behavior.”
“Oh, he said that, did he?” I arch a brow.
He tilts his head slightly. “Well, he said he’d do his best.”
“Satan has better manners than that guy. Why didn’t you tell me he was going to be here?”
“Because you wouldn’t have come.”
“Damn right!” I toss my hair out of my face in frustration. “You know what? I’m okay with you buying my plane ticket out of here after withholding this from me. The nerve!”
Henry blocks the door. “Yeah? Would you rather be back at your drafty dorm with no one around? Or would you like a ticket to frigid Minnesota to spend the holidays with your fucked up parents and listen to them fight the whole time?”
I step closer to him and narrow my eyes. “I would rather be in a fish tank full of piranhas than be stuck in a house with Baylor for two weeks.Move.”
Henry steps aside, his shoulders sinking.
As I thrust the door back open, I’m met with thick snowflakes being thrown at me from high winds. “Where did this come from?” I look up at the sky and get pelted with more frozen fluffballs.
“Welcome to Colorado.” He leans against the doorframe. “This is just the start of it. We’re supposed to get several inches throughout the night. There’s no way you’re driving back down the mountain in this.”
“Oh, yes, I am.” I zip my jacket up as high as it goes and continue toward my car.
Snow is quickly covering the windshield.
Henry lets out a loud sigh. “Aspen, he already knows you’re here. If you leave now, he’ll win.”
I stop mid-step. If there’s one thing Henry knows about me, it’s that I hate losing. I don’t back down. Ever. Especially when it comes to Baylor fucking Frost.
I release a growl that could compete with some of the predators I know are lurking out there and stomp back inside. “That was low. Even for you.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Henry shakes his head. “This will be fun. I promise.”
