“Why would I intimidate you?”
“Why wouldn’t you?” His chin drew back. “You’re smart. Opinionated. Beautiful.”
He might’ve added to the list, but Rachel stopped hearing it. Her thoughts snagged on that third word he’d uttered, unable to compute anything else.
“And you’re a little mean,” he tacked on.
“What?” She shoved him with the flat of her hand and with the way he was sitting—all balled up in an unsteady bundle—Holden almost tipped completely over.
“Case and point.” He lifted himself back up and stretched out his long legs in front of the fire. “You just pushed me.”
“I didn’t push you. I nudged you.”
With one wide shoulder, Holden gently bumped hers. “That’s a nudge.”
He wasn’t wrong, but the way her pulse skittered out of rhythm from the contact felt all kinds of wrong. She inhaled deeply to clear her head. Was it possible the smoke was already getting to her?
“Like I said,” he continued as if he didn’t even notice her falter, “You’re intimidating. Always have been.”
“Oh, please. There was nothing intimidating about the skinny, freckly, brace-faced kid I was in high school. I was a nerd to the one-hundredth degree.”
“Nerds are intimidating!” Holden’s voice lifted. “You were always so smart, Rachel. So creative. You were the only person better than me at practically everything. You think that’s not intimidating?”
“Everything I did, you tried to do better,” she said firmly. “You just wanted to show me up.”
“I just wanted tokeepup,” he corrected. “There’s a difference.”
Just then, a spark from the fireplace shot out of the hearth and landed on the brick ledge in front of it. The embers fizzled almost immediately, but Rachel’s pulse didn’t readjust as quickly.
“What is this? Some sort of campfire confession?” She forced the joke.
“I don’t think I’m confessing anything. It was public knowledge that we were rivals,” he said. “I guess we still are.”
Is that what they were? Rivals? Because it didn’t feel like that now, sitting side by side in front of a crackling, cozy fire. It wasn’t friendship, but there was something there. Acquaintances weren’t this casual.
“I’m not your rival, Holden.” She smirked. “Our Christmas tree is just going to annihilate yours.”
“Is that so?”
Scout began to yap in her sleep from her curled up position next to them. Her little paws stretched, racing in place while she likely dreamed of gallivanting over snow-covered hills. Rachel ran her hand over the dog’s soft coat.
“You measured the tree yourself,” she said.
“I did. And it’s exactly the same height as ours.”
Her throat scratched. “There’s no way they are exactly the same height.”
“But they are.”
“My dad is going to lose his mind.” Rachel bit her lip.
“If he’s anything like mine, it’s already lost. They are really into it, aren’t they?”
She laughed. “Do you think that’s our fault?”
“That they’re obsessed with this whole homegrown Christmas tree thing? How would that be our fault?”
“Because we’ve set the tone with all of our competitiveness over the years. They don’t know how to view one another as anything but family rivals.”
