There was something to be said about winter in Colorado. Nothing good in my opinion but the locals seemed to like it just fine. If I was forced to think about it, I’d realize there was an ethereal beauty about the snow-capped landscape, even if the temperature was not fit for human habitability.

I’d lived in Sterling for too long, I felt that I was looking forward to nothing more than getting the hell out of Colorado to start college in the fall but as I walked through town, my hands freezing inside my mittens, I wondered if I would survive another icy winter there before heading back to my home state of California. It was a conversation I’d had with myself every winter for five years and yet somehow I always managed to survive despite my convictions that spring would come and my parents would find my perfectly preserved body in a block of ice somewhere outside the high school.

It never ceased to amaze me that my parents had up and moved us to a place like Sterling when they had both been born and raised in the San Bernardino Valley too. If I remembered correctly, they cited something about work, a story that neither Gray or I had much believed but at the time. After all, they were both freelancers. They could work from anywhere. It seemed unlikely that they had to pick the middle of nowhere to “work.”

But we stayed, even though both Grayson and I had kicked and screamed, citing every argument we could about Colorado. We were part of Sterling’s fabric now, much as I hated to admit it.

I pushed my way inside Lulu Belle’s and slipped off the wool mittens, stuffing them into my pockets as I approached the counter. A lot of good the coverings did—I could feel the cold of my skin clear through my coat.

“Hi, honey. What’ll be today?” It was the older barista, the one with the nice eyes and gentle smile. The one whose name I could never remember. I hated that because I knew it was something simple too.

“A white hot chocolate please,” I replied, digging into my purse for a five-dollar bill. “Extra whipped cream.”

“Coming right up.”

She rang in my order and I left her to keep the change as I stepped aside to let the next person in line approach. I froze when I saw who it was and quickly turned my head so he wouldn’t see me but it was an exercise in futility. Of course he’d seen me.

“Oh, hey Blake,” Chance muttered uncomfortably. “I didn’t see you there.”

I forced a smile and nodded.

“That’s me,” I quipped. “Inconspicuous me.”

His mouth twisted into a scowl and I wondered if it was because he didn’t understand the word “inconspicuous.” I hoped so.

What did I ever see in this buffoon? I asked myself but it was dumb. My heart was thudding in my chest as we stood, inches apart, pretending to make polite conversation.

To my relief, he quickly gave up the charade and turned his broad, quarterback shoulders away from me as if he’d already forgotten I was there.

“Americano,” he ordered. “Two sugars.”

He didn’t bother to return his attention on me but I was basically used to that—we’d dated for three months and I was well accustomed to being ignored by Chance in public. In private, he’d been all over me, however.

The barista handed me my drink and I snatched it up eagerly, thanking her as I moved away. I didn’t want to be around Chance for one second longer than necessary. He seemed to have sucked the air right out of the room with his arrival.

Or was that just me?

I looked around for a place to sit, the café already filled with the after school crowd but there was no one I knew. Well, that’s a lie—there were lots of people I knew but no one who would welcome me into their fold willingly. So what if I’d been in Sterling for half a decade? I wasn’t one of their blue-blood kindergarten buddies. I was still the weird chick with the glasses who was more concerned with getting good grades than going to the mall.

For a while, when I was dating Chance, I had thought that maybe, just maybe, I’d have a chance to be part of the “in” crowd but that hadn’t lasted. I had no idea why he’d asked me out in the first place but pathetically, it had been the best three months of my time in Sterling.

But now that’s over and I’m back to being the resident nerd, I thought grimly, walking past another table of averted gazes. I found a single wing chair by the gas fireplace and sat down with my books. I wanted to do some studying in peace before going home. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to focus once Mom and Dad started at one another’s throats again and I had a project due for science which was an extra credit. I wasn’t failing the course, not by a long shot, but I wanted to ensure my grades were stellar for graduation. June couldn’t come fast enough in my opinion.

“Did you ever end up putting out for him?” A lazy voice asked me and I looked up, my back immediately tensing. I didn’t need to look. I knew that irritating, deep tone. It haunted my nightmares.

“What?” I snapped, glaring at Malcolm Laurier through my glasses. I’d heard him just fine but I was biding my time, thinking of a snappy comeback. Why did he always manage to catch me off guard?

“You know that’s why he asked you out, don’t you? He thought he could fuck you.”

Like the prude I was, I balked at the loose use of his expletives. It reminded me of hearing my parents go at it and it was a rote response to tense at the “f” word, stupid as it was.

Instead of answering, that quick retort failing me as always, I lowered my head back into my backpack and continued rummaging through the contents for my science book.

“I was just wondering if you finally put out which is why he dumped you.”

I hated that my face was the color of cherry tomatoes but there wasn’t too much I could do about that. It didn’t seem to matter how much I got picked on by the masses, I never got used to it.

“Go away, Malcolm. I have work to do.”

“Nah, I didn’t think you put out either. Chance must have been pissed to have wasted his time with you for all those months.”

My head jerked up and I narrowed my dark eyes.

“Almost as pissed as my brother is going to be when he realizes how much time he’s wasted on your sister,” I snapped back with uncharacteristic harshness. I couldn’t help it—the entire Laurier family just brought out the worst in me. I wasn’t sure who I despised more—the arrogant Malcolm or his high-maintenance, unpleasable sister, Ella.

From what I’d heard Mom and Dad say, Carmen and Victor Laurier were mirror images of their children in personality.

There’s something wrong with that entire family. Especially this one.

To my bitter amusement, Mal’s jaw locked and he glared at me.

“Your brother is exactly like Chance Edwards. I’m not surprised in the least that you’d date someone like him.”

“If that was true,” I countered slowly. “My brother would have been long done with Ella. Everyone knows she puts out on the first date.”

It wasn’t a very nice thing to say, calling his sister a slut but Mal wasn’t letting sleeping dogs lie. What did he expect me to do? I was sick of being quiet.

Still, if I had been a guy, I’m sure that comment would have probably earned me a fist to the face but Mal only stood there, shaking.

“Don’t talk about my sister that way!” he growled and I noted with some pleasure that his tan face was growing purple. It was nice to see him looking ugly for once. His grey eyes looked like hot coals as he glowered at me and I scoffed lightly.

“You sure can dish it out but you can’t take it, huh?”

“You’re as big an asshole as Grayson,” he spat back, spinning to rush away. I wondered if he was worried he might attack me if he remained in place.

“Look at you using proper syntax in a sentence!” I yelled after him but he didn’t turn around.

Good riddance, I thought grimly but I found that I was also trembling slightly by the exchange. I was used to Mal’s stupid comments. They’d started almost as soon as his sister and my brother had started dating almost five years earlier.

No one had thought it would last between the young couple. No one but me. I knew even when I was twelve that Grayson found something special about Ella Laurier although what that could be was beyond me.

She was loud, whiny and a princess as far as I could tell. She was a dark beauty, the same black hair and smoky eye as her brother but it was still surprising to me that my sensitive souled brother would opt for a girl like her. I had always envisioned him dating a nerd like me, not a cheerleader.

But he must have seen something in her because there they were, still together.

And it drove our families crazy.

Some of us more than others, I thought, half-amused as I watched Mal storm off. I didn’t feel remotely bad for what I’d said. He’d been trying to get under my skin for years but that was just who he was—a cocksure, brat who had never been put in his place in his life.

Someone had to tell him off. It may as well have been me. Everyone else in school seemed to think the sun rose and set out of his ass.

Then why did I feel guilty doing it?

I shoved the thought out of my head and grunted. First Chance had ruined my day, now Malcolm Laurier. I wasn’t going to get any peace at Lulu Belle’s that afternoon. If I was going to be unsettled, I may as well do it at home from the comfort of my bedroom.

Reluctantly, I rose and pulled my mittens back out of my coat, slipping them over my long, pale fingers. I still hadn’t even gotten warm.

Idiot boys, I thought grimly. I can’t wait to get out of this town.

I made my way through the center of town toward Platte Street. I was only a few minutes from home but somehow, I’d managed to lose feeling in all my toes by the time I entered the front door.

Naturally, the first thing I heard was shouting.

“…my dead body!” My mom was howling, a near hysteria in her voice. “Why are you doing this to us, Grayson?”

The drama has already begun. And here I was worried that I’d missed it.

A part of me wanted to retreat into my room and shut the door, using my earphones to block out noise but curiosity got the better of me. It wasn’t just Mom and Dad going at each other’s throats as usual—this involved Grayson too.

Even in his youth, Gray had not been one to incense my parents’ anger. Mom and Dad did that enough to each other, after all. There was no need for Gray and I to help their cause. No, Grayson was a silent, brooding type but he never came home after curfew or broke the rules…well, not as far as my parents knew anyway. In fact, the only thing I could remember him ever doing which upset them was date Ella Laurier.

I bet this is about that wretched girl.

I stole closer to the kitchen where my mom was still going off in a bout of histrionics but that in itself was commonplace. She’d always been somewhat of a drama queen. In some ways, it wasn’t surprising that Grayson had picked Ella—she shared a lot of Mom’s shrill qualities.

“This isn’t about you, Mom,” Grayson growled from his spot against the wall. His arms were folded over his lean chest and even though I could only see his side profile, there was unmistakable anger in his brown eyes.

“Grayson,” Dad interjected, trying to take control of the situation as always. “We only want what’s best for you but you’re only twenty-one. You can’t possibly make a decision like this.”

“Oh but joining the army is fine? Risking my life is okay?”

There was a deep bitterness in his voice which twisted my gut. My dad had been pushing him to enlist for years, a sore subject with my brother. Since Grayson’s grades had not been good enough for a decent college, Dad had started presenting other options for his only son, choices which only angered my brother.

“They are totally different matters, Grayson and you know it. One ensures your future, the other…”

Dad trailed off like he was worried he might irk Grayson more with what he was obviously thinking.

“How’s that, Dad? The only difference I can see is that you want me to join the army.”

“No!” Mom snapped again. “No way. It’s not happening. Not while you live under our roof.”

What was going on? I’d never heard Grayson so firm about anything but he was not backing down. I found myself moving closer to the kitchen to get a better listen. No one had noticed I’d entered yet.

“We’re not going to be living under your roof,” he retorted.

We’re not?

Was Grayson planning on moving us out of there, away from the endless tension which enshrouded the household?

It filled me with hope but it also didn’t make any sense—I was leaving for school in eight months. Why now?

“Oh!” Mom choked. “This outta be rich. What are you going to do for money? You think your job at the gas station is going to put food on the table? Pay your rent? Do you have any idea what the cost of living is like right now? And what is the princess going to do without her trips to the nail salon every week?”

Oh.

Now it made sense. This had nothing to do with Grayson taking us out of the combative house in which we’d been raised. They were talking about Grayson and Ella moving in together. It had nothing to do with me at all. I was disappointed on so many levels.

“Don’t worry about us,” Grayson said gruffly. “We’ll make it work but thanks for your concern.”

The sarcasm in his voice was almost palpable.

I sighed and sank against the wall. It wasn’t my business, I knew that but I couldn’t help but want to beg him not to be so stupid. Ella Laurier was trouble—and not just because my parents said so. She had the same reputation as her brother. They were both spoiled and used people. I didn’t want Grayson sucked into that any more than he already was.

Maybe it’s a good thing, I reasoned silently. He’ll live with her for five minutes before kicking her to the curb. There’s no way two people as different as them can live under the same roof. Look at Mom and Dad.

I shuddered as I realized that Mom and Dad had two children.

“It’s happening,” Grayson said flatly, turning to stalk from the kitchen. He saw me standing in the hall and flashed me a tight smile.

“Hey.”

“Hi. Everything okay?” I asked even though I knew it wasn’t. He paused, his eyes darkening slightly.

“Everything’s great actually.”

My parents had followed him out, their faces contorted in anger.

“Did you hear the good news, Blake?” My mom asked sarcastically. “Did you tell her your idiotic plan, Grayson?”

I inhaled and looked at my brother, trying to smile at him encouragingly. He was my only sibling and I loved him. I wanted to support him, no matter how much I despised his girlfriend. In a few months, I wouldn’t have to listen to this every day anyway and if Grayson wanted to move in with Ella, more the power to him.

“Well?” Mom barked in her shrill way. “Aren’t you proud of what you’re doing?”

Grayson ignored her and grinned at me but he looked embarrassed.

“I’m getting married, Blake,” he said and I thought I’d misunderstood him.

“What? To whom?”

That wasn’t what I had meant to say obviously but it was the first thing that came out of my mouth. Grayson’s tentative smile became a scowl.

“You too? Can’t anyone in this family be happy for us?” he muttered, pushing past me to mount the stairs, taking them two at a time. The sound of the door slamming echoed through the main floor.

Mom smirked at me.

“That boy is going to ruin his life the same way I ruined mine,” she laughed and I hung my head, shamed that she would say such a cruel thing in front of my dad who was standing right there.

“Well,” Dad replied brightly. “Don’t worry, Maggie.”

I inhaled, knowing that my father was about to retort with something just as vicious. It was the same sick game they played with each other and had for as long as I could remember.

“Don’t worry?” Mom retorted. “How can I not worry, Doug? Maybe you don’t care about our son but I do and I won’t sit back and let him throw his life away.”

Through my peripheral vision I saw Dad leer and I braced myself for his response.

“We’re lucky enough to live a day and age where divorce is a viable option. Hopefully Grayson is smarter than us and will know when to walk away.”

Oh Christ.

I snuck from the foyer, leaving them both to glare at one another. I’d never have a healthy relationship, I just knew it. Not when I had a houseful of whacko role models.