Ethan

“Come on, bro. It’s my year to pick,” Owen argued.

Ethan Hall growled at his brother as he continued stuffing board shorts and t-shirts into his duffle bag. “Yeah, but this wasn’t really your choice, was it?”

“It’ll be fun, E.”

“For you maybe, but I don’t really care about going to some cheesy Christmas wonderland to meet your girlfriend’s parents.”

“If you gave her a chance you might like her,” Owen argued.

“Brother, I could give her a million chances and I’m still not going to like her. She’s like an over-caffeinated Chihuahua.”

Owen got that stupid giddy smile on his face that Ethan loathed. It was the same lovesick expression he always got when thinking about his girlfriend. “Yes, but she’s my over-caffeinated Chihuahua and I want you to like her, E.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “She took Bermuda from me so she’s not off to a good start.”

“We’ve been to Bermuda the past three Christmases,” Owen replied.

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“Variety is the spice of life, little brother. You should try it sometime,” Owen said with a peppy wink. “Besides, we can go to Bermuda next year.”

“Damn straight we will. Next year I get to pick where we spend Christmas.”

Owen laughed. “Fine. But this year, I’m in charge and I say we’re going to the Everett’s Christmas Lodge and Tree Farm. So if you don’t want to freeze to death, you should probably pack something other than shorts and t-shirts.”

Ethan shrugged. “We’ll see.”

“I’m not going to change my mind, bro. You need to get on board or you’re not going to enjoy Christmas.”

“When is Christmas ever enjoyable?”

Owen’s face softened. “That’s what I’m trying to change, Ethan. Maybe it’s time you try, too.” With that, he walked out of their dorm room.

Ethan sighed heavily. He hated when he pushed his brother too far. He didn’t mean to. Owen was the only other person on the planet who understood why the holidays were so hard for Ethan. Usually, they were on the same page and commiserated together on some far away beach with sunshine and cocktails to help them forget why they hated Christmas, but everything was different this year.

Owen’s new girlfriend had brought a happiness back to him that Ethan hadn’t seen in years. Ethan should be happy for his brother, and for the most part he was, but not during the holidays. During the holidays, Ethan wanted his brother to himself so he had someone else to share his pain. He was the only family Ethan had left, so the fact that Owen’s girlfriend was stealing him was another strike against her.

“Maybe it’s time I try?” Ethan muttered to himself. “How can he even say that?” Ethan grumbled as he continued to slam vacation attire into his duffle bag. “I try every single day.”

And he did. But no amount of trying would make him forget he’d lost his mother on Christmas Eve all those years ago. Ethan knew his brother was in love and that was why he had a new, shiny attitude about the holidays, but Ethan didn’t see the point of love. It didn’t last. He’d loved his mother, but cancer didn’t care about love or family or holidays. It took what it wanted, when it wanted. It didn’t make exceptions for love. If it had, their mother would still be here because Ethan couldn’t imagine another woman being loved more than he’d loved her.

He finished packing and sat down on his bed with a tired sigh. He hated how easy it seemed for everyone but him to move on. His father had moved on, remarrying and starting a new family, and now Owen was moving on with his energetic new girlfriend from the middle-of-nowhere New York.

Ethan rubbed his face and glanced at his reflection in the mirror. What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he move on?

He sighed again as he found himself wondering if maybe some people just weren’t meant to find happiness.

Chloe

The late bell rang and Chloe looked up from her desk even though she told herself not to. She knew who would be striding through the door. He was always the last one to class because he spent all his time sucking Maci’s face in the mistletoe-laden halls. And even though Chloe knew better than to glance at the door, she couldn’t stop herself.

As she watched Brady walk in her heart plummeted. Today was one of the days he didn’t even look at her and for some reason that hurt worse than the days he did. It was like she didn’t even exist anymore and she couldn’t understand that. They’d known each other since they were ten. And they’d spent the entire summer and the first few weeks of senior year really getting to know each other.

Brady had been her first everything. First kiss, first boyfriend, first love, first . . . Her cheeks flushed as she remembered all their other firsts. God, she was so stupid. How had she ever thought he loved her?

Mr. Tanner started droning on about their history papers and Chloe put her head down, squeezing her eyes shut tight as she willed her tears away. Only a few more hours, she told herself. Then you can go home and have a break from boys and broken hearts.

She was looking forward to ten days without having to see Brady and Maci in the halls. And for once she was glad her parents were making her miss the Westerly ski trip to work at the tree farm. All summer she’d been scheming how to get out of helping over the holidays to go on the ski trip with Brady, but her worrying had been premature. It was Maci going on the ski trip with Brady now.

Nothing had worked out the way Chloe had expected this year. The heaviness of that made her feel suddenly tired. So tired that she didn’t bother reopening her eyes as she drifted off to the sound of Mr. Tanner’s monotone voice.

Buzz!

The bell rang and Chloe jumped in her seat. She looked around the classroom as students bustled by. Quickly, she felt her cheeks to see if the tears had been real. They were dry. It was only a dream.

Chloe collected her things and tried to pinch some life back into her cheeks as she made her way toward to door. Before she could escape, Mr. Tanner called out to her.

“Miss Price?”

“Yes?”

“Are you feeling well?”

“Yes.”

“I couldn’t help noticing you had your head down in class.”

Chloe’s cheeks burned. “I’m sorry, Mr. Tanner. I’m just tired. I’ve been busy with work after school.”

He smiled warmly. “Ah, yes. The farm’s open late hours until Christmas, isn’t it?”

She nodded.

“Well, only a few more days, then you can get some rest. I don’t want you sleeping in class, young lady.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Tanner. It won’t happen again.”

“If you have your father get me an invite to your famous Christmas Eve party, I think I can let it slide,” he said with a wink.

“I’ll ask him,” Chloe said, taking the opportunity to escape.

She sighed with relief once in the hall. Most of the time she hated that her parents ran a Christmas tree farm. It meant Christmas was a business, which kinda took the magic out of the holiday for Chloe. But sometimes it came in handy.

The farm and newly added lodge were extremely popular and nearly fully booked during the winter months. But that didn’t stop everyone in their small town of Pine Island from trying to leverage an in. But if it got Mr. Tanner off her back, Chloe was glad to work the system.

She hadn’t been at her best these past few months and that nightmare she’d had in his class this morning had happened on more than a few occasions. Thankfully, Mr. Tanner’s class was the only one Chloe had with Brady this semester. It frustrated her to no end that she still let Brady have such a hold on her. How long was she going to let her mind relive the humiliating moment of getting dumped?

Things hadn’t happened exactly like the nightmare. Brady and Maci hadn’t magically appeared in the hallway just to make out in front of her. And no one had pointed and laughed at her, but everyone had seen her reaction when she walked up to catch her boyfriend sucking Maci’s face. It hadn’t been fun. And neither was reliving nightmare versions of it.

Chloe had a queasy feeling in her stomach for the rest of her day as she did her best to avoid all the places she knew Brady and Maci might be hanging out. Unfortunately, Chloe’s luck ran out after lunch when she barreled straight into Brady coming out of the bathroom.

Chloe felt his strong arms circle around her, the deep tenor of his voice vibrating through her as he gave her a teasing, “Whoa there, Clo.”

“S-sorry,” she stuttered, trying to back away from him so quickly she knocked into someone else in the busy hall.

Brady steadied her again and before she could get away he spoke. “So, how’ve you been?”

“What?” she replied, dumbfounded.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I haven’t seen you around much.”

Was he serious? Why the heck would he see her around? Even if he’d been looking it’s not like he could see much past Maci’s perfect lips, which was where he spent most of his time.

When she didn’t respond, Brady spoke again, lowering his voice. “I just want to make sure you're okay.”

Chloe gave a laugh. “You're worried I'm not okay?”

“Yeah, we’re friends, right?”

“Friends? Are you kidding me, Brady?”

“Look Chloe, we’ve known each other forever. Can’t we find a way not to be weird around each other?”

“When are we ever around each other, Brady?”

“I don't know. School, next door, the Christmas Eve party . . .”

Chloe frowned. “I know it must really suck that you have to see me at school and be my neighbor, but don't worry, in a few months we’ll both graduate and go to college and we’ll never have to see each other again. And as far as the Christmas Eve party, you'll be on a ski trip with Maci, so you can stop worrying about me being weird because you won’t have to deal with it.”

It was Brady’s turn to frown. “Is that really what you want? To never see me again?”

“Why do you care?”

Brady

Why did he care?

He genuinely liked Chloe. She was one of his oldest friends and they’d had a lot of fun this summer. But was that it? Were they just a convenient fling? He couldn’t help wondering if they could’ve been more if Maci hadn’t intervened.

Before Brady could come up with an answer for Chloe he saw Maci walking down the hall toward him. The bright smile that had been plastered on her pretty face began to slide when she saw him talking to Chloe. Crap! She’d expressly told him she didn’t like him hanging around Chloe.

Brady squeezed the back of his neck to release his stress. He could only handle one difficult conversation at a time and knowing Maci wasn’t going to be happy about his latest news he decided to cut his conversation with Chloe short. But by the time Brady turned back to her, Chloe was already walking away.

He watched as Chloe hustled away from him, her boots squeaking noisily down the hall. Dammit. He honestly hadn’t wanted to hurt her—again.

He’d set out to apologize and smooth things over before winter break. This thing with Maci wasn’t premeditated. It just sort of happened.

They’d been flirting after football practice over the summer but he hadn’t thought anything more would happen. It was just some innocent fun until Maci snuck up on Brady and covered his eyes at his locker that first week of school. He’d honestly thought it was Chloe that day until he’d felt Maci’s tongue go down his throat. Chloe didn’t kiss like that. But hot damn was that a kiss.

Still, Brady had known Chloe since they were kids. He hated that he’d treated her poorly. She deserved better and he wanted to make things right between them. His conscious told him it was the right thing to do, but the rest of him was telling his conscious to shut the hell up. He had Maci Martin on his arm. Freaking Maci Martin! Head cheerleader and most gorgeous girl at Westerly High. Brady would be an idiot to screw that up. And thanks to his coach, he still might.

“Hey,” Maci said, her normally cheery voice guarded. “Were you just talking to your ex-girlfriend?”

“I was talking to my friend and neighbor,” Brady corrected.

She narrowed her charcoaled eyes and cocked her head to the side in that way she did when she was aggravated. “About what?”

“Nothing. I was really waiting to talk to you.”

Her smile returned. “Really? What do you want to talk to me about?”

“Winter break.”

Maci bounced on her toes. “Yay! I’m soooo excited about spending it with you. The ski trip is going to be amazing! I booked a suite with a hot tub,” she said coyly.

Brady bit his lip, mentally cursing his basketball coach for scheduling a tournament in the middle of what Brady was anticipating to be the best weekend of his life. “About the ski trip . . .” Brady started. “How mad would you be if I couldn’t go?”

Maci’s eyes narrowed again.