Mom studied me for a moment and then sighed. “Really?” she asked.

I stared at her. How come everyone was so convinced that Jacob was this crazy hooligan? Going around and converting everyone to his life of crime? Was I the only one who remembered all the good things he’d done before this whole gas station thing went down?

“Of course, Mom! What do you think? He coerced me into kissing him?” I sighed. “You were the one who was encouraging us to kiss downstairs under the mistletoe. But, what? Now that there is no ridiculous competition, it’s suddenly a bad thing to do?”

Mom was silent as she watched me. Then she sighed. “You have to understand what’s at stake here. Andrew almost lost his scholarship because he was hanging out with Jacob. Now, you?” She waved her hand at me. “You could lose your future if you let guys like Jacob take over your life. You could get…pregnant.” Her face paled, and then a stern look crossed over it. “You are not allowed to see Jacob like that again.”

I leaned back against the pillows and began to pick at the lint on my shirt. “Mom. Are you serious? I’m not stupid. I’m not going to get pregnant from kissing a guy.” I groaned at that thought. I doubted any guy would ever want to get close to me again.

And I was tired of my parents always having to win. “I don’t know what’s going on between you guys and the Stephensons, but I’m done. I’m not playing these ridiculous games anymore. You’ve pitted Jacob and Andrew against each other, and now they’re not friends. And now with this”—I swung my legs over the side of the bed in a dramatic movement—“you’ve ruined Christmas.”

I didn’t wait for Mom to respond. I left Jacob’s room and stormed out into the hallway. She was banishing me from Jacob? Was she serious?

Frustration and anger ran through me. Just as I neared my room, Andrew appeared from his doorway. I ran smack dab into his chest.

I pulled back and glared at him. “You,” I said in a voice that rivaled the devil.

He raised his eyebrows. “What happened?”

I held my gaze on his face. What a loyal brother. Ha! Where had he been when I’d tried to defend Jacob earlier? Oh, that’s right, nowhere. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?” I placed my hands on my hips.

His face paled. “What did Jacob say to you?”

I stared at him. “What does that mean? Do you seriously think that Jacob is talking about you behind your back?” I folded my arms. “He’s not like that. He’s never once said anything bad about you. But you?” I shook my head as I stepped around my brother. “You’re way worse than he is.”

I opened my bedroom door and flipped on the light. “Whatever happened, you should forgive him,” I said as I slammed the door on my brother’s startled face.

It felt good for a split second, and then reality fell down around me. Slamming doors on my brother was never going to make me feel better. It didn’t erase what had happened.

My Christmas break romance was over. Jacob and I were over.

Every emotion that I had been trying to suppress exploded inside of me. I flung myself onto my bed and buried my face into the covers. Sobs escaped my lips but were muffled in the folds of fabric.

The first guy who kissed me and even remotely thought I was attractive gets run off by both his parents and mine. I should have known that my chance for love just wouldn’t work out. I was destined to be a bachelorette the rest of my life.

After I had no more tears left to cry, I flipped onto my back and stared up at the underside of the bed above me. Even though I hated myself for thinking about Jacob, I couldn’t help it. He had occupied my thoughts for so long that I wasn’t sure I knew who I was without him.

What was he doing? Was he thinking about me?

Ugh.

I grabbed a nearby pillow and covered my face with it.

One thing was for sure, he probably wasn’t obsessing about our situation like I was. He’d probably already forgotten about me.

And then I thought about his mom. And about my mom. And how much I hated the fact that our parents had dragged us here and forced us to compete. This was ridiculous. They shouldn’t treat us this way.

I spent the rest of the night in my room alone. I could hear games getting played in the living room, but I didn’t care. I was going to stay here until all the merriment died down.

The next morning, I woke up just as frustrated as I had been the night before. Nothing—not even sleep—could make me feel better. It was like someone had reached into my chest and pulled out my heart.

Every part of me hurt.

I groaned as I turned to my side and hugged my chest. Self-pity boiled up inside of me. I let that anger fuel me as I stood up and got dressed. I was done with this stupid competition, and I was recruiting the twins and Max to my cause. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and I was ready to start celebrating my own way. After I threw my hair up into a ponytail, I grabbed the door handle and turned it, a new sense of purpose coming over me.

I was sick of never having any fun. Of always going along with my parents because I didn’t want to make waves. Well, I wanted to make waves. I was going to show them just how Ava Rogers competed.

I walked over to the twin’s door. They were, once again, wrestling inside of the room. I knocked on the door. After a few shushes, I heard Alex call out, “Who’s there?”

I swung the door open to find them red-faced and sweaty, but trying to look as if they hadn’t just been roughhousing in the house that my mom was desperate to keep the cleaning deposit on, “for heaven’s sake.”

“Ready for some real Christmas fun?” I asked, folding my arms and wiggling my eyebrows.

They studied me.

“What exactly are you thinking?” Aiden asked.

I gave him a sly smile and rubbed my hands together. “You’ll just have to come with me to find out.”

I grumbled at Aiden, who was forming a snowball and getting ready to chuck it at Max. For some reason, I thought it would be fun to gather them together in their snow gear and lug them out to the Christmas tree grove to cut down a tree just for us to decorate.

They, of course, were on board. A chance to use a gigantic axe of death would convert any ten-year-old boy. But now that we actually had to drag the tree back to the house, they were suddenly way too tired.

“Aiden!” I yelled as he let go of the snowball, sending it whizzing past me.

He glanced over and shrugged. “Sorry. Max was right behind you.”

I shot him a death glare, but if he saw, he didn’t care. He dive-bombed a snow pile just as he was pelted with snowballs.

Suddenly, the story of the little red hen rolled through my mind. I rolled my eyes as I kept my gaze on the house. I had to do this. I had to show those ridiculous parents of ours just what Christmas spirit meant.

And hopefully forget my broken heart.

When I neared the kitchen window, I made the mistake of glancing up. Jacob was standing just on the other side. He was watching me with a semi-amused expression on his face.

I glared at him and then turned away. Why didn’t he look as miserable as I felt? Had I been the only one who’d cared? Even though he had been the first one to say he liked me, it felt like I was the only one who’d meant it.

“Aiden. Alex,” I said as I turned to find my brothers with snow covering every inch of their bodies.

“What?” Max asked, coming up behind them.

“Help me.” I figured a commanding voice was the only way to get them to do anything.

They sighed very loudly, but complied.

After about half the needles were knocked off, we finally lugged the tree into the house and propped it against the wall. Then I helped excavate them from their snow gear.

We’d made such a huge ruckus that everyone in the house—including Jacob—came into the living room to see what we were doing.

“What’s that?” Andrew asked as he leaned against the wall with a cup of hot cocoa in his hand.

I slipped off my boots and waved toward the tree. “Oh this? I’m glad you asked. This is our Christmas tree. The boys and I are boycotting this ridiculous need for competition. We have decided to do our own Christmas.”

The twins and Max all whooped and hollered while I gave a flourishing bow.

“What?” Mom asked.

I turned to her, anger building up inside of me. “We’re done with your competition and being told what to do.” I sent a pointed look in her direction. “We’re done with making sure our family wins. We just want to have fun and not worry if we frost a cookie wrong or our gingerbread house falls flat.”

Not waiting for her response, I turned to the three eager boys behind me. “Go find any toy you want. We’ll use it as a Christmas ornament. I’ll find a stand.”

They didn’t wait for me to release them. They all bolted off in different directions, each yelling about what toy they were going to get.

Tracy was snapping pictures as they sprinted past. When she peered out from behind the camera, she gave me a small smile. “Can I add something?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

She snapped a few other photos and then disappeared upstairs with a spring in her step.

“So, now we’ll have four Christmas trees?” Mr. Stephenson asked.

I just gave him a small smile. “Yep. And two different Christmases if you adults don’t get your act together.”

I didn’t wait for anyone to ask any more questions. I needed to find a Christmas tree stand before the boys returned and started piling their toys wherever they could find a spot.

I kept my gaze on the floor as I walked past the spectators—including Jacob—and made my way into the garage, hoping to find a stand tucked away on a shelf.

After propping a ladder precariously against the storage shelves along the far wall, I started shifting through the cardboard boxes. Some had Easter decorations. Others were full of pumpkins and scarecrows.

“Ah, come on,” I said, grumbling under my breath.

“Need a hand?”

A shiver rushed down my spine as Jacob’s voice broke the silence. Not wanting to turn around and look into his ridiculously mesmerizing eyes and stupidly handsome face, I kept my head buried in the Halloween box that I was balancing on the edge of the shelf.

“No,” I finally muttered. I closed my eyes for a second, praying that he would go away. “And I don’t think you’re allowed to be in here. We’ve been forbidden to see each other.”

I paused, and when he didn’t answer, I let my shoulders relax. Thank goodness that was over. I shifted slightly on the ladder and suddenly, I found myself falling.

Scrambling to save myself, I tried to free my hand from the box, but the stringy spider web clung to me, and I couldn’t shake myself free.

I screamed as I fell backwards. There was nothing I could do. I was going to die.

I braced myself for the impact, but it never came.

Instead, two very strong and very familiar arms wrapped around me and halted my descent. Jacob was holding me. Of course he was. It was just my luck.

“You okay?” Jacob asked, his annoyingly sexy voice sending unwanted ripples of excitement through my body.

“Yeah, um-hum,” I said as I struggled to stand.

Jacob seemed to sense my rush to get out of his arms and helped me the rest of the way. Once I was upright, I nodded toward him.

“Thanks for…that.” What was I supposed to say? Thanks for rescuing me even though just an hour earlier, our parents were forcing us apart and you seemed totally okay with that?

He nodded and looked away. “You’re welcome.”

I glanced behind him. “Where’s your mom? Are you sure you can be seen talking to me? After all, my mom thinks you’re going to get me pregnant from kissing me.” Heat rushed over my cheeks as I realized what I had just said.

A hurt expression flashed across his face. “She said what?”

I rolled my shoulders, hoping to lessen the tension in them. “Apparently, my parents think you’re this horrible influence that’s going to take my virtue and leave me pregnant.”

His forehead furrowed. “They do?”

I sighed and shook my hand free of the spider webs. “Yeah, but I know none of that is true.” I eyed him, waiting for some indication that I was right.

He did look relieved, but then his defeated expression returned. “Maybe they’re right.”

I was so frustrated, words were no longer forming in my mind. I needed to speak now before I lost my nerve. “Jacob, what the heck are you talking about? They aren’t right. You’re not some guy running around and getting girls pregnant. That’s ridiculous. And I’m sick of you letting people believe that about you.”

He pushed his hands through his hair as he studied the cement. “You think you know me—”

I sighed so loud that he stopped talking. He glanced up at me as he shoved his hands into his front pockets.

“I can’t help you, Jacob. If you want people to believe that about you, then fine. We’re done. Nothing can happen between us with the way things are.” I gave him a weary smile. “And if that’s what you want, it’s what I want.”

Plus, fighting with him didn’t feel very Christmasy. If I wanted to bring back the spirit of this holiday, arguing with him would put me on the naughty list.

“Only you can fix this, Jacob,” I said, hating that I sounded like my mom. I turned and studied the boxes in front of me. There was a straggler at the end marked Christmas Decorations.

I grabbed the ladder and pulled it over. Just as I started to climb, Jacob held out his hand.

“I’ll do it,” he said.

Feelings of hurt, frustration, and excitement rushed through me as I felt the tips of his fingers pressed against my arm. I wanted to run from him, shake him, and kiss him, all at the same time. But, I did none of those. I didn’t want him to know how much this whole situation between us was affecting me. Plus, he was still here, even after my rant. That had to mean something.

So I shrugged and moved back. “Fine.”

He climbed the ladder, and I forced my gaze to remain on the cement floor at my feet. I hated the way his jeans clung to his legs. It just wasn’t fair.

After rifling around in the box for a minute or two, he turned and held out a tree stand. “This work?” he asked.

I nodded. “That’s perfect.” Once Jacob was down, I took the stand from him and turned to head back into the house.

“Hey, Ava,” Jacob said. I couldn’t help it; I stopped in my tracks.

“Yeah?” I closed my eyes, praying and hoping that he’d say something about what had happened in his room yesterday.

“I have an idea.”