The gingerbread house pieces were out of the oven and resting on cooling racks when Jacob finally came back upstairs. He was carrying Max over his shoulder. Max was squealing and wiggling, stating that this was not the way you played cops and robbers and he was going to report Jacob to the authorities.

Jacob just laughed, lowered his brother down, and ruffled Max’s hair.

I tried not to stare as I shifted uncomfortably on the kitchen chair that I had been forced to sit on. After I burned a few batches, Mrs. Stephenson banished me from touching the food and set me on cookie-watching duty. Apparently, if anyone came in and tried to steal a gingerbread piece, I was to swat their hand away.

Max protested to Jacob’s show of affection. He slipped away from Jacob and sprinted to the basement door, slamming it behind him.

Now alone, I tried to look inconspicuous as I focused on the book in front of me. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to happen. Did I want Jacob to talk to me or just leave me alone?

The chair beside me scraped against the floor. And the butterflies in my stomach answered my question. Jacob was going to hang out with me. I forced myself to relax.

When I saw Jacob reach out to grab a bit of the gingerbread, instinct kicked in, and I reached up and swatted his hand. He laughed as he pulled it back.

“What was that for?” he asked.

I shrugged as I folded the corner of the page I’d been reading and turned to look at him. “Just following your mom’s directions.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and studied me. “My mom told you to hurt people?”

I nodded. “Something like that.”

He shook his head. “That doesn’t seem like her,” he said with sarcasm coating his words.

I fiddled with the jacket cover of the book. I wasn’t sure where to go next. We’d spent a lot of our time together here. In these back-and-forth, flirty conversations.

Every time I tried to bring up something deeper, he’d either shut me down or change the subject.

Before I could speak, Andrew walked in. His gaze landed on me and Jacob, and I saw his expression tighten. I half-expected him to leave from the way he was glaring at Jacob, and I about fell out of my chair when he took the seat next to me.

I gave him a smile. Besides our conversation earlier, Andrew and I hadn’t really talked at all today. Despite his feelings about Jacob, I wasn’t going to turn my back on my brother. He was family, after all.

“Whatcha doing?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Trying to find something to do.”

I snorted. “So you came down here? All I’m doing is watching these cookies so Mrs. Stephenson doesn’t have my head if they get stolen.”

“Oh, you mean these—” He started to reach out, and with catlike reflexes, I swatted his hand away.

He shook his hand in mock pain. “Geez. So much for being family.”

I shrugged. “I value my life over your stomach.”

Andrew chuckled, and then the air fell silent.

“Why don’t we play a card game?” I asked. I hated sitting here in silence, feeling the tension emanating off of both of them. I’d be Switzerland if I had to be. Besides, wasn’t it time that they got over the past? And if they weren’t ready, I sure as heck was.

“I’m not sure,” Jacob said. I could feel him twitching uncomfortably next to me. I wanted to reach out and rest my hand on his so he’d calm down. His agitation was making me nervous but I refrained, convincing myself that touching him would freak him out more than calm him down.

I glanced over at him and smiled. “It’ll be fun. Come on, let’s go see what games they have.”

Jacob studied me and then sighed. “Fine. I’ll play.”

I clapped my hands and pushed out my chair. “Yes, this is going to be so fun.”

But before Jacob moved, Andrew stood. “I’ll help you. You can wait here, Jacob.”

I stared at my brother. That seemed a bit rude. I moved to say something, but Jacob just shrugged.

“Better for me,” he said as he settled back into his chair.

Andrew and I walked into the living room together. I tried to keep my frustration about what he’d said pushed down. Why was he acting like this? I knew that Jacob had hurt him, but it was time to move on.

“That was rude,” I said, glancing over and giving him my signature I’m annoyed with you look.

Andrew brushed it off as he pulled open the cabinets that ran along the far wall. “I’m not sure what you are talking about.”

I scoffed. “Seriously? You are being really mean to Jacob.”

Andrew stopped moving and turned to look at me. “Wait, are you defending him?” He narrowed his eyes. “Why? What did he tell you?” He shook his head. “I knew he was just spending time with you to get to me.”

I wasn’t sure what the heck he was talking about, and frustration built up inside of me. Was I just a pawn to the two of them? I hadn’t thought of that before. Were they just using me to get back at each other? Is that why Jacob had been so nice to me?

Bile rose up in my throat, but I muscled it back down. That was ridiculous. First, I was giving way too much credit to the boys who used to put glue in their hair and ate mud growing up. Second, I didn’t want to think that the only reason Jacob would spend time with me was to get back at my brother.

But, the more I let that thought linger in my mind, the more real it became. Could it be true? No. I was just being stupid. Right?

Frustrated and angry, I glared at Andrew as I grabbed Sorry. “I have no idea what you are talking about, but I’m tired of the way you two are acting. You’re acting like children, and I’m not getting in the middle of it anymore.” I hugged the game to my chest and raised my chin defiantly. “Now, put aside whatever it is between you and let’s play a game.”

Andrew watched me for a second before he sighed. “Fine.”

Thankful that he wasn’t going to argue with me, I led him back into the kitchen where Jacob was still sitting at the table.

After we set up the game, we started to play. A few rounds into it, I could feel the tension slowly start to dissipate. I even allowed myself to wonder if, perhaps, we’d finally reached a point where they no longer hated each other.

And then Andrew knocked Jacob’s piece off the board. Literally. It sailed across the kitchen and plopped into the sink with a small tink.

Jacob glared at him. Andrew, of course, had a triumphant grin on his face as he sat back in his chair.

The tension was not only back, but it had increased four hundred percent.

“It’s just a game, Jake,” Andrew said.

I winced at his mocking tone. I glared at Andrew, but he didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy smirking. It made me really want to punch him.

Jacob shrugged. “Don’t get too cocky. I may have taken the fall last time, but next time, it’s on you.” He held Andrew’s gaze as he folded his arms and leaned back.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Andrew’s smile fade. I furrowed my brow, suddenly getting the feeling that they were talking about something very different than this game of Sorry.

“I didn’t ask for your pawn to be there,” Andrew said, his tone growing more strained by the minute.

Jacob scoffed. “Typical. It’s my fault for getting in your way.” Jacob pushed his hands through his hair. “I should have known that was the kind of friend you’d turn out to be. Nice true colors.”

I was tired of this weird conversation, so I raised my hand, hoping it would silence the two of them. It didn’t.

Andrew leaned forward. “You’re not the saint you try to paint yourself as. You didn’t have to take the fall. You could have spoken up.” Andrew’s face was red now, contrasting against his blond hair.

What the heck was he talking about? “Andrew—” I started, but Jacob cut me off.

“I never said I was a saint. I’m just a good friend. I’m sorry if you don’t know what that is. ‘Cause for as long as I can remember, you’ve been a pretty crappy one.” Jacob pushed his chair back, the legs scraping against the floor. “I’m done playing,” he said as his pained and frustrated gaze met mine.

I couldn’t stop him. Before I’d opened my lips, he was across the kitchen and disappearing into the living room. Frustrated with the way this entire evening had gone down, I turned to glare at Andrew.

He shrugged his shoulders. “What?” he asked as he flicked a few game pieces off the table. They clinked as they landed on the floor.

I punched his arm, and he winced but didn’t move.

“What are you talking about, ‘what’? What is the matter with you? Why are you treating Jacob like that?” I was so frustrated with my brother that it was choking my throat. I wanted them to get along—no needed them to. I was pretty sure I had a better chance of getting those two to be friends again than I did of forcing myself to stop liking Jacob.

“You guys used to be friends. I’m sure you could figure out how to do it again.” Man, even I could hear the desperation in my voice.

Andrew shook his head as he pushed away from the table. “You don’t understand, Ava. You never will. Stop trying to get us to be friends again. It’s over.” He held up his hand as he turned away from me. “Just leave me alone.”

I watched as my brother walked out of the room and disappeared downstairs. Now alone, I slouched in my chair. Tears pricked my eyes. What was I going to do? Both Jacob and Andrew seemed ticked off at me, and I wasn’t sure how to fix any of this. Sure, both of them had continually told me that no matter what I said or did, I couldn’t change things between them. But there was something deep down in my gut that told me to keep trying.

Since Andrew told me to my face to leave him alone, I decided to try my mediation skills on Jacob. After all, I didn’t want to let that one class I took last year go to waste.

So I stood and headed over to the stairs. I took them two at a time, and before I really had time to prepare my opening argument in my mind, I was standing in front of Jacob’s door with my hand raised, ready to knock.

But, for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to actually hit my knuckles against the wood. My insecurities about our relationship were growing. What if I’d made it all up? What if Jacob was just being nice to me?

If I ran all of the situations we’d been put in through my mind, he had either either forced by his parents or I’d forced myself on him. Except for the hot tub—he’d voluntarily gotten in there with me. But for all I knew, he’d just been really sore and needed a soak. I was just the weird, geeky girl who’d happened to be there.

Just as I dropped my hand and turned away, grateful that no one saw me standing here, the door opened and Jacob’s startled gaze met mine.

“Wh—what are you doing here?” Jacob asked, letting go of the door and folding his arms.

I shrugged. “I’m apologizing?”

He studied me for a moment and then sighed. “Did Andrew send you?”

I shook my head. “No. I wanted to let you know that I didn’t mean to force you to speak to my brother. I know you guys have something against each other that I don’t understand, and I really shouldn’t have taken it upon myself to get you to fix your issues when you weren’t ready.” My face began to heat as his eyebrows rose and his lips tipped up into a smile.

When I finally drew breath, he chuckled.

“Are you done?”

I tipped my head forward and nodded, wishing that the floor would just open up and swallow me whole. “Yes,” I whispered.

And then, he did something strange. He grabbed my elbow and pulled me into his room. And shut the door.

I stared at him. Was he bringing me in here so that he could yell at me in private? I widened my eyes as I tried not to analyze his every move. I didn’t want to creep him out, and I didn’t want to read too much into what he was doing, like at the grocery store.

“Geez, Ava, you look terrified,” he said, pressing on my lower back and motioning toward the desk chair a few feet away.

I forced my face to relax and smiled tightly. “I do?”

He chuckled. “Yeah. It’s like you’ve never been alone with a guy before.”

My stomach twisted. Well, that was true. There weren’t too many guys—none, in fact—that were lining up to sit in a room alone with Ava Rogers. That just wasn’t something that happened in my universe.

Once I was sitting, I found him studying me.

“You have been alone with a guy before, right?”

I didn’t want to lie even though my head was telling me I should. I still wanted there to be a bit of mystery between Jacob and I. And I was worried if I opened my lips and confirmed what he suspected, we would lose this, whatever it was, that was happening between us.

I shook my head.

He scoffed. “I find that hard to believe.” And then he stopped and stared at me. “Have you never kissed a guy? I mean, besides the mistletoe thing downstairs.”

I brought my knees up so I could bury my face in them. I’m sure my cheeks were beet red by now, and even if I tried to lie, my embarrassment would give me away.

“Wow. Now I’m really surprised. I would have guessed…” His voice trailed off as if he too was suddenly extremely embarrassed.

But his comment had me interested. I had to know what he was going to say. And I wasn’t leaving until he spit it out.