Page 8 of The Holiday Disaster

“What’s happening here?” I asked. I’d kept my mouth shut while in the car because I was still in shock, and okay, maybe because I was enjoying his hand on mine too much, but I couldn’t stay quiet any longer. I needed a reality check so that my poor heart didn’t get too ahead of itself.

“What do you mean?” he said with a smirk, the same one he used to charm all the ladies in our high school. “Can’t you see I’m helping you warm up your hands?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. His teasing tone told me that he knew full well what I was asking but chose not to answer. “Cut the bullshit,” I snapped. I pulled my hands away from his, but he only grabbed them back and continued to warm them.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding between us,” he started. My ears perked up, waiting for him to continue. Instead of speaking, he focused on blowing warm air onto our combined hands. His efforts warmed not only my stiff fingers but my heart that I’d told myself I would steel.

When it was apparent that he was going to take his sweet time rather than telling me what I wanted to hear, I nudged him with my knee and prompted, “What misunderstanding?”

He lifted his gaze to meet mine. “You think I hate you.”

“You don’t?” I tilted my head in confusion. I was sure I had read him correctly in all these years. His biting comments had never contained hostility, but I could feel the sense of unease he had whenever I was around. The carefree personality he had around my brother stiffened in my presence. His unrestrained smiles turned to fake ones when he saw me. If that wasn’t a sign of hatred, I didn’t know what was.

Kingsley sighed, his shoulders slumping as he continued to fiddle with my fingers as if he were trying to avoid answering. He finally looked back up to me a few minutes later with a soft expression on his face. “I don’t hate you.”

“Oh.” My mind went blank as his words replayed like a broken record.

I don’t hate you. I don’t hate you. I don’t hate you.

Each time it repeated, the faster my heart went until it felt like it was going to thump out of my chest.

“And what about you?” His words almost stopped my heart completely. Did he know what I was thinking?

“Me?”

“Do you hate me?”

Did I? Was there even a need to ask? My hostility toward him stemmed from my belief that he had hated me because he knew aboutthat.Thatbeing the feelings that I was never going to mention. “I… Well, no.”

“That’s good.” His shining white teeth made their appearance. “That means we can start over. As friends.”

My heart did stop this time. Right.

Friends.

I was foolish for getting my hopes up for nothing. Even if he didn’t hate me, it didn’t mean that he automatically liked me either. Plus, he was also straight, so none of that mattered anyway. He probably wanted to make friends since it would be easier, especially when our families were close.

That was it, and that was all it would ever be.

SEVEN

KINGSLEY

I thought we had cleared things up between us. I thought I’d finally have a chance to get closer to Ethan and that we were finally getting somewhere. But then something changed. He had closed himself off again, and his dejected expression had me letting go of his hands this time when he pulled back.

I hated it. I wanted to make him smile again, and I wanted to hold his hand again. It was freaking wild how much I wanted to grab hold of his soft hands. Maybe that was the issue? Maybe he found it creepy that his brother’s friend kept trying to touch him.

There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but there was never the right time. Austin and Jim carried the conversation, telling us more about the weekend festival their town had in December and commenting how random today’s snowstorm was. According to them, the snow didn’t usually get this bad until next month.

It was nice to not have to talk and only focus on listening to Austin and Jim banter with each other. They were obviously good friends if how they joked and teased each other was anything to go by.

However, seeing how many times Austin’s gaze lingered on Jim’s profile, perhaps they were something more than friends. I could see that being the case. Their looks were completely opposite of their personalities with Austin having a baby face with soft features, but he was actually the quiet one of the two. Jim seemed like the type of guy who’d never met a stranger in his life and could bring anyone into conversation, despite his rough and rugged appearance.

They were so different from each other, much like Ethan and I were, but they also fit together perfectly. And I couldn’t help but wonder if that was the same case for Ethan and I as well…

It was dark by the time we arrived at the hotel. We thanked both of them for the ride. Austin tried to refuse payment for the inconvenience, but we insisted since he still did his job in the end, and the airline was reimbursing us anyway.

“Let me help you,” I said, gesturing to the suitcase Ethan was struggling to pull through the snowy ground.

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