“Jinx?” Dad asked.
“I… She yelled at me and I ran away,” I blurted it all out in one breath.
Birdie’s eyebrows shot up as Dad and Adam tried not to laugh. Mom was facing the stove, seeming not interested in our conversation. Which wasn’t like her at all.
“Sorry… you ran away?” Birdie asked me, looking at me like the complete mo.ron that I am.
I rolled my eyes, my frustration growing.
“She was pi.ssed to see me,” I said. “I was just… too shocked. She started going off about how, of course, I was here since I’m such a fu.cking jinx. She looked like I already ruined her whole vacation. What the hell was I supposed to say? So yeah, I fu.cking ran away.
That made Dad and Adam finally burst out in laughter. Birdie even laughed a little, but she tried to hide it at least. I turned my eyes to Mom, narrowing them when she pretended to ignore us.
“This mean you gonna ask her out?” Birdie asked, drawing my attention back to her. “You promised
Mom this morning that you would if the universe gave you a sign. What’s a bigger one than this?”
And then it all clicked into place. The trip. All the talk about Deidra ever since we got here. Mom sending me out to the towels when she could have sent Dad or had them delivered here. Mom making me promise that sh.it this morning. And her silence now.
“Mom,” I said, moving closer to her.
“Hmm?” She hummed without looking up at me.
“Mom,” I repeated a little more sternly. “Did you know that Thorn was going to be here? Did you know she was going to be in the office?”
“How would I know that, honey?” She replied with a voice that was far too sweet.
“You’re lying,” I called her out. “You fu.cking knew! You knew-“
“Okay, okay, yes, I knew,” she gave in quickly, huffing at me. “I didn’t know until you already decided to come though. And I wasn’t planning any kind of meet-up. She’d just mentioned a trip to somewhere her family used to take her and I knew how Birdie knew about this place. I didn’t tell her that we were also going to be here, so she had no idea. I just thought that… maybe whatever happened during this trip… happened, ya know? Having you make me that promise this morning was as far as I was going to go as meddling. I swear I didn’t plan anything else, or know she was in the office. I just hoped you’d run into each other in town or something.”
I gawked at her, feeling betrayed and… grateful.
Fu.ck me, this is turning into a disaster. Or, well, it will turn into one. Always does when Deidra and I get too close. Something always goes wrong.
“Mom, you’re insane,” I said, shaking my head. “Thorn doesn’t like me. Why can’t you just accept that?”
“Uh, because it’s just not true sweetheart,” she replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
“She literally called me her personal curse,” I told her.
“That’s… kind of adorable because it’s kinda true,” Birdie mumbled. I shot her a glare. “What?” She asked innocently. “You do seem to always give her back luck. Calling you her personal curse though… kind of sounds possessive, right?”
“I think so,” Adam chimed in before I could call bullsh.it.
“You’re all insane,” I said, throwing my hands up. “Thorn doesn’t like me. She hates me. She was pi.ssed when she saw me here. I should probably fu.cking leave so that she can actually enjoy her holiday. She’d be happier-“
“Dra’s here?”
Sh.it…
We all turned to see Waylen in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. He looked between us all before his eyes settled on me. There was a spark of hope in his eyes and it hurt my heart. Because I know this kid wants Deidra to be his mom more than anything, and I know that will never happen.
“Yeah, she is, but you need to leave her alone, Waylen,” I said sternly. “I mean it. She was already pi.ssed to see me. I don’t want to stress her out.”
“But Dra loves me,” he replied with a furrowed brow. “She’s always angry to see you. Not me though.”
That got laughs from everyone except me.
“I know Way, but she wasn’t expecting us and this ain’t our town. You can’t be running off to go find her here,” I told him.
“Does that mean we’re gonna leave?” he asked sadly. “You said you were thinking about it.”
“If I leave, buddy, you’re staying still-“
“You can’t leave me Dad!” He cut me off, shouting as tears filled his little eyes. “I love Dra, but we can’t be apart for Christmas! I’d rather go home with you…”
“Okay, no one’s leaving,” Dad announced. “We’ll just… stay out of Deidra’s way. How about that?”
“But Jinx promised to ask her on a-“
“That was before he realized your mother was manipulating him,” Dad cut Birdie off, giving them both a look.
“Fine, I’ll stop meddling,” Mom said, not sounding happy at all.
“Then it’s settled,” Dad replied.
And just like, the decision was made. I didn’t have to ask Thorn out. Waylen agreed to stay out of her way. And we were staying. Both of us. As long as we don’t run into Thorn again, it should be fine.
So why doesn’t that sit right with me?
Deidra’s P.O.V.
The next morning, I woke up bright and early and with a killer headache. I didn’t let it slow me down though. I got my a.ss up, showered, threw on some clothes, and chugged a cup of coffee. I decided to text Emma after pouring my second cup. I was glad we exchanged numbers last night. I really didn’t want to risk running into Jinx or his family. If Waylen finds out I’m here, I’m sure it’ll just cause trouble, and I don’t want the kid getting into trouble. Christmas is in four days after all.
Me: Hey, was thinking of going into town again today to hit up all the shops we missed yesterday. I’m sure you’re busy though. Should I wait until later?
It took Emma about ten minutes to reply, which made me feel like she was probably busy.
Emma: Sorry boo, you go ahead without me. Got a lot on the list for today. Dale has some maintenance to handle for a few of the cabins too. You gonna be okay on your own?
I smiled as I read her message. I find it kind of ironic that the first people I met in this town became such good friends right away. After being such a loner and only having Sophie as a friend, it feels kind of strange. Their kindness means so much to me. Maybe because I don’t feel like they’re just being kind because of my parents…
Me: I’ll Uber into town, girl, no worries! Thanks (:
Em texted back with the promise of calling me later. I finished my second cup of coffee before walking back to the bedroom. Movement out the window caught my eye. I forgot that I had opened the curtains. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I’m glad I did.
It was still kind of early in the morning, but there were three little boys and a little girl in the backyard of that huge cabin. I recognized Waylen right away, but it took me a minute to realize the other three kids were Birdie’s. Her baby girl has gotten so big since I last saw her. The boys were running around, throwing snowballs at each other, dodging through the snowmen. The little girl was clapping and giggling away. They looked adorable.
And then there was the adult man who was out there with them. Jinx. His familiar golden hair wasn’t tied back for once. He had a huge smile on his face as he gave a snowball he made to the little girl before scooping her into his arms. Together they chased the boys. She threw the snowballs that Jinx made for her, and the boys acted dramatically every time they got hit. The boys chased them back too, and Jinx took every hit for the little girl.
They looked like they were having a blast. It was adorable. Too adorable. And I spent way too much time at the window just watching them.
After a while, Jinx set the little girl down. She went running after the boys, who welcomed her into their game. I saw Jinx huff out a breath as he ran a hand through his long, blonde hair. My eyes widened slightly, and my mouth went dry. Fu.ck, how can he make something so stupid look so se.xy?
As if Jinx could feel my stare, his eyes suddenly snapped in my direction. I jumped and squealed like a teenage girl. He squinted his eyes as my face flamed. For a moment – a brief, blissful moment I thought that he couldn’t see me. Maybe I was too far away and shaded from being inside. But then a perfect, panty-melting smirk fell on his lips. One I haven’t seen since high school. Not aimed at me anyway. I thought he had stopped looking at me with that kind of smirk after I was a bitch to him one too many times.
Jinx lifted his hand and wiggled his fingers at me. Whatever spell I was under vanished in an instant. I shook my head and glared at him, hoping he could see it. If that was a chuckle that just shook his body, he sure did.
Rolling my eyes, I closed the curtain. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I ignored it. I refused to acknowledge my clear attraction to that biker-
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