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.
Chloe was still having trouble getting her new locker combination to work. She spilled her pumpkin spice latte on her new corduroy skirt and took so long cleaning it in the bathroom that she was late meeting Brady at his locker.
Brady. Chloe gave an involuntary sigh just thinking about him—his big blue eyes, sandy brown hair and chin dimple. She picked up her pace knowing his pillow-soft lips were waiting for her. Her white converse squeaked down the red and white-checkered hallway as Chloe made her way to the bank of senior lockers. Her heart was already pounding with anticipation, but when she saw the back of Brady’s football jersey, her heart sped to triple time. There was just something so indescribable about being his.
She’d liked him for so long but had always been too afraid to do anything about it for fear of Brady not liking her back. But he did like her. He’d chosen her this summer and it was exhilarating.
As she got closer, Chloe decided to tiptoe, thinking it would be funny to sneak up behind Brady and wrap her arms around him. His broad shoulders were angled toward his locker. Whatever he was staring at must’ve been enthralling because he had yet to notice her. But as Chloe got closer she suddenly found herself wishing she hadn’t decided to sneak up on her boyfriend. Because all at once she realized exactly what Brady found so interesting. Maci Martin!
Her lips, to be more exact.
The head cheerleader was attached to Brady’s face!
Heat started at Chloe’s cheeks and raced down to her toes when she saw them. They hadn’t seen her and she had plenty of time to back away, but she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away. She knew she should. This was embarrassing on so many levels but she couldn’t move. She could barely breathe. Wait, was she breathing?
A sharp pain in her chest reminded her to take a breath. But she couldn’t catch it. Panic began to set in as Chloe realized she needed to leave before she burst into the strangling sobs that were flooding her throat. But her hands were shaking so badly she couldn’t hold onto her books. They clattered to the floor in the hallway and her favorite pen rolled across the floor until it hit Maci’s shoe.
Maci pulled her face away from Brady’s and looked at Chloe with her big brown doe eyes. “Oh,” Maci said. “I’m sorry, do I have something that belongs to you?” she asked, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at Brady.
Chloe nodded her head and both Brady and Maci exploded into hysterical laughter. The hallway suddenly packed with students and all of them joined in the pointing and laughing. Struggling away from the crowd, Chloe darted down the hall, but at every turn Brady and Maci reappeared, until finally they were blocking her from the exit.
Brady’s blue eyes sparkled as he looked at Chloe without an ounce of shame. “Chloe! Hey, I didn’t see you there.”
“Clearly!” she yelled.
Brady scratched the back of his head and gave her his easy grin. “So, this is awkward . . .”
“Are you two together?” Chloe asked.
Maci grinned. “It appears so.”
“Since when?” Chloe squawked.
Maci giggled and Brady shrugged. “Now, I guess?”
Maci nodded, linking her fingers with his.
Chloe just blinked at them completely dumbfounded.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Maci asked. “Your face is super red.”
“Yeah,” Brady added. “You kinda have Margot’s murdery look in your eyes.”
Chloe schooled her features. “I’m perfectly fine,” she lied.
“Well, in that case . . .” Brady turned back toward Maci and started kissing her like she was his only source of oxygen.
Chloe’s dignity could only take so much. She pushed past them and ran into the parking lot, tears leaking down her cheeks—because she most certainly wasn’t fine.
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.
3
Ethan
Ethan stared out the window in disgust. The snow was so bright he had to wear his sunglasses. At least something he’d packed for Bermuda had come in handy. He couldn’t believe he was actually crammed in the back of an old Toyota 4-Runner on a road trip to meet his brother’s girlfriend’s family.
Ethan wasn’t the biggest fan of the bubbly girl, but since it was Owen’s year to choose he didn’t have much choice in the matter. The Hall boys had a lot of strange traditions—some born from being brothers, others from their unfortunate childhood. But at least they had each other. That was one thing that Ethan hoped would never change. Although Ethan had a sneaking suspicion if Owen’s girlfriend had her way, Ethan wouldn’t get any time with his brother. As it was they seemed to spend every waking hour together. It was beyond annoying. Especially since Ethan and Owen shared a tiny college apartment.
It was challenging at times; being so dependent on his brother. But after suffering the losses they had, Ethan was determined to keep the little family he had left. So that’s how he found himself on the tail end of a road trip to upstate New York to spend Christmas with a family of strangers.
“It’s every bit as pretty as you said, babe,” Owen murmured from the driver’s seat.
Unlike Ethan, Owen wasn’t wearing sunglasses. Instead he was squinting like an idiot as he took in the quaint surroundings of the wintery rural town. It was a far cry from Manhattan.
“Hard to believe we’re still in New York, “ Ethan muttered.
Owen had just pulled off the exit into the little town of Pine Island. They’d passed dozens of billboards for Everett’s Christmas Lodge and Tree Farm on the way, boasting they did Christmas better than the North Pole.
“Don’t be a city kitty,” Owen’s girlfriend said, smirking at Ethan in the rearview mirror. “You’ll love it here. It grows on you, I promise.”
Ethan found himself rolling his eyes for the millionth time. He honestly didn’t know what the hell Owen saw in Margot Price. In Ethan’s opinion, she tried too hard. She was always so perfectly dressed, her hair and makeup flawless, her smile dialed up way too high, her enthusiasm even higher. It was exhausting being around her. It wasn’t one thing in particular that Ethan didn’t like. It was just the total sum of her overly happy parts.
He glared at Margot’s endless smile in the rearview. She was easily the prettiest girl Ethan had ever disliked. Sighing, he found himself hoping this trip would go horribly wrong and Owen would finally break up with Margot. It would certainly be nice to have his brother back. For a second, the thought lifted Ethan’s spirits, but as he watched Owen lean over and kiss Margot at every stoplight, his hopes evaporated.
Owen was way too smitten to even notice if Margot’s family was full of lunatics. Which Ethan was sure they were. In his opinion, anyone who celebrated Christmas every day and spawned a daughter that s
miled as much as one of Santa’s elves must have a few screws loose.
“We should be there in about forty-five minutes,” Owen added.
“Great,” Ethan replied, sarcastically. “I’m starving. Can we stop and pick something up for dinner?”
“No way,” Margot replied. “My parents will want to cook us dinner.”
Ethan mock strangled Margot for the third time this trip, but of course she didn’t notice. She was too busy snapping a picture of herself and Owen at a stoplight. She’d been documenting the entire drive.
Laughing, Margot turned and snapped a photo of Ethan to add to her feed. “You’re too funny, E. You’ve really perfected your Scrooge face. My family is just going to eat you up!”
Ethan let out an exasperated sigh and glared at his brother in the rearview. Owen smirked, knowing that Ethan hadn’t really been joking when he pretended to wrap his hands around Margot’s skinny neck.
“Can we bring anything to dinner?” Owen asked.
But Margot was so engrossed in posting her photos she didn’t respond.
“Margot,” Owen said more forcefully.
“Hmm?”
“I was asking you a question,” Owen continued patiently.
“Oh, I’m sorry, baby. This photo of us is just the cutest. I made it my new background on my phone. See.”
Owen grinned and kissed her. “You’re the cutest.”
“No, you are.”
“I’m gonna be sick, “ Ethan muttered.
Owen smiled and repeated his original question, while Ethan cracked his knuckles praying he’d never meet a girl who could turn him into the pathetic sap that Owen now was. What the hell was the draw? Ethan stared at Margot trying to see what his brother saw. Maybe she was phenomenal in bed?
Ethan snorted. Of course she was. Everything was phenomenal in Margot’s sparkly snow globe world. Ethan shook his head, smirking at his own joke until his brother’s words recaptured his attention.
The Winter Boyfriend: A Stand-Alone YA Contemporary Romance Novel (The Boyfriend Series) Page 2