Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
CHLOE
As Drew reaches across the table, his fingers brush mine. The contact only lasts for a second, but it causes a hoard of sugarplum fairies to start fluttering inside my chest.
He’s changed into some clean clothing. His sleeves are still rolled up to his forearms, revealing tan skin and strong wrists. His jaw is dusted with a day’s worth of stubble, his lips full and a little chapped from the cold. For a moment, I wonder what it would be like to kiss them.
Then I remember where I am. Gah. Why am I even thinking about this right now?
Something like that would never happen. To him, I’ll always be Emma’s mildly awkward and occasionally clumsy friend.
I may be graceful on the ice, but off it, sometimes I have trouble walking in a straight line.
And crashing into him today is further proof of that.
I take a long sip of my apple cider latte, trying not to let my mind wander too far, but with Drew sitting this close, I’m losing the battle.
“So what’s your favorite cookie flavor?” he asks.
“The, um, same as yours. Mint chocolate chip.” He presses his lips together thoughtfully.
“And your drink of choice?”
“A peppermint hot chocolate.”
“Great minds think alike.” He grins.
I nod.
Emma, who has been busy nibbling on a snowman cookie, raises an eyebrow. “Huh. Interesting. You two are twinning.” She pauses thoughtfully. “You know, I always thought you would make a cute couple.”
I choke slightly on my drink while Drew stiffens in surprise.
“What?” she says innocently. “I’m just saying. Stranger things have happened. It’s the holidays.” Emma’s eyes ping-pong between us. “Anyway, fill me in. What happened earlier?”
“I was running late for today’s athlete orientation and bumped into him. Literally. And I still feel awful about it.”
“Uh-huh. So that’s how the tank area became a swamp.” Emma leans back in her chair, lips twitching with barely contained amusement. “At least this time it wasn’t because you were clumsy.”
I groan and bury my face in my hands. It’s a running joke between us, how many times I’ve crashed, spilled, or tripped my way through life.
“Chloe? Clumsy?” Drew says with surprise. “Not possible. She’s an ice skater.”
“Oh, but I am,” I say, laughing now. “I can land a triple on a blade thinner than a pencil, but if you put me in sneakers, I can’t walk in a straight line.
Ask Emma. She’s got an entire highlight reel of me walking into doors, dropping dinner because I tripped over my own feet . . . the list goes on and on.”
“She’s not lying,” Emma adds smugly. “You should’ve seen her trying to carry a tray of cocoa last Christmas. The tree never recovered.”
I can feel the weight of Drew’s gaze on me. I steal a glance at him from under my lashes. He’s still smiling. The air between us shifts, as if there’s electricity in it, like the kind you get ahead of an approaching storm.
I suddenly become very aware of how close he’s sitting to me. The table isn’t that wide. Our knees could probably touch if either of us moved just an inch.
“Good to know. Next time, I’ll wear a helmet,” he says, his voice low and teasing.
I smile, maybe a little too wide, and take another sip of my cider to hide it. “I should too. I’ll add it to my packing list. Right after my skates and snacks.”
“I’m glad you’re still skating. You were always pretty good at it.”
“Thanks,” I say softly.
Emma snorts. “Chloe isn’t just good. She’s the national champion.”
“You are?” Drew blinks a few times.
“Guilty as charged,” I say.
He shoots me a surprised look. I try not to squirm. I’m used to people recognizing my name, not my face. Why does it matter so much to me what he thinks?
“Wow,” he finally says. “That’s seriously impressive.”
“Thanks,” I murmur even softer.
Emma checks her phone and stands abruptly. “Sorry, guys, but it looks like I’ve got to run back to the desk. I just got an SOS text from Neil. He’s being swarmed.”
“But Emma—” I start.
“I know, Chloe. I hate to run out on you guys, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.
” She shrugs her blazer back on. “And don’t worry, brother dearest, yes, I scored those Midnight Pepper tickets, and I’m still covering lunch.
While you guys were talking, I made you a reservation over at the Mynt Society.
It’s the restaurant near the rink. Order what you want, and the guys can send me the bill.
Just don’t go too crazy.” She stands and smirks at both of us. “And try not to make another pond.”
She pops out the door, leaving me behind with Drew. Alone. “Well, I guess it’s just us now,” he says.
I reach for my latte again, even though it’s nearly gone. My fingers wrap around the cup. Drew studies me. His expression is unreadable. “You’d think she would’ve come up with a better excuse than an SOS text,” I tease, keeping the tone light.
“Agreed.” He chuckles. “She’s used that line on me before. But at least we’re getting something out of it.” He rubs his hands together. “The Mynt Society has the best steak in town. I’m so ordering the rib eye.”
I let out another nervous laugh. We both stand. I shrug into my coat, my hands fumbling with the zipper. Drew opens the door, and we step outside together.
The snow has stopped falling. Our shoes crunch over the fresh powder as we head toward the path that winds around the rink and leads to the restaurant. The sun peeks out from behind the clouds.
“So,” he says, shoving his hands into his coat pockets, “national champion, huh?”
I groan. “Are we really circling back to that?”
“Uh-huh. You’re the best skater in America. That’s kind of a big deal.” He glances over at me with a smirk. “You always did skate circles around everyone else. Now I know why.”
I nudge him lightly with my elbow. “I didn’t know you paid that much attention,” I say, trying to sound casual.
“I’ve always noticed you.”
My pulse begins to race erratically. I open my mouth but can’t form the right words. So instead I glance ahead to where the sign for The Mynt Society glows faintly.
“Wow,” I say, clearing my throat. “Emma really doesn’t mess around when it comes to lunch reservations.”
The facade of the restaurant looks like a rustic lodge. Frosted windows glimmer with twinkling golden lights. A cluster of evergreen wreaths hangs over the double doors, trimmed with eucalyptus, myrtle, and sprigs of peppermint-printed ribbon.
Drew holds the door open for me. A blast of warm air hits my face as we enter. Inside, it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but I can just make out tables set with matte-gold flatware, and candles flickering in cut-glass holders. It’s the kind of place that screams expensive.
He follows my gaze and grins. “You should see what she does when she’s trying to impress someone.”
I risk a sidelong look at him. “You think this was her way of impressing us with her mad skills as a concierge?”
“No,” he says. “I think this was her way of trying to set us up.”
I stiffen. “For what? A bank robbery?” I blurt out. What is going on in my brain right now? I can’t stop putting my foot in my mouth. Of all the times for me to make a stupid remark.
He blinks, then smirks. “That’s a new one.” He cocks his head.
I groan and press a hand to my face. “That’s not what I meant to say.”
“Maybe not, but I like where your brain went.” His laugh is low and warm. “As you well know, my sister doesn’t do subtle. She thinks I’ve been lonely and depressed since I was laid off from my job and moved home. Her solution is to help me find somebody to date.”
I’ve never told Emma this, but I’ve had a crush on her brother since our sophomore year of college. I still remember when I realized how much I liked him. It started when Emma found me standing in the doorway of our dorm room right before winter break, clutching my phone tightly.
“Why do you look like somebody left a lump of coal in your stocking?” she’d asked me. “It’s almost the end of the semester. That means five full weeks of free time!”
“I just found out the dorms are closed over the break.”
“Okaaay. And that’s a bad thing? It’s not like anybody will be here.”
“I was.”
“You weren’t gonna go home?”
I stared at the ground, not wanting to admit the truth. “No. My parents are doing a river cruise in Europe. I didn’t want to be home alone.”
“And they didn’t invite you?”
“No, it’s a twenty-one-and-over cruise.”
Emma’s jaw clenched at that.
Mom and Dad had offered to buy me a plane ticket to fly into Germany to spend Christmas Day with them when the boat docked in Cologne, but it felt like a waste. I wanted to spend a few weeks with them. Not a day.
If that was their offer, I’d rather be at home alone than in Europe. Don’t get me wrong, I loved traveling as much as the next person, but not when it was ultra crowded. Or freezing cold.
“Oh well, I guess I’ll just suck it up and go home to San Diego,” I’d told Emma.
“You are not spending Christmas by yourself.”
“It’s fine. I’ll pick up some treats at Trader Joe’s and binge the Hallmark channel.”
“There’s another option,” she said, eyes lighting up. “Come home with me.”
“To Colorado?”
“Yes!” She nodded enthusiastically.
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
“You wouldn’t be. Mom and Dad would love to have you. It’ll be just like it is here. We’ll share my room, and I’ll show you around Winterbrook. It’d be like I had a sister.”
My had heart fluttered. Her words hit me like a snowball to the heart. That was one thing I’d always wanted. A sister.
Within minutes, she had her parents on speakerphone. And just like that, I was going to Colorado for Christmas. It was decided that Drew would drive us there. We could’ve flown, but the Sullivan siblings always preferred road trips.
Drew picked us up after our last final. His car smelled like pine and cinnamon, and there was a travel mug of hot chocolate already waiting in the cup holder for me.
“All right, ladies, ready to hit the road?” he asked.
“I call the back seat!” Emma yelled, tossing her bag in and flopping down.
Drew snorted. “Fine by me. I’d rather have Chloe as my co-pilot anyway.”
Bubbles had fizzed inside my stomach as I slid into the front seat, trying not to overthink it.
I thought Emma’s brother was adorable when we met in Santa Monica.
But seeing him again was proof positive he was a guy I’d totally try to score a date with if he weren’t off-limits.
Emma had never explicitly said anything, but it would be too awkward.
He was a real adult, and I was just a college kid.
We drove for a few hours. Christmas lights blurred past in streaks of color. At some point, Emma passed out in the back, curled up, and started snoring as loud as a hibernating bear. It was just me and Drew and the long, dark road.
I’d been nervously fiddling with my hoodie strings for twenty minutes, trying to think of something smart to say, when he broke the silence.
“Are you always this quiet when it’s late?” he asked, his voice low.
“Only when I don’t know what to say,” I admitted, not sure why I was sharing this with him.
He glanced at me and smiled. “You don’t need to say anything.” A few minutes passed. Then he said, “You’re different than I expected.”
I tilted my head. “Different how?”
He kept his eyes on the road, but there was a small, thoughtful pause before he answered. “I don’t know yet. We didn’t spend a lot of time together in LA, but hmm . . .”
“I’m just Emma’s friend. And a figure skater.” I stared out the window into the darkened sky.
“No, Chloe, you’re much more than that. According to my sources, you’re also a math whiz.”
I pressed my hand to my mouth. He chanced another glance at me, and the little twitch at the corner of his lips told me he was proud of himself for making me smile.
“You know . . .” he said, drumming his fingers lightly on the steering wheel, “we’ve still got a couple hours to go. It might be just enough time for me to unlock all your deepest, darkest secrets. Want to play twenty questions?”
“Only if I get to ask first.”
He grinned. “Deal. Hit me.”
I tapped my finger against my knee like I was seriously pondering the world’s most important mystery. “Okay. What’s your favorite Christmas movie?”
He groaned. “You’re not easing into this at all, are you?”
“Come on. Everybody has a favorite movie,” I teased. “Just don’t say it’s Die Hard.”
He gave me a mock offended look. “Die Hard is a cult classic.”
“But is it romantic?”
“You like those cheesy, romantic Christmas movies like Emma, don’t you?” he guessed.
“I like when people find each other,” I said softly, turning to look out the window. “Especially during the holidays. Something about this time of year makes me believe it’s still possible.”
He didn’t answer right away. Just shifted his hand on the steering wheel and looked over at me again. “Me too,” he finally said. “This is classified information, but my favorite is the claymation Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The one with Burl Ives.”
“Really?”
He nodded solemnly. “There’s something about a scrappy little reindeer with a shiny nose that just gets me every time.”
“Well, your secret is safe with me, Comet.”
“Of all Santa’s reindeers, why am I Comet?”
“Because,” I said, pretending to think very seriously, “Comet always flies a little ahead of the others. He’s very underrated.”
He raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. “Do you think I’m underrated?”
I shrugged, biting back a smile. “You’re a classic.”
“I’ll take that.”
We kept playing. We asked one another favorites, would-you-rathers, and a few “What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done” questions, which I regretted immediately. But I didn’t stop.
Outside the window, the snow started falling heavier, slow and steady in the glow of the headlights.
But I barely noticed. Because there in the car, with Drew’s voice low and his smile turning soft at the edges, it felt like something was shifting.
The air between us wasn’t just friendly anymore.
Drew made me feel seen. And for the first time in a long time, I was happy.
And now, here I am. Alone again with Drew. Emma’s teased me about setting us up in the past, but I never actually thought she’d follow through with it. I don’t know whether I should kill her or thank her.