Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
DREW
After enjoying the story hour, Chloe and I end up walking through the outdoor light trail that wraps around the edge of the resort grounds. The twinkling bulbs cast a soft glow over the frosted trees. She keeps her hands tucked into the sleeves of her green sweater dress.
“You’re shivering,” I say, stepping a little closer. “Do you want to borrow my sweater?”
She raises an eyebrow. “Do you have anything on under that?”
“Just a T-shirt,” I admit.
She shakes her head with a small smile. “Then no way. I’m not risking you getting hypothermia for my sake.”
I wouldn’t mind being freezing if it meant she saw me as a hero. But she’ll probably argue with me if I insist. Still, I’m not giving up. “All right, then how about this . . . May I wrap my arm around you instead?”
She hesitates. “I guess so,” she says softly.
I feel a quiet victory swell inside me. This is the opening I’ve been waiting for. An excuse to be close. I gently slip my left arm around her and pull her in close. The warmth of her body seeps into mine. We walk slowly together, the crunch of snow beneath our feet.
The path winds past candy-cane archways and glowing snowflakes suspended in the trees. Strings of warm bulbs crisscross overhead, and every few feet, there’s another photo op setup—sleighs, snowmen, giant presents. We stop at one shaped like a gingerbread house.
“I feel like I should’ve brought a fork and a gallon of frosting,” Chloe says, peeking into the candy-cane-framed doorway. Her breath puffs in the cold, and her nose is pink from the chill.
“You’re assuming I’d let you have all the candy for yourself,” I say.
She grins. “You’d have to catch me first.”
“That’s a challenge you’d win, hands down. I’ve seen you glide around the rink. The rules of gravity don’t apply to you.”
She laughs. That sound’s quickly becoming one of my favorite features of hers. As I study her, I notice that her hair glints in the soft lights of the trees, a mix of gold and chestnut. There’s no script for this moment. Just the steady rhythm of our footsteps crunching in the snow.
I tilt my head toward her. My pulse starts to race. “Chloe,” I whisper. I stop walking and reach up, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. My fingers graze her cheek, and there’s the slightest tremble beneath my touch. Whether it’s the cold or something else, I’m not sure.
She doesn’t pull back. “I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time,” I say, my voice low. “I’ve always thought you’re beautiful.”
She breathes in, her lips parting slightly. Her eyes find mine. They’re wide and bright, illuminated by the glow of twinkling lights overhead. I feel more connected to her than I ever have before. There’s an invisible thread, slowly pulling us together.
I lean in, slow enough to give her a chance to stop me. But she doesn’t. Her breath catches. Our foreheads touch for the briefest moment. Then our lips meet.
Our kiss is soft. Tentative. Like we’re testing the waters of something we’ve both secretly wanted but have been too afraid to ask for.
Her lips are warm despite the cold, and I taste a hint of peach from her lip gloss.
My heart pounds in my chest. I can’t quite believe this is real. There’s nothing pretend about this.
“Oh. My. Gosh!”
We break apart like guilty teenagers.
Emma’s hands fly to her mouth, eyes wide with glee.
“I knew it was only a matter of time before you got together.” She claps her hands together.
“I’m so happy right now! My best friend and my brother are an item!
” My sister launches forward, throwing her arms around both of us in a tackle hug. “This is the best Christmas gift ever!”
I groan. “Emma—”
“Nope. Don’t even try to deny it,” she cuts in, releasing us. “You guys look like you’ve got mistletoe growing out of your heads.”
Chloe covers her face with her hands.
Emma narrows her eyes like a bloodhound on a scent. “When did you make it official?”
I glance at Chloe, unsure of what to say. Her lips are slightly parted, her cheeks flushed, and I can’t tell if she’s more shocked or embarrassed. Maybe both. Probably both.
Another beat of silence passes.
“It literally just happened,” Chloe finally says.
“Wait, did I just interrupt your first kiss?”
We both nod.
“I feel awful. I was just heading to the parking lot and then I saw you two all cozy under the lights, and I thought . . . well, I didn’t think. Obviously. Should I go? I can disappear. Pretend I was never here.”
Before I can say a word, Chloe says, “Actually, I should get going.” Her voice is soft. “I promised I’d check in with the Mynt to Make a Difference coordinator about tomorrow’s events.”
Emma frowns, clearly sensing something’s off. “Oh.”
“I’ll catch up with you guys later, okay?” Chloe flashes a quick wave. She doesn’t meet my gaze as she disappears quickly down the trail, leaving behind a small trail of footprints on the snow-covered path.
I’m left staring after her fleeing form, my lips still tingling from the kiss.
Emma shifts beside me. “Okaaay. What just happened?”
I drag a hand through my hair. “Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing,” she says, her voice rising an octave. “That was something. With a capital S. Not to mention the sparks of tension between you two! Are you seriously going to pretend I imagined that?”
I exhale. “No. Yes. I don’t know.”
“I’ve never seen you so flustered.” Emma studies me. “You really like her, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I do.” I pause. “C’mon, I’ll walk with you to your car.”
She falls into step beside me. The air is cold and smells faintly of pine needles and mud. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you guys. If I’d known, I would’ve stayed hidden behind the gingerbread house.”
“It’s okay,” I say, though the words feel empty. It’s not her fault.
“But it was your first kiss. You can’t redo a first kiss!”
“Maybe not,” I murmur, stuffing my hands into my pockets. “But maybe there’ll be another chance.”
We reach the edge of the lot. Emma pauses. “So . . . what are you going to do?”
“About?”
“The kiss,” she says earnestly.
I stare up at the sky for a second. The stars are beginning to peek out through the clouds. “I don’t know. Except I don’t want to mess up whatever is going on between Chloe and me,” I admit.
“You won’t,” Emma says, suddenly serious.
I glance over. “How do you know?”
“Because I’ve seen how you guys look at one another. Everything is gonna work out.” She bumps my arm. “Also, have you thought about what you want to get her for Christmas?”
“A little.” I pull out my phone and open the internet browser to the page I have bookmarked. It’s a webstore that sells custom skate blades. “I was thinking maybe a pair of these. I want to get Chloe something meaningful that she’ll use.”
Emma snorts. “There’s nothing more romantic than a weapon for her feet.”
“Emma . . .” I groan.
“I’m just telling you the truth.”
I ignore her. “I thought maybe I could pick up a pair and get them engraved with something like her initials or something fun like, ‘toe pick.’”
“You do not put ‘toe pick’ on there.”
“Why not?”
“You need to watch The Cutting Edge.”
“Never heard of it.”
“The DVD is on my bookshelf. It’s one of Chloe’s all-time favorite movies.”
That gets my attention. I know what I’ll be doing tonight.
Emma reaches for my phone. “Mind if I browse?”
“Knock yourself out.”
She scrolls for a few seconds. “These come in different sizes and specs . . .” she mutters.
“I know. I was trying to come up with a way to casually ask her about her current blades, but I haven’t gotten the chance yet.”
Emma glances up at me. “Did you even check how much these cost?”
“No.” I shake my head.
She whistles low. “Okay, well the basic ones start at around three hundred bucks. But for someone at Chloe’s level? You’re looking more at seven or eight hundred dollars.”
I wince. “That’s way out of my budget.”
She nods, handing me back my phone. “What about something similar like an ice-skate necklace?”
I blink a few times. “Why didn’t I think of that? That’s perfect. I could still get it engraved too.”
“There we go.” She straightens, smug. “And since I’m the best sister ever, I’ll go to the mall and find it for you.”
“Thanks, but I’d rather do it my—”
She holds up her hand. “No offense,” she says, arching a brow, “but it’s a few days before Christmas. You hate when the mall is crowded during normal times of year. How do you think it’s gonna be now? In a mall full of frantic shoppers?”
“Busy.”
“Uh-huh. You’ll be eaten alive if you go.”
“And you won’t?”
“Uh, no. I thrive in chaos.” She grins. “Trust me. I’m a concierge extraordinaire. If I can organize a wedding proposal, three anniversary surprises, and a llama-themed vow renewal in the same weekend, I can shop ’til I drop and help my brother win over one skater girl.”
As much as I hate to inflate her already massive ego, this is Emma’s wheelhouse. And I’m officially out of my depth. “Fine. But you better call me the second you find something. I want to pick it out.”
“Deal.” She holds out her hand. “Credit card?”
I dig out my wallet. “Try to stay under a hundred bucks. Mom and Dad don’t pay me much.”
“Love is priceless,” she says with a grin, snatching the card. “But I’ll stay within your sad little budget.”
She turns toward her car, ponytail swaying, already pulling up the mall directory on her phone. I stand there for a moment, surrounded by snow and string lights, wondering how I fell so hard, so fast, for the one girl I never planned to fall for.
Alittle later, my phone buzzes and I see Incoming Video Call: Emma. I swipe to accept the call. “Hey—”
The camera shakes violently before focusing on a crowded jewelry store. “Santa Baby” blares in the background, and Emma’s breath is coming in short, exaggerated puffs. “I’m in,” she says dramatically. “I had to circle the parking lot for an hour to get parked. But I made it.”
“You sound like you’ve just participated in a polar plunge.”
Emma flips the camera to show me the mob of shoppers pushing past her. “It’s war, Drew. There was an actual skirmish over a weighted blanket and peppermint lip gloss.”
I could not be more grateful Emma’s at the mall and not me. “You’re ridiculous.”
“You say that now, but wait until you see this.”
The camera shifts again. This time, she’s zooming in on a delicate silver necklace, shaped like an ice skate. It’s exactly what I had in mind. My heart starts playing a drum solo. “That’s it.”
“I thought so,” she says smugly. “It’s understated, but still says, ‘I pay attention to what you love, and I am a thoughtful human being.’”
“Did you check if it can be engraved?”
“I did. The woman behind the counter said she can have it ready in an hour. What do you want it to say?” Emma gives me a flat look. “I swear, if you ruin this with a Cutting Edge joke, I will buy her novelty socks instead.”
I’d thought long and hard about this. Chloe needs to know that she isn’t alone. Emma and I will always be there for her. I think back to the drive the three of us took five years ago.
We’d just crossed the Colorado state line, and it wouldn’t be long before we hit the turnoff to the farm. Chloe and I had been swapping questions for a couple hours, getting to know each other and all I kept thinking was—Emma couldn’t have picked a better person to call her best friend.
“Is it hard to be alone on the ice all the time?” I asked. “Do you ever wish you had a partner?”
Chloe glanced over at me, then back out the window.
“When I was younger, I thought pairs or ice dance might be fun. But my parents didn’t approve.
Singles is what gets the most attention at the Olympics, not the other disciplines.
” She fiddled with the hem of her sweater.
“As for being alone . . . I’ve gotten used to it. On and off the ice.”
As I opened my mouth to ask what she meant, Emma woke up, yawned, and shouted from the back seat, “Hey, bro, I’m starving. Can we stop for some breakfast soon?”
“Yeah, sure.”
It wasn’t until Emma’s graduation that I finally put the pieces together and saw it for what it was. The way her family treated her. How small they made her feel. And now, more than ever, I just want to do the opposite.
“Have them put ‘In your corner. Always.’”
Emma’s eyes widen. “Sometimes you still manage to surprise me, bro.”
I select a font, and she promises she’ll call me again when it’s ready to make sure everything looks perfect. As I hang up, I wonder if there’s a few more surprises I can plan for Chloe to make this Christmas really stand out for her. She deserves it.