3. Surprises
3
Surprises
WINTER
“About damn time! We’ve been waiting here for hours.”
Overwhelmed, I hold on to the nearest piece of furniture I can find, trying to take back my sobriety from the killer tequila shots in my veins.
“Dumbass. You jinxed it. We were supposed to scream Surprise !”
This isn’t possible.
“Shit. You’re right . Surprise !”
I blink once.
Still here.
I blink twice.
Still here.
I can’t believe it.
Will and Kendrick are sitting in my kitchen.
“What the fuck are you guys doing here?” Haze asks. I bring a hand to my racing heart and relive the memory of leaving them in Maria’s kitchen less than twenty-four hours ago. I cried for these idiots. But now they’re here. In my house. In Canada.
“Ask Kendrick. It was his idea.” Will motions to my cousin, who’s shamelessly sitting with one of his legs on the table, with his chin.
Kendrick gets up. “A little bit after you left, I realized I had no plan for the summer. School’s over, I’m getting real fucking tired of all these attacks on us, and what happened to you yesterday, it just… it made me think, you know? I’ve had enough. I’m free for the first time in forever. Not to mention my mom talked to yours today, and Lauren told us we could come visit anytime. So, long story short, I’ve decided to spend the summer with my lovely family in their covered-in-snow country.” He gives me a wide smile. “By the way, key under the welcome mat, not the best hiding spot—you should tell your mom.”
This is all so unexpected that it takes both me and Haze a solid second to understand what’s just been said. So, basically, my cousin, whose family I visited for a few months, is now visiting my family for the summer.
To think I was worried I’d miss him.
“And you?” I turn to Will. I know wherever Kendrick goes, Will usually follows, but I didn’t think that rule went as far as changing countries.
“I…” Will starts, but his words trail off. I’ve never, in the whole time I’ve known him, seen this guy speechless—except for when he saw Kass in her prom dress. He eventually shrugs and says, “I needed to get away.”
I nod, but I’m not convinced. He looks like hell. Dark circles rim his empty, almost ghostly eyes, and his smile is so forced it must hurt his face. He doesn’t look like… well, Will.
Something’s definitely up. Trouble in paradise, perhaps? Last I heard, Kass was getting sick of him refusing to tell Kendrick about their relationship. But then again, I saw Will pull Kass into a room at prom. They never returned, and I assumed it meant they’d made up. Did they break up? Did Will finally tell Kendrick? No, I doubt they’d be here together, on a summer trip, if he had. Finding out that your best friend has been sleeping with your little sister behind your back can’t be good on a friendship.
“I was very disappointed that there’s no snow, by the way,” Will says.
“Oh, for God’s sake, it’s the summer. Does the entire world think we have snow all year long?”
“Well, yeah, duh.” Will cracks a faint laugh, but I can tell his heart’s not in it.
“Where’s Alex? He didn’t come with?” I glance around the room.
“Nah. He couldn’t make it. He had some things to do this summer, but don’t worry, he’ll happily annoy you from afar. He promised to call,” Kendrick says.
“He had some things to do,” Will scoffs. “More like someone . Does he really think we don’t know he’s met a girl?”
I frown. “You mean he’s cheating on Mia?”
“Oh, right, you don’t know. They broke up,” Kendrick says.
“What? Why? I thought things were going great.” I think back to the few times I talked to Mia. I liked her.
“Not sure, really. Alex just said she wasn’t who he thought she was.” Kendrick exchanges furtive glances with Will. The atmosphere feels so heavy I’m positive I’m missing something here.
“And where are you two idiots going to stay?” Haze asks.
“Right here. Think of it as Lauren repaying my mom.”
“Does my mom even know you’re here right now?”
“Yep. We talked on the phone a few hours ago.”
So, Kendrick gets a phone call but not me. Thanks, Mom.
“And Maria’s okay with this?” I ask.
“I won’t be getting in trouble or making a mess in the house. Trust me, she’s never been happier.” Kendrick snorts.
Kendrick may be laughing, but Haze is not. Barely a few hours ago he was telling me how much he wouldn’t miss having them around. Funny how life works. Sure, he and Kendrick made peace after our prom disaster, but there’s a difference between tolerating and liking each other.
Kendrick smirks. “Which one’s my room, cuz?”
I slur something about the guest rooms upstairs at the end of the hall, and next thing I know, the boys have disappeared up the stairs with their luggage.
I glance at Haze over my shoulder. Shit, the room’s spinning.
“One day. We couldn’t even get one fucking day,” he huffs, and I laugh, grabbing his hand and leading him up the stairs. I almost trip over my own feet five times—Will and Kendrick’s surprise visit might have slightly sobered up my brain but not my body, apparently. As I push the door to my old bedroom open, I can’t help but think that, although I’ll never admit it to Haze. Maybe, just maybe…
I’m happy the guys are here.
I wake up to the sound of a woman screaming. Opening my eyes a crack, I wince at the bright sunlight coming in through my window and listen. “What on earth were you thinking?” I hear the woman say, and it doesn’t take long for the mystery voice to find an owner. That woman is not just any woman.
That woman is my mother.
The smell of burnt food sneaks in through the gap under my door, and a smile stretches my lips. I don’t even need to go down to understand what happened.
Kendrick and Will happened.
The guys tried to cook, didn’t they?
I roll over to my side, only to see Haze sleeping safe and sound on his stomach. He doesn’t seem bothered that my mother is shouting at the top of her lungs or that it smells like someone set the house on fire. I swear this guy could sleep through anything.
“I didn’t sign up for this. You better clean this up!”
Lauren Kingston has never been a morning person. Her default mode is moody and cold, and I can’t even imagine how two guys making a mess in her kitchen—which she can’t stand as the neat freak she is—will enhance her already unpleasant personality. Here’s to hoping she won’t lose it when she sees Haze walk down the stairs. With my luck, she’ll get mad that someone stayed the night without her permission and kick him out.
The fire alarm going off finally seems to be enough to pull Haze out of slumber. Opening and closing his eyes a few times, he groans.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Oh, you know, the guys almost burnt the house down. The usual.” I slip out of bed, walking to the large windows and drawing the hideous pink curtains I’ve had since I was nine. “And my mother’s in a mood.”
“Awesome.” Haze flips on his back, blocking the sun with his hand.
“Get up. It’s past ten.” I pull on the blanket, almost drooling when the sunrays illuminate his perfectly defined torso. My eyes trace every curve, every highlighted muscle on his body, and I’m suddenly tempted to jump right back into bed with him.
“She’s literally going to bite my head off when she finds out a stranger stayed the night.” I roam my bedroom anxiously. “Hey, Mom, what’s up? Meet the boyfriend you didn’t even know I had.”
“Wait, you didn’t tell them about me?” He rubs his eyes, still out of it.
Guilt is evident on my face.
He pouts.
“Hey, don’t give me that look. I wanted to, okay? I just didn’t get the chance.” I climb into bed, straddling his bare chest and bending forward to cover his lips with “forgive me” kisses. A smile eventually crosses his tired features, and he hooks a hand behind my neck to kiss me back.
You know the moment I was talking about? The moment where it sinks in and I realize that the guy I love more than my own damn self followed me to another country?
Well, that moment is now.
I’m so happy I feel like my body can’t possibly contain all this joy and it’s going to come bursting out of me at any moment. Haze’s fingers get lost in my hair as he kisses me. I can feel his morning wood strain against my silk shorts, and I know if I don’t get away from him, we might not get out of bed anytime soon. He rejected me yesterday, and with good reason, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m horny as f—
“What are you thinking about?” Haze looks at me curiously, his fingers smoothing over my right thigh.
“Just … stuff ,” I stutter and pick myself off his body.
I kneel down to unzip my suitcase, on the hunt for a decent outfit, and a few minutes later, I’m dressed, much to Haze’s disappointment.
“Time to go get yelled at.”
Haze’s eyes carefully follow me around my bedroom as he sits up straight and runs a hand through his messy hair.
“What if we don’t tell her?”
I stop. His eyes land on my window, and he grins. I know that grin.
“No, no way. You’re not sneaking out the window.”
“Why not? Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Because they’ll see you.”
“No, they won’t. Then, all I have to do is knock on your door, pretend that I got here today because I realized I couldn’t live without my amazing girlfriend, and introduce myself. Everyone wins.” Haze gets out of bed and makes his way to my window to check out his escape route. “Piece of cake.”
I sway from one foot to the other, chewing on my lip.
“Listen, from what you’ve told me, she’s going to hate me either way but not nearly as much as she will if she finds out I came into her house without her approval.”
Shit. He kind of has a point.
“Fine.” I can’t help but check him out. He’s standing there in his boxers, looking so effortlessly perfect and putting my morning hair to shame. I think he notices because he grins. I shake my head in an attempt to gather myself. “You should… hm… get dressed and wait a few minutes. I’ll go downstairs. Text me when you’re coming down. I want to be the one to open the door.”
Haze nods and picks his shirt and sweatpants up from my floor. We really need to go buy him new clothes while we wait for his to get here. And he needs to make arrangements to sell his old apartment’s furniture as soon as possible. He said he knows a guy who helped his family out in the past—the guy who emptied their first house in less than a week before its demolition and after what happened to Desiree. He’ll clear out whatever Haze can’t get shipped.
Grabbing my phone on the nightstand, I peck him on the lips, walk out, and glide down the stairs.
First mission of the day: stop my mother from murdering Kendrick and Will.
The living room is empty, exactly the same as it was the day I dragged my suitcase down the stairs and left for Florida. I assess the perfectly clean house. No sign of Jaden playing video games, no sign of Maika breaking every single doll my parents buy for her—I don’t know what she does with them, but I feel bad for the headless Barbies she carries around—and especially no sign of my mother.
A laugh falls out of my mouth when I step into the kitchen and see Kendrick and Will on their knees, scraping the kitchen tiles. I take in the scene of the crime. Opened pancake mix lies on the counter next to dirty pans. The guys’ faces are covered in flour. My guess is they tried to make pancakes, somehow ended up throwing flour at each other like the two-year-olds they are, and burnt their food.
“What on earth happened here?”
“It’s his fault,” Kendrick grumbles.
“Not true,” Will says.
“Where’s everyone?” I glance around the silent house.
“Your dad went to drive your brother to a friend’s house. Maika’s with him,” Kendrick explains.
“And my mom?”
“She’s downstairs, looking for something to get that out.” Will points up. I follow his motion and gasp at the sight of what I assume to be pancake mix on the ceiling.
“How did you even… No, you know what? I don’t want to know.” I walk to the fridge to pour myself a glass of juice.
“Hey, Canada, where’s your boyfriend?” Will asks.
Kendrick glances around, looking for Haze. “Yeah, I was kind of looking forward to Aunt Lauren freaking out.”
“We’ve decided to pretend he just arrived today. He’s going to come knocking on the door in a little while. If I hear a word from either of you, you’re dead, got it?”
“Why all the trouble?” Will questions. “Would it really be so bad if your mom found out he stayed the night?”
Kendrick and I make eye contact and both say the exact same thing at the same time. “You don’t know her.”
He has no idea who he’s dealing with. My mother never, not once, let my friends spend the night here. She crushed Allie’s and my sleepover dreams all throughout my high school years.
I can already hear her speech: This is my house! I decide who comes into it. As long as you are living under my roof, you will follow my rules.
I watch the boys struggle until the basement door slams in the distance. My mom’s on her way back from the laundry room. For some reason, my heart beats faster at the thought of seeing her again—and not in a good way. I suck in a breath when her tall frame turns the corner. She looks great, per usual. Her brown hair is pulled into a neat bun, and she’s wearing a white blouse with black pants. She holds a mop and bucket full of cleaning products in her hand. Her inability to smile may knock some points off her score, but nevertheless, my mother’s always been beautiful.
“Winter,” she says when she notices me.
“Hi.” I muster a weak smile.
I wait for her to say something else, to display some sort of emotion, but she doesn’t. If we had a regular mother-daughter relationship, I’d be in her arms by now—after all, we haven’t seen each other in months—but she’s never been the hugging type.
“You’re here.” She states the obvious, her eyes raking over my body as she analyzes my outfit. I can hear her mentally judging me. I’m wearing blue jeans and a sleeveless black shirt. It’s nothing to write home about, but I like it. I thought it was cute. Clearly, she disagrees. My mother’s one of those people who have the ability to make you question every single decision you ever made with one look. “When did you come back?”
“Last night. Caleb and Allie took me out to celebrate.” I nervously tug at my shirt.
“Oh.” She nods. “Well, welcome back.”
“Thanks.”
She walks around me, letting me know that our reunion is over, and tells the boys to get out of her way so she can clean up their mess. My mother and I have never been what one would call close. Our relationship has been on the rocks since… well, since I was born ? If a lifetime of trying to impress and satisfy her has taught me one thing, it’s that I will most likely never get it right with her. I killed myself trying to be the perfect daughter for years: I studied hard, got good grades, did laundry, said please, but nothing I ever did seemed good enough.
Over the years, people started to notice how distant she was. Some said, “I’m sure it’s not personal. It’s probably just who she is as a person.” I found some comfort in that story. Until Maika came along. That’s when I found out that she could, in fact, be loving and warm to her children. That she isn’t cold to everyone. Just me.
Must be why she called me Winter.
First bad pun of the day? Check.
But I have Harry, and he’s enough. He married my mom when I was so young, I can’t seem to recall my life before him. He taught me to ride a bike, covered my scraped knees with Hello Kitty Band-Aids, tried to give me the talk. He’s my dad, biological or not.
I’m ripped away from my mommy issues when the front door swings open and a familiar voice erupts behind me.
“Pumpkin!”
My heart swells with happiness.
“Dad!” I jolt toward him and practically throw myself into his arms.
“Where’s my little girl? What have you done to her?”
“It’s only been a few of months,” I chuckle.
“I know, but yesterday, you were this big.” He feeds me the universal dad line.
“Winter!” someone blurts out.
I pull away from my father’s warm embrace and spot Maika, my baby sister, on the porch. Fidgeting with her floral red dress, she smiles widely. Curly blonde hair flows down her face, covering her hazel eyes and stopping at her shoulders.
“Hey, princess.” I bend down to her level and open my arms for her. She jumps in excitement and runs to me.
“I missed you.” She wraps her tiny arms around my neck.
“I missed you, too, Mai.”
Soon enough, she breaks away from me, making it clear that she has more important matters to attend to, and runs to the living room where her toys await her.
“When’s Jay coming back?” I glance at my Dad.
“Tonight. He was excited to see you, but his friend just got a new game. You know how it goes.”
“I get it. Priorities and all,” I mock although I’m not surprised. I’m pretty confident there isn’t a single person in this world Jaden loves more than his video games.
“Tell me everything. How was it? How was Florida?” Dad asks, removing his coat. “I’m assuming things went well since these guys loved you so much they followed you home,” he motions to Will and Kendrick.
Will scoffs, and I glare at him. I know what he’s thinking. I’m not sure almost dying a few times qualifies as well .
“Come here, son.” My dad motions to my cousin.
“Hey, Uncle Harry.” Kendrick walks to him for one of those man hugs they always give each other.
That’s when my phone vibrates in my pocket, and I realize that I’m an idiot. I completely forgot about Haze. I haven’t been paying attention to my phone, so wrapped up in my family moment I didn’t think to check if he texted me that he was coming down. I grab my phone in my back pocket, read Haze’s text, and begin to type a quick “Okay,” but I can’t press Send. Because I’m interrupted by a scream.
A high-pitched, little-girl, panicked scream.
Maika comes running into the room the next second, a look of horror on her face.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Worry fills my mother’s voice.
“There’s a…” She stops, out of breath. “There’s someone. I… out of the window.”
It hits me.
Holy fucking shit.
You can see my bedroom window from the living room’s. Not only can you see it, but it’s at a perfect angle. How could I be so stupid?
“What? You saw someone going out the window?” my dad asks, on alert, and Maika nods, still in shock. Events unravel so fast I can barely keep up. Maika tells my dad the intruder’s in the backyard, and my dad tells my mom to call the police. I can’t bring myself to speak, chasing my father as he runs around the house, looking for his first-choice weapon—a baseball bat.
“No, Dad, wait!” I try, but he’s so pumped on adrenaline, he doesn’t look my way.
“If this scumbag thinks he can break into our house and steal from us!”
“Dad, stop, he’s not stealing!”
“Why else would he be escaping out the window? He’s clearly robbing us.”
“Dad, listen to me!” I beg, but he’s already out of the house. Will, Kendrick, and I rush outside, trailing after my infuriated father.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
I see him in the distance. He spots us and freezes in place. His jaw falls at the sight of my father dashing toward him at full speed with a baseball bat.
What? Not how you expected to meet my parents, babe?
“Dad!” I shout again, but he keeps on running, paying me no mind. Only a few steps separate us now. Haze gives me a look, and I know exactly what it stands for. He’s going to defend himself if he has to. I call it the “ I love you, but I’m not getting beat up by a baseball bat. ”
“You think you can break into my house? You’re going to jail.” My dad takes a swing, aiming at Haze.
The loudest, most piercing “ Stop !” I’ve ever heard in my entire life rings out in our backyard. A second is required for me to realize that it came from my own mouth. My father halts himself right before impact, and, with my heart beating so fast it hurts, I stride to Haze, stepping in front of him and acting as a human shield.
“What are you doing? Step away! Why are you protecting the thief?” my dad yells.
Kendrick and Will are barely holding back laughter in the background, their faces scarlet.
Did I say I was happy that they’re here? I take it back.
“He’s not a thief,” I pant.
We hear the front door slam and my mom comes running toward us with Maika in one arm and the phone pressed to her ear. She’s calling the police. She stops next to my dad, confused as to why we’re all standing there instead of apprehending the intruder. Anticipating the shitstorm that will come pouring down on me the second I say the words, I inhale a sharp breath.
“Mom, Dad. Meet Haze.”
Someone kill me now.
“My boyfriend.”