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  It feels like we’re going about fifty miles per hour, but obviously, we can’t be anywhere near that. “Too! Fast!” I shriek into the wind.

  We hit the bottom and gradually slow to a stop. Pushing ourselves to stand, we drag our tubes behind us, and head back to the line for the conveyor lift. “What was that?” Reece asks. “Our fourth time down already? See, I’m much better at this.”

  Our day at the mountain so far has included an exhausting three hours attempting to snowboard, a lunch break in the lodge, and now an hour at the tube park. I can tell that Reece is embarrassed about how things were going earlier, but for an absolute beginner on a board, he isn’t as bad as he thinks. “You really were doing good by the end,” I say. “If we had a couple of more days here, you’d definitely get it.”

  “I feel like I’ve spent all day on my butt.”

  “That’s what snowboarding is like for everyone when they’re learning, so that’s perfect. Nobody likes a prodigy, you know.”

  “Yeah, you definitely couldn’t mistake me for one of those.”

  My pocket dings for what’s probably the fifteenth time today and I can’t help groaning. Ming has been sending “Has he kissed you NOW?” texts, I swear, every half an hour and my blood pressure is rising. There were a few times while I was kneeling in front of him or helping him up that I’d thought he might kiss me, but he never did. Whenever Ming asks me about it, I keep wondering if it’s ever going to happen, if I should be doing something different in order to make it happen.

  “Who do you think this one’s from?” I ask Reece. “Ming? Or, perhaps, my dear friend, Ming?”

  He laughs, but I have a feeling that he wouldn’t find it so funny if he had any clue what she’s been bugging me about.

  I pull out my phone, bracing myself. “And the winner is! Oh . . . actually, it’s Piper.”

  Piper: Hi, we need to set up a game plan for you and Alejandra. Call me?

  This is worse than Ming’s questioning. I scrunch up my nose and tilt the screen for Reece to read. “If I tell Piper that I never got this message, will you back me up?”

  “Sure,” he says, shrugging.

  “Or, how about this?” I type quickly and send Piper a response.

  Me: Hi! Good to hear from you! I’m in line to ride an inner tube down a hill. Coming home from vay-cay in 2 days & will call you then :)

  Within seconds, my phone rings. It’s Piper.

  “Okay, so that didn’t work,” I say.

  “Sorry to bother you,” Piper says when I answer.

  “It’s okay. Just talk fast, will you?”

  “How are you doing? Are you having a good trip?”

  “Pretty good—”

  “And how’s Bryan? I heard about his girlfriend. Is he doing okay?”

  I resist the urge to hang up. Sometimes her obsession with him is so irritating. “He’s still the same old Bryan,” I say without emotion.

  “That’s good. You should make sure he’s coming over for New Year’s. I mean, it’s tradition, and he skipped last year, so—”

  “Piper, I hate to cut you off,” I say in a rush, “but it’s almost my turn.”

  Grinning, Reece sweeps his arm toward the dozens of people who are waiting ahead of us. I smile back, but wince inwardly at having told such a stupid lie right in front of him.

  “Sorry!” Piper says. “Okay, so really quickly then. Your meeting with Alejandra. I’m thinking a neutral, public place. That coffee shop at the bookstore? Or how about Starbucks? Should we aim for the twenty-eighth? Maybe around two? I’ll set it up with Alejandra if that works for you, and then we’ll all meet there.”

  “Did Alejandra actually tell you that she wants to do this?”

  “I don’t care what she wants,” Piper says. “I don’t care what you want either. I’ve worked too hard to just sit back and watch my squad fall apart my senior year. So I’ll text you with the details when she confirms. I’ll be the mediator. You’re both going to show up and make nice, and then we’ll all be happy.”

  “Okay, then,” I say, trying to keep the skepticism out of my voice. “I have to go now. Bye.”

  “Don’t forget to talk to your brother!”

  I end the call and let my head fall back as I stare at the gray sky.

  “What’s up?” Reece asks.

  “Just Piper being Piper. Basically, she wants to force Alejandra and me to make up.”

  “What happened there, anyway? I used to see you two together all the time. But not for the past few months, right?”

  “Since right around when you and I started hanging out, actually.” I bump my hip into the side of his thigh. “So it’s probably your fault.”

  “Oh, okay. Like how you lost your accent because of Xander?”

  “Exactly like that!”

  I’m ready to move on to another subject, but Reece is watching me with curiosity, so I wave my hand and say, “It’s stupid. Alejandra broke up with her boyfriend in October and was acting all crazy and weird afterward. We kind of had a fight, and it keeps dragging on.”

  “What was the fight about?”

  I pretend to think about it for a few seconds. “You know, I don’t even remember.”

  I’m lying again, of course. I definitely haven’t forgotten that Saturday morning when Alejandra showed up at practice and sobbed all over the locker room. It was right after she and Derrick had been together for three months, and not only had she lost her virginity to him the night before, she’d also dumped him.

  From what I could understand, she was nervous, but decided that she’d be okay doing everything except it, so she let him go down on her. In the middle of that, she stopped him and said that they should have sex instead. Afterward, she told him she never wanted to see him again.

  I couldn’t figure out why she’d done any of that. It made no sense. While I tried to ask her questions, she started screaming that the whole thing was my fault. How could you let Pedro do that to you? Why did you say that it felt good? It’s totally disgusting and embarrassing!

  And that was exactly the moment that I was done being friends with her.

  “Maybe Piper will get her way,” I say, putting on a smile for Reece. “Or maybe Alejandra and I will be mad at each other forever. Stayed tuned for the oh-so-dramatic conclusion.”

  “Don’t stress over it.” He touches my shoulder. “You’ll fix things. My mom once got into an argument with her sister over who was buying the bike rack for a trip. They wouldn’t talk to each other for three months. My dad was like, ‘You’re pissed off because of a rack?’ They finally started speaking again and everything’s been cool ever since. So, see?”

  “See, what? Alejandra and I aren’t the only ridiculous females in the world?”

  He grins. “You said it, not me.”

  My phone rings in my pocket. I put my finger to my temple and motion like I’m pulling the trigger. “I’m so sorry about this.”

  “No worries,” Reece says. “This is what I get for hanging out with such a popular girl, I guess.”

  “I’m taking this call and then it’s going on silent mode for the rest of the day. Promise.”

  I check the screen. This time, it’s Tony. “Coley,” he says in a strained voice. “There’s been an accident. Someone crashed into Emma and her leg might be broken.”

  “What? Broken?”

  Reece is watching me with his eyes open wide, and I frantically mouth, “Emma,” while pointing at my leg.

  “We don’t know for sure yet,” Tony says in my ear. “But I was able to get ahold of your mom and she’s with your sister in the ambulance now. I’m going to head to the hospital too. I’m hoping you and Reece can take the boys back to the town house and keep an eye on them until we get home?”

  “Of course.”

  “It’ll probably be at least a couple of hours. Bryan rode with us today instead of taking his own car, so he’s stranded in the Village. I cannot for the life of me get him to pick up his phone, but I l
eft him a message to call you when he’s ready for a ride.”

  I nod, even though Tony can’t see me.

  “I appreciate your help with this,” he says. “Zach and Jacob are waiting outside the ski rental building. I gave Zach a key card so you’ll be able to get into the town house, and I’ll let you know when we have news.”

  “We need to go?” Reece asks as I end the call.

  “I’m sorry. But, yes. My brothers are in need of the Reece Kinsey taxi service.”

  “No problem.” He takes my pull rope in the same hand as his and leads me out of line.

  CHAPTER 11

  At the town house two hours later, Jacob, Zach, Reece, and I are up to our chests in hot, steaming water and have icicles forming in our hair.

  Reece is shirtless beside me, and I can’t help sneaking glances. He isn’t super built, but from what I can see in the light spilling out of the dining room, his shoulders, pecs, and arms are definitely toned.

  “I’m hungry,” says Jacob.

  “Me too,” says Zach.

  “I have an idea,” I tell them. “Why don’t you both go inside and make something for everyone? Let us know when it’s ready.”

  “Nice try, Coley,” Jacob says, looking back and forth between Reece and me with narrowed eyes.

  This has all been going on for at least thirty minutes, and my brothers’ refusal to leave us alone makes me want to scream. Truly, this is not how I want to spend this precious time without parents. Reece and me in a hot tub? Yes! With my little brothers? No, thank you very much.

  In frustration, I slap at the water in front of me, and it hits Jacob’s face.

  “Hey!” He splashes back and soon we’re all churning water up and ducking our heads.

  “Hang on!” Zach calls out over the splashing water. “Coley’s phone’s ringing.”

  We all stop as quickly as we started and I lean way over the edge of the hot tub. With my hand still wet, I grab my phone from one of the deck chairs and listen to my very annoyed-sounding mother as she gives me the scoop on the other end.

  “Well?” Jacob asks when I set my phone down less than a minute later.

  “Well,” I say, settling in again, much closer to Reece this time. “It was a clean break, Emma’s in pain, but doing okay, Mom’s mad, and they ordered Chinese takeout for dinner. They’ll probably be here in fifteen minutes.”

  “Chinese two days in a row?” Jacob says. “Why not pizza?”

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you go call and ask her?”

  Once again, he makes no move to get out.

  “Who’s Mom mad at?” Zach asks.

  I shrug. “She just had that tone of voice, you know?”

  Jacob and Zach both nod. They’ve heard it a million times too.

  Something hits my hand under the water. I start to pull back, but then I realize that it’s Reece’s hand wrapping around mine, and I relax.

  “What’s a ‘clean break’?” Jacob asks. “Is that good?”

  “I don’t think breaking your leg is ever a good thing,” Zach says.

  “Actually, it’s really bad,” Reece says. “They call it a ‘clean break’ when your limb gets broken clean off. Get it?”

  Jacob and Zach look at each other for a moment before Jacob says, “Nuh-uh.”

  Still underwater, Reece’s fingers trace the length of mine. His fingernails run down my palm to my wrist, and my heart goes absolutely crazy.

  “Yeah-huh,” Reece says. “You know those pirates with wooden peg legs? Clean breaks, all of them. That’s what Emma’s coming home with too. Which sucks, but you know, it isn’t the end of the world.”

  Jacob lowers his eyebrows as he seems to continue to ponder.

  A slow grin spreads over Zach’s face. “You are so lying.”

  Reece grins back. “You can go inside and look it up online if you don’t believe me.”

  I remain perfectly still—unable to speak, to breathe. Reece’s fingers are all over mine underwater, slowly massaging and pressing and intertwining. No one has ever held hands with me this way.

  “What does it really mean, Coley?” Zach asks.

  “I’m not a doctor.” I’m amazed that I can sound so normal right now. “Maybe that the bone isn’t splintered and will heal easier?”

  Jacob slides his head all the way underwater and then bobs back up. “There’s so many bubbles in here. I bet if someone farted, we wouldn’t be able to tell.”

  “Don’t you dare,” I say, raising a finger on my free hand.

  Zach and Reece laugh.

  “We had a Jacuzzi outside on the deck when I lived in Alaska,” Reece says. “Whenever my cousin would visit in the winter, we’d have all these competitions—”

  “Farting competitions?” Jacob asks.

  Reece laughs again. “No. We’d see who could hold their breath underwater longer. Or we’d run out in the snow while we were soaking wet.” Reece’s thumb slow dances with mine. “I think we should have a hot-tub-to-snow-angel competition right now.”

  “What’s that?” Jacob asks.

  “It’s when you and Zach get out of the water, run downstairs, lie on the snow, and see who can thrash your arms and legs around for the longest.”

  “That’s sounds cold.” Zach lifts his hands up into the steam as if to check the temperature.

  “That’s the point of it,” Reece says. “Shock your body. See who’s the toughest. If you guys run around to the back, your sister and I will be the judges from up here.”

  “No way,” Jacob says. “I’m only doing this if we all do it.”

  Reece looks at me. “Do you want to?”

  “Of course,” I say. “Frostbite sounds lovely.”

  He smiles. “The bravest girl I know.”

  “Sweet! Let’s go,” says Jacob.

  He climbs out of the hot tub and Zach follows. As they head inside with water running down their legs, Reece says quietly to me, “I can tell you right now that you won’t be in the snow long enough for frostbite. We’ll be lucky if we can last ten seconds.”

  “That’s reassuring,” I say.

  I don’t want to let go of Reece’s hand, I don’t want to get out of the water, and I especially don’t want to make an angel in the snow, but I hoist myself out anyway, slip on my flip-flops, and wrap my towel carefully around my body. I have on my red bikini instead of my sporty, blue one-piece. As soon as we’re finished with this little contest, I’m going to have to hurry and get dressed so that Mom and Tony won’t catch me in what they’ll probably think of as an “inappropriate” swimsuit to wear around Reece.

  As he steps out behind me, my phone rings. This time it’s my older brother.

  “Thanks for calling,” Bryan says as I answer.

  I head into the dining room to get out of the cold. Jacob and Zach have already run downstairs, but Reece kind of hovers at the top with his towel around his waist as if he wants to wait for me, but isn’t sure if I want him to. “Was I supposed to call?” I ask Bryan.

  “Would’ve been nice if you’d let me know what’s going on.”

  My stomach drops. It’s dark outside and the ski lifts closed back while Reece and I were still at the tube park. Which means that my brother has been waiting around with his gear for who knows how long. Why didn’t he call me sooner?

  “Bryan, I’m sorry. I thought Tony said that he left you a message.”

  There’s silence for a moment, and then Bryan says, “He did.”

  “Oh.” I don’t know why, but I can’t keep up with this conversation. “So did you know that Mom and Tony were with Emma at the hospital, and we’re watching Jacob and Zach until they get back?”

  “I thought someone was supposed to pick me up.”

  “Reece can come get you.” I glance at Reece, who nods. “Or, actually, Mom let me know that they’re grabbing Chinese food and then coming home. If you call them now, they can probably swing by on the way.”

  Bryan sighs in my ear. “Are you kidding me?
Chinese again? How about . . . do you want to have dinner with me at that sports bar at the base of the slopes?”

  “With Reece, too?”

  “Obviously.”

  I hold the phone away from my mouth. “Reece, is it okay with you if we eat with Bryan in the Village?”

  “Sure,” he says.

  “Okay,” I say to Bryan. “But we can’t leave the boys until everyone gets back. And I need to wash the chlorine out of my hair. We can be there in maybe forty minutes.”

  “I’ll get a table. Just hurry, okay? Don’t be all picky about your makeup and everything.”

  “Okay, Mister Bossy.”

  We hang up, and as I’m setting my phone on the table, Jacob yells from downstairs, “What’re you guys waiting for? Come on!”

  Reece and I make our way to the bottom of the stairs, and Zach pulls the door open and jumps back. A gust of wind makes the goose bumps all over my body stick up even more.

  “We’re really doing this?” I ask, pulling my towel tighter.

  “It’ll be quick,” Reece says. “And mostly painless.”

  I follow him out and glance at the boys. Zach steps back into the foyer, out of sight. Jacob looks right at me and shouts, “Suckers!”

  The door slams shut with the two of them inside and the two of us outside.

  “Hey!” I yell. “What are you doing?”

  I try to twist the door handle, but it’s locked. “Jacob DeLuca! Open the door! Right. This. Second.”

  He laughs on the other side.

  “Did he really lock us out?” Reece asks.

  “Yup.” I hit the door. “Open up! Now!”

  “Have fun out there, you lovebirds!” Jacob shouts.

  “Come on, you guys!” Reece calls out. “This is not cool.”

  We’re greeted with silence.

  Under the porch light, I pound on the door until my fists hurt. Reece rings the doorbell every few seconds and hops up and down on the stoop in his bare feet. Less than two minutes out here already feels like hours.

  “Your brothers are supervillains,” Reece says.

  My towel is sliding, so I pull it tighter around my chest and retuck one end at the middle. “I’m going to murder them both.”