AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jake jerks his head toward the driveway. “Come on.”
When we get in the car, I realize either I’ve been avoiding Jake or he has been avoiding me. One way or another, we have barely spent any time alone together since I got here. In the brief silence as he starts the car, I feel the overwhelming need to say something.
“I’m sorry,” I say, voice confusingly thick with emotion. “I know I’m probably ruining your holiday.”
He scowls. “What? No, stop that.”
“I’m trying,” I blubber. “I just feel so bad. I–the wedding, and–” I suck in a noisy noseful of boogers.
Jake fumbles around in the center console for tissues and finds an old Dunkin Donuts napkin that is dusted with brown sugar. “Uh, here.”
I blow my nose. “I just–”
“Andi,” he says firmly. “I’m not upset. You’re my little sister. I’m happy you’re here. Okay? Stop crying. Jesus.”
“You’re happy?” I sniff. “You’ve seemed so mad.”
“I’m just…” he relaxes his grip on the wheel and shakes his head. “I’m trying to stop worrying so much. I know my teammates. None of them are exactly long term prospects. When I picture what would happen if you dated one of them, I have a hard time seeing it going different than it always does with those guys. They’d get what they wanted, and then they’d move on. And my little sister would have a broken heart.”
I nod, thoughts going straight to the cracks already forming in my already fragile heart. Jesse just wants sex. He doesn’t even want to be friends. Another wave of emotion threatens to take me over, but I push it back. “I can take care of myself. You don’t always have to protect me.”
“Yes, I do. You’re my little sister and I’m your big brother. I’m always going to look out for you. Sometimes a little too much,” he adds, almost reluctantly.
I smile. “I do appreciate it. Even if it is too much sometimes.”
He gives my hand a quick squeeze, then grimaces. “It’s all wet,” he says.
“Sorry,” I sniff again. “Got any more of these?”
* * *
My first Frostival event in Frosty Harbor is a blast. Sure, Jesse avoids me like I have the plague for most of the morning and afternoon, but otherwise, it’s great.
Tourists and locals are all welcome to participate, and I spend most of the day in front of Caroline’s bed and breakfast at the station we set up for people to build their gingerbread houses. I have to run and pick up more supplies a few times, but otherwise I’m mostly helping cute little kids build and decorate their houses or making small talk with adults who stop by for some fun.
When Meemee shows up with Mikey and Cade, she rushes up and gives me a big hug. She tries to build a ginger-dragon in honor of Jesse, but she eats too much of her portion of decorations and winds up with more of a crumb pile.
All the guys on the team stop by eventually and I give them the appropriate amount of shit for their poor attempts at gingerbread houses. Carter’s looks like it’s about to collapse. Maddox pulls Meemee’s move and just stands there eating everything while he talks with me about astrology. Liam’s is decent, but he seems distracted by a pretty girl at another table the whole time. Jake is overly competitive in everything, so he barely speaks while he builds his admittedly pretty good house. Nolan comes by last, and he’s with Mia.
Those two have gone from suspicious to obvious, by my estimation. I guess the same sort of bro code that has stopped the guys from calling Jesse out on his interest in me has protected them. To my knowledge, everybody is pretending they haven’t noticed Nolan and Mia’s little cooking club for two.
The two of them are adorable as they work to build what is easily the prettiest gingerbread house yet.
Jake sticks around to help us pack up all the supplies when it’s done. The houses are crammed inside Caroline’s bed and breakfast like decorations for now, and she’s going to go back through to pick a winner from each age group soon.
I wind up carrying a table with Jesse and Jake inside. I’m surprised when Jesse speaks to me for the first time all day. “Are you really planning to stay in Frosty Harbor after Christmas?”
“I don’t know,” I say. It’s mostly a lie. The truth is I’m almost sure I want to stay. I don’t know for how long, but leaving after Christmas sounds way too soon. “I finally called my best friend from New York and we talked. I was expecting her to be mad or try to convince me to come back, but she thought it was awesome.”
“Bree?” Jake asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “She’s really busy with her business right now, anyway. She’s going to try to come see me here soon, though.”
“Did you talk to the guy?” Jesse asks. He puts his back to me as he lifts the table and sets it in a row with the others. “Your almost husband guy?”
I chew my lip. “He texted once. Basically, he said he wished I had talked to him in person, but he also wished me well and hoped I was happy here.”
Jesse shakes his head. “Fucking crazy. How can he let you go that easily?”
