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Could he be any more annoying?

“Nope,” I said, crossing my arms. “Not gonna happen.”

“Emma, she’s refusing to pinky promise me. I think that means she doesn’t want to go,” he said more to me than to her.

“Pinky promise!” Emma shouted, still looking at the horse.

Dean gave me a look.

“Fine!” I said, holding out my pinky. I had never felt so stupid in my life.

“Great.” He moved Emma off of his lap, and she whined in protest.

“No,” she said as the horse crashed to the ground. She threw her arms around his neck. “Don’t leave!”

He disentangled her and pulled her back to look at him.

“I have to,” he said. “I promised Lauren I would leave if she promised me something, so now it’s time for me to go.”

Emma frowned and turned to me.

“Why would you want him to leave?”

She had me on that one.

“Time for bed, Emma,” I told her. “You have to get ready for school in the morning, remember?”

“School is going to be so much fun,” Dean said. “And I bet Lauren will even let you have Lucky Charms for breakfast if you’re extra nice to her.”

Emma’s eyes lit up. These kids were going to be in a sugar coma for the rest of their lives if this continued.

“Really?”

“Definitely,” I said. “But only if you can get your pj’s on in the next minute!”

She jumped off of Dean’s lap and ran upstairs, accepting the challenge.

He got up and I followed him over to the door.

“Thanks.”

He looked surprised. “For what?”

“For making them dinner,” I said softly.

“Anytime, Lauren Lindsay,” he said as he left. “Anytime.”

I shut the door and exhaled loudly, thinking I was alone.

“It’s fine,” I heard a voice call from upstairs. “Everyone’s in love with him.”

I turned around and saw Callie and Jenny standing at the top of the stairs.

“It’s really annoying, actually,” Jenny added.

“Bye Jenny,” Callie said, not moving from her post.

Jenny looked offended, but brushed past me as she walked down the stairs and out the door without a word.

I didn’t want to deal with Callie, so I walked back to the kitchen and ate the last slice of pizza. Next to it, there was a small note written on a scrap of a paper towel.

I took the note and crumpled it with my fist.

I was so angry at him. How did he have the right to just waltz in here and take over? I was going to leave soon anyway, so it didn’t matter. Clearly, I couldn’t take care of anyone but myself, and I refused to be just another girl who fell for Dean Powell.

I WAS TRICKED. As it turned out, Jed and Mary were more than supportive about the ski trip, and all but shoved me out the door for the weekend. I wasn’t sure why they suddenly had so much enthusiasm, but it seemed to have something to do with the fact that they hoped I would start to make friends and want to stay.

I did want to catch up with Kenzie, but her boyfriend, Luke, would also be there, so I wasn’t sure how much time we would actually get to spend together. I wasn’t going to lie to myself and say that my reason for going had nothing to do with Dean, either. As much as he annoyed me, there was something about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on yet. It was something that made me want to be around him, even if it was just for a weekend before I left.

That afternoon, a huge SUV pulled up outside of the house. My tiny overnight bag was packed, and Jed and Mary were waving me off like normal parents would, which made me feel like this was some kind of parallel universe. It was also strange to leave Emma, who had been my constant companion for the past few days, except for when she was at school. She even looked sad when I told her I would be going away for a couple of days, which broke my heart since she didn’t know I wouldn’t be staying with them for much longer. She would be much better without me in the long run, whether she knew it or not.

Kenzie climbed out of the black car and grabbed me immediately.

“Oh my god, we’re going to have so much fun! This is going to be just like the old days!” She gestured at her boyfriend, Luke. I recognized him from his visits when he came to visit Kenzie at school before she transferred. He had always gone to school on the Springs campus. “Luke, you remember Lauren. Lauren, Luke.” He pulled me into a quick hug and shot me a megawatt smile.

“Here, I’ll take your bag for you,” he offered, and took it out of my hands. Without it, I somehow felt even more awkward and exposed.

“Thanks,” I said, giving him a weak smile. I was already regretting the fact that I agreed to come on this trip.

“Come on,” Kenzie said as she winked slyly at me. She was up to something. “You get to sit in the back with Dean.”

She opened the car door and climbed into the middle row of seats next to Luke, and then helped me pull up the other middle seat so I could make my way into the third row. I knew Dean was sitting there, but didn’t acknowledge him at first. The driver was apparently named Alex Hamilton, and was probably a descendant of one of the founding fathers, judging by the sleek Escalade we were currently riding in.

I brought my attention back to the far backseat, and realized Dean wasn’t alone. An extremely pretty blonde girl was cozied up next to him and glared at me when we made eye contact. I was so not prepared for this. Was it some kind of sick joke? Why did he want me to come so badly if he was going to bring his girlfriend?

“Kenz,” I said turning back to her, “How about I just sit with you and Luke?” I would most definitely rather third-wheel it with the two of them than Dean and the mystery girl.

“We still have to go back and get Alex’s brother John, and his girlfriend. So all of the seats will be full.” She gave me a sympathetic look that said she was sorry, but also not sorry at all. It did make more sense if people didn’t have to keep climbing over me to get to the backseat, but I really didn’t want to deal with the
Love Boat
back here.

I hoped to god we were still meeting other people there, because so far, Alex and I were the only ones who weren’t paired off.

I wistfully climbed into the backseat on the other side of Dean, but didn’t say a word. Apparently, he didn’t feel the need to deliver any of his usual charming lines either, but that didn’t surprise me now that I knew he wasn’t single. I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid. Just because he’d flirted with me a little didn’t mean he wasn’t taken. He probably felt sorry for me because of what happened, and that was just his way of being nice.

The car ride there was made tolerable by the fact that Kenzie and Luke spent the entire time trying to distract me from the blonde girl on the other side of Dean. She was trying her best to seduce him right in front of all of us.

Luke was just as funny as I remembered, and he and Kenzie were gorgeous together. They had an air to them that most couples our age didn’t. That longevity factor, coupled with the fact that they were so obviously taken with each other, made me so extremely happy for them.

Of course every girl wishes for a fairy tale, and even if I didn’t hold out much hope for myself, it was nice to see that some things in the world did work out the way they were supposed to, like Kenzie and Luke. I half wondered when I would be getting a frantic call from her that would most likely break my eardrums, telling me that Luke proposed.

Finding a wedding date for that wouldn’t be my forte, but I’m sure I could dig up a Dermot Mulroney in a pinch.

“Lauren,” Kenzie said, helping me pull my bags from the trunk. “I really hope you don’t mind, I’m rooming with Luke. Your room is right next to ours, so in case you need anything, we’ll be right there.”

I didn’t really like to think that I needed a babysitter, or that I would interrupt anything, but it was nice to know that she cared enough to make sure we were still close. Especially when I was really wondering why I had gone on this trip to begin with. As it turned out, Alex’s girlfriend Kelly was meeting us there, so I was officially the only one who wasn’t half of a couple. At least that meant a room to myself, but that wasn’t much of a consolation prize.

My theory about Alex and John being relation to one of the founding fathers was perpetuated by the fact that where we were staying was some kind of lodge complex near Breckenridge with a fancy sign out front sporting the Hamilton name. It also kind of reminded me of the Overlook Hotel from
The Shining
because of all the snow and no cell service whatsoever. John warned us that if we needed to talk to anyone, we’d have to take the snow cat about two miles down the mountain because they hadn’t finished the cell towers yet.

Where
were
we?

My life the past few days hadn’t been completely normal, so I was somehow embracing yet another unexpected change with strange bravado. It would be a winter break for the records, that was for sure.

I followed Kenzie and Luke two floors upstairs to our rooms, which took up the entire floor. I tried not to take notice when Dean went one floor up. He lugged his duffel up by himself, and I thought for a moment that he might be alone until I saw the blonde girl trotting up after him.

As soon as I was sure she was out of earshot, I questioned Kenzie.

“How come you didn’t tell me he has a girlfriend?”

She exchanged looks with Luke.

“She’s not exactly his girlfriend,” she said, making a face. “Stacia doesn’t do relationships. But he doesn’t either.”

“So then, why am I here?”

Kenzie came closer and tugged on my hands.

“Oh Lauren,” she said, biting her lip. “Don’t be like that. I’m sorry. I didn’t know Stacia was coming. It was really last minute I guess, and to be honest, I don’t think he even likes her.”

Well, he certainly didn’t like me, so she and I had that in common. Yet, he still seemed to put up with both of us, and even let her follow him around.

Great.

“We’ll have fun,” she said hopefully. “I promise.”

I hoped she was right, and I guessed I would find out in the morning.

“DUDE, DID YOU bring your board? You can borrow mine if not.”

I took another bite of my cereal and continued to read the paper, because my phone was useless and dead in my room.