Big thanks to tumblr user moon-mirage for the awesome cover art!

Thorne sprang off the bed immediately, smoothing down his clothes, but missed the fact that his dress shirt had untucked itself in the back and was sticking out from under his sweater. "Mr. Darnel! I mean—Dr. Darnel. Sir." He stood as straight as a board, his hands hanging at his sides, then took a step towards her dad. "It's such an honor to finally meet you."

He stretched out his hand, but Cress's dad eyed him waspishly and did not engage in a handshake. Thorne let his hand fall awkwardly at his side. Her father took his time staring down Thorne. To his credit, Thorne stared back, but the confidence that had been in place in Thorne's demeanor since she'd met him seemed to be wavering.

"Dad," said Cress, using the bed to pull herself to her feet. He turned his head to her, as if he'd forgotten she were in the room. If he were a dragon, his nostrils would have been alight with smoke. He narrowed his eyes and turned back to stare at Thorne. Cress gulped. "Dad," she tried again. "This is my boyfriend, Carswell—"

"I know who he is," he said.

"Thank you so much for having us, sir," said Thorne, looking as if he were trying to reclaim the situation. "It's—"

"Was I speaking to you?"

Thorne glanced at Cress, who was starting to panic internally. She wanted to go to her dad—to hug him, distract him, anything, but she was rooted to where she stood on the carpet. This was not at all the happy scenario she had imagined when introducing Thorne to her parents.

"You say it's an honor to meet me," her dad continued. His voice dripped with disdain and a hint of mockery. "Yet the first thing you do when entering my household is try to take my daughter to bed!"

Thorne held up his hands. "Whoa, that was not what was happening here at all."

It's not even your household, Cress wanted to add, but as usual, her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. She had known her dad would react this way. That was why she had tried to avoid any semblance of bed sharing at all. Her stupid aunts had set her up!

"I am an OBGYN! Do you not think I know how babies are made? I see the repercussions of men like you taking advantage of innocent girls all the time."

Thorne cleared his throat and turned to Cress again, as if he were expecting her to chime in at any time. When she didn't, he held up his hands again and…laughed. He dared laugh when her father was probably getting ready to castrate him?

"Listen, Dr. Darnel. This has been a huge misunderstanding. Yes, your daughter and I were kissing but that's all it was. We were laughing about how small the bed was—because c'mon, this thing isn't meant for two people—and sometimes when you laugh, and you're in a bed with the one you love…" he trailed off, as if not exactly convinced by what he was about to say.

Cress finally spoke up. "I thought I was sleeping with Winter! I tried to change rooms but Aunt Levana got mad at me when I suggested it."

"Oh you'll be changing rooms after this, all right," her dad huffed. "In fact, it looks like your boyfriend and I will be getting to know each other rather well this weekend because he'll be sharing a bed with me."

Cress's mouth dropped open and a sudden wave of defiance came over her. "He certainly will not be!" Both Thorne and her father turned their gazes on her. Encouraged, she plucked up some more bravery. "If everyone else is sleeping with their significant others, then I'm going to sleep with mine!" Her face heated, realizing what she's said. "I don't mean sleep with mine, I mean sleep sleep," she stuttered.

"With all due respect, sir, Cress is old enough to make her own decisions about who she sleeps with…" said Thorne. "Or next to," he added quickly, seeing her father's eyes simmer.

"Everyone else," he said, his tone still laced with poison, "has a respectable boyfriend. One who wouldn't wait six months to introduce himself to the family! Cress would never hide the fact that she had a boyfriend unless said boyfriend"—he pointed at Thorne—"was obviously a bad influence."

"I resent that," said Thorne firmly, making Cress want to gasp. He walked over to Cress and put his arm around her, almost protectively. "I've never done anything but treat your daughter with the utmost respect. And furthermore I'm offended at your insinuation earlier that I would take advantage of your daughter. I would never do something like that."

The two of them began their staring match again, but this time Thorne did not shrink back.

Cress wanted to die. This was her punishment for lying to her family: Her father wanting to kill her fake boyfriend and her fake boyfriend deciding to be stupidly noble and talk back to her father. There was no way it could end well. The weekend was ruined. Ruined!

"Oh, Saa-age!"

All three of them jumped, three pairs of eyes turning to the door.

"Mom," Cress whispered, and ran to the hallway. She nearly collided with her mom, who had a cup of eggnog in one hand and an overly happy smile on her face.

She hugged her daughter with her free arm. "Cress, dear, whatever is taking so long?"

"Mom, help! Dad is going to kill Carswell!"

Looking amused, her mother sauntered into the tiny bedroom. Cress followed her, and suddenly the space felt even more cramped.

"Hello-o, handsome!" sang her mother, completely ignoring her fuming husband and embracing Thorne. Her eggnog sloshed in her cup and a bit spilled out onto the carpet. Cress wondered if this were her fourth or fifth cup already.

"Mrs. Darnel," said Thorne, sidestepping the spilled eggnog and taking her hand. He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "It's so great to finally meet you. I can now see where Cress gets her beauty."

Her mother tittered and took a sip of her drink. "Don't be silly, call me Rosie." She raised her eyebrows disapprovingly at Cress's dad. "Sage, why have you been keeping them all to yourself? I sent you up here ten minutes ago to get them!"

Her father, who looked flustered at his wife's sudden appearance, inhaled sharply. "I was detained, Rosemary, because these two were—they were—kissing." He said it as though it were the most scandalous thing two people could ever do.

"Aww," said her mother, beaming at Cress. "How cute."

"No," said her father sharply. "Perhaps I didn't clarify the situation enough. Our daughter was—she was—lying on top of him. On the bed."

Her mother laughed and patted her husband on the cheek. "Calm down, darling, you'll give yourself high blood pressure."

"Rosemary, they were attacking each other like animals!" her father tried again, making Cress want to disappear behind Thorne.

"Believe me, if I were thirty years younger I'd be attacking him myself. Just look at him!"

"Mom!" said Cress, who was now more scandalized than her father.

Thorne was observing them curiously, looking like he wanted to place bets on what would happen next.

"I've informed them that we'll be changing sleeping arrangements," her father continued. "Carswell and I will be sharing a room and you and Cress will be together."

Her mother snorted. "Don't be ridiculous." She surveyed the little bed behind her. "What are they doing in this room anyway? It's not meant for two."

"That's what I said!" said Cress. "Why can't Ran stay here?"

"Indeed," said her mother. She downed the rest of her eggnog. "I'll go talk to my sisters. I'm sure Sybil and Maha will agree that Ran doesn't need such a large room all to himself. Well, at least Maha will agree." She shrugged and began to walk toward the door. "Come along, dears, everyone's dying to meet you."

When she disappeared out the door, Cress's dad narrowed his eyes at Thorne once again. "I'm watching you," he whispered. Then, with a low growl, he added, "We're a hunting family. I own a lot of guns."

Thorne nodded. "Got it, sir."

But then her dad turned to Cress. "I expected more from you, Crescent."

Her face fell as the three of them shuffled out the door, but she didn't know what she could say to make the situation better. She also didn't know why she had just advocated for her and Thorne to continue sharing a room when she could have easily agreed to her father's terms. But Thorne was right—she was twenty-two years old and certainly old enough to make her own decisions. For once, she was not going to be the weird one in the family who needed special accommodations.

Thorne slipped his hand around hers when they got to the bottom floor, which reminded her that she needed to breathe. Her parents went ahead of them but Cress stopped Thorne and clutched at her stomach.

All those people were waiting for their big entrance. All those people would be scrutinizing her every move this weekend.

"I can't do this," she whispered. "Let's run away, Thorne. I'll—I'll text them later and say one of us got violently ill, or that we broke up, or that—that—"

Thorne grabbed her by the elbow rather forcefully and dragged her into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him and locked it. "Sit," he commanded, snapping his fingers at the toilet.

Cress shakily put down the lid and did as she was told.

Thorne leaned over the sink and stared at his reflection in the mirror. Then he yanked the faucet up and let the water rush into the basin. He didn't wash his hands; he sat down on the ground in front of Cress and crossed his legs.

"All right, let's have it," he said. She stared at him but he just motioned with his fingers as if adding let's get this over with. "Freak out, sweetheart. As long as you don't scream, no one will hear you over the running water."

She didn't scream. She couldn't. She just felt like she was going to hyperventilate.

"I know that didn't go well."

"Didn't go well! You argued with my dad!" She lowered her voice. "After he walked in on me lying on top of you!"

Thorne grinned. "And he totally bought it. The man practically had a heart attack."

"He hates you now!"

"But he thinks we're together," said Thorne smugly. He leaned his head against the wall. "Looks like we won't need to do another romantic kiss after all. After that show, he probably would kill me if I tried to kiss you again."

Cress bit her lip. "I'm sorry it got so out of hand. I didn't mean to push you on the bed."

He shrugged. "It's done. Let's move on."

"But my dad still hates you," she said miserably.

"So I'll win him over."

Cress watched the water pour out of the faucet. The room was starting to steam up, so she reached over to turn the water to cold. The last thing she wanted was for someone to think they were making out in the bathroom. As soon as the thought crossed her mind she knew it was too late. Why else would they be in there? She covered her face with her hands. "This is a disaster."

"Stop it."

She peaked through one of her fingers at Thorne's harsh tone. He had never spoken to her like that before.

"You're psyching yourself out for no reason. You think he's the worst dad I've ever met? Not by a long shot. And your mother balances him out, so as a couple they'll be easy to work over. You'll see."

Cress tried to be positive, but the look of disappointment on her father's face was still haunting her—would continue to haunt her. And then, over the running water, she heard a loud, musical, feminine laugh. She closed her eyes.

"What?" asked Thorne. "What just happened?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. She reached behind her and flushed the toilet.

Which was a really stupid thing to do.

Why would she flush a toilet while in the bathroom with her boyfriend? Oh stars, everyone would think that she was peeing in front of her boyfriend. It really was a disaster. No, she was the disaster.

"I'm not even going to comment on that," said Thorne, giving her the same weird look he'd given Aunt Levana. "But you're still freaking out and it's not just because of your dad. Spill."

She hesitated before whispering the words: "You're going to fall in love with Winter."

Thorne raised an eyebrow. "Your sister? You think that a guy who's getting paid to be your boyfriend—by you, may I add—is going to be stupid enough to fall in love with her sister?"

"She's the most beautiful girl you'll probably ever meet. Everyone falls in love with her."

"Well I'm in love with you," he said dryly, then stood up. Then he eyed her suspiciously. "Wait, is she a cheater? Is she going to try to get with me?"

Cress shook her head adamantly. "No, she's very much in love with her fiancé."

"Well there you go. I'm in love with you. She's in love with him. There's no problem except the one you're creating in your mind."

"I bet you tell girls you love them all the time."

He did not look thrilled at her statement. "So?"

"How many have you told?"

"Do we really have to do this right now?"

"How many?"

"Hundreds," he said, shrugging. "Kind of comes with the job. And on that note, I've accompanied hundreds of girls on hundreds of dates and met at least forty or fifty families by now. So, up you go." He held out his hand and she reluctantly took it. Thorne gently pushed her towards the mirror. "You've got a bit of makeout hair," he said.

Cress tried to comb out her hair with her fingers. Thorne stood behind her and inspected both of them in the mirror. When he had approved both of their looks, she told him that his shirt had come undone. He hastily shoved it back in and plastered on an enormous smile. "Let's go blow them away, sweetheart."

He grabbed her hand again and led her out of the bathroom. To her surprise, no one was waiting for them, but she heard Winter's musical laugh echoing down the hallway again. They followed it to the living room, passing the exuberant marble statues that her aunts had imported from Greece when they'd first bought the cabin.

The chatter in the living room died the instant they walked in. A fire was almost down to ashes in the hearth, but it cackled in the sudden quiet. Heat rose on Cress's cheeks but it had nothing to do with the temperature in the room.

"Well, if it isn't little Crescent Moon," drawled a voice towards the back of the room. Cress saw her cousin Ran sitting with legs slung over the armrest of the long L-shaped couch. "All grown up with her big, bad boyfriend," he continued, then smirked. "We heard you two already got the party started upstairs."

"Oh, shut up Ran," said Ze'ev, who was sitting next to him. "You're just jealous that you're the single one this year."

Cress's face lit up with a smile. Where she could barely ever think of nice things to say about Ran, his brother Ze'ev was by far her favorite cousin. Six years older than her and fiercely protective, he was the closest thing to an older brother she had ever had. Ran was older than her too, but he just acted like a child most of the time. And she would never forgive him for trying to burn the tips of her hair when they were children.

"Hi everyone," she said, gripping Thorne's hand like she were about to fall off a cliff. "This is my boyfriend, Carswell Thorne."

There were a few murmurs of hello and more than a few whistles.

"Hey," said Thorne, offering up a little wave. "It's great to meet all of you."

"I'm delighted," said Winter, who was sitting on the floor by the fireplace. "To think that Cress has had a boyfriend for the last six months that we didn't even know about!"

"She's sneaky, isn't she," Thorne joked.

Winter smiled then, her flawless, pearl-white smile that rendered more than just the average man putty in her hands. Cress waited for Thorne to do a double take. But his expression didn't even change. "I'm Winter," she cooed. "Cress's older sister." She regarded everyone in the room. "I think we should all go around and say who we are. No need to put poor Carswell on the spot." She winked at Thorne. "I hear you've already met Mom and Dad."

Cress nodded. "Good idea, Winter." Anything to get out of the limelight.

"I'm Ze'ev and this is my wife Scarlet," said Ze'ev, pointing to the redhead on his right. "We'll be the ones making your life miserable if you hurt Cress."

"Good to know," said Thorne, "but I don't intend to."

Ze'ev tilted his head to the left. "And you've already met Ran."

Ran scowled. "I can't believe they get my room."

"Manners," said Aunt Maha, then turned to face Cress and Thorne. "I'm Maha, Rosie's sister."

"Our mom," supplied Ze'ev.

"Thanks for helping us out with the room," said Thorne.

"I'm Iko," said Iko. "I belong to this family." She pointed at Aunt Adri and Cinder, who introduced themselves as well. "But I'm technically a step-cousin. And this is my date, Liam Kinney." Iko looked proudly at Cress. "Isn't he gorgeous?"

Liam looked embarrassed. "Thanks, Iko," he said, and Cress nearly melted. He was super cute and had an Irish accent. She loved guys with accents. "It's nice to meet both of you." To Thorne, he said: "Glad I'm not the only new guy this weekend."

Kai, who was leaning on Cinder in the L-shaped couch, introduced himself next as Cinder's long-time boyfriend, and told Thorne that he would be joining Scarlet and Ze'ev in making his life miserable if he did anything to hurt Cress.

Aunt Sybil and Aunt Levana feigned an interested hello again, since they had already met him. They sat squashed on the second couch next to Cress's dad, who was still looking sour and avoiding eye contact.

"Where are Pearl and Peony and Uncle Garan? And Jacin?" asked Cress.

"Pearl and Peony aren't back from their study abroad trip yet. They'll be home after the New Year," said Aunt Adri. Cress didn't mind their absence; she had always found the twins to be a little over-the-top. "Garan—that's Rosie's brother and my husband—is out getting some things in town with Jacin," continued Aunt Adri. "It seems we're already out of eggnog." She shot a look at Cress's mom, but it went mostly unnoticed.

"Aren't we just one, peachy family," drawled Aunt Levana. "I think we waited long enough for these lovebirds to show up, so let's call it a night, shall we?"

Cress checked her watch. It was almost ten o'clock. "Is everyone going to bed?"

"Everyone else arrived on time, Crescent," said Aunt Sybil. "We're exhausted from the night's events."

"Oh come now, Sybil," said her mom. "If the kids want to stay up later, they can. No one's keeping you from going to bed."

With that, the adults began to file out of the room. Cress's mom stopped in front of Cress and Thorne before leaving. "You've got Ran's room, so make sure you move your things before he goes to sleep." Then she rolled her eyes. "And Sage wants me to tell you that it's the room next to ours." She placed a kiss on Cress's forehead and patted Thorne's cheek before heading out.

The second they left, Ze'ev and Kai were in front of them, arms folded. Now it was Cress's turn to roll her eyes. "Guys, he's fine," she said, pretending to put herself in between Thorne and them.

Ze'ev eyed him suspiciously. "What are your intentions with Cress?"

Thorne raised an eyebrow. "A fair question, but not the type of conversation we should be having right in front of her."

"Excellent point," said Ze'ev, looking down at Cress and then back up at Thorne. He nodded at Kai. "He should come hunting with us tomorrow."

"The guys are going anyway," Kai confirmed. "We can interrogate him then."

"It's rude to talk about someone while he's standing right in front of you," Cress said to their chests. She hated being so short.

"Hunting sounds awesome," said Thorne. "I'm a decent shot."

"Liam!" called Kai over his shoulder. "You're coming too, end of story."

Liam, who had Iko wrapped around him on the couch, came up for air. "I don't know if Iko's going to let me go." They resumed kissing.

Scarlet walked over to them. Putting her hands on her hips, she glared at Ze'ev. "I don't understand why I can't go hunting too."

"Sorry, Scar," he said, smiling as if she'd just said she loved him. "Guys only this time."

She huffed. "I'm a better shot than half the men in this family."

"And that's why I married you," he said, still smiling. "But all of you women can bond tomorrow while us men do what nature intended."

"Drink beer?" asked Cinder, coming up to join the group. She and Scarlet high-fived. Then she gave Thorne a once-over. "I want to go hunting too, if only to witness Uncle Sage interact with this one without Aunt Rosie around to contain him."

Cinder, Kai, Ze'ev, and Scarlet laughed. Cress did not.

Thorne gave Cinder a sideways grin. "I think I can handle myself."

They all exchanged glances. Kai patted Thorne on the shoulder. "You keep telling yourself that, buddy."

"And maybe say some prayers tonight," Cinder added.

Cress groaned. "Stop trying to freak him out. I'm sure Dad will come around."

Winter came up behind Cress and gave her a hug from the back. She hadn't seen her sister in almost two months and it was strange to be back in her presence. She leaned into the hug, though, and smiled.

"I think Carswell should talk to Jacin before they go hunting," said Winter. "Dad loves him."

"Of course he does," Cress muttered, but she didn't think anyone heard her. They were all murmuring their agreement for Jacin's status of approval.

"When's he coming back?" asked Thorne, seemingly eager to get any advice he could.

"Oh, not until later," said Winter airily. "It takes a long time to get anywhere around here. And you saw Mom. She's going to need a lot of eggnog."

"Carswell can just meet him tomorrow, then," said Cress. "I think we should get to bed anyway."

"Oooh," called Ran. "What's your hurry?"

"I'm just tired, Ran, but thank you for your concern," she said through gritted teeth.

Kai put his arm around Cinder's waist. "We should get to bed too. I need my sleep if I'm going to kill all those moose tomorrow."

"You can't even hit a deer," said Scarlet.

Kai and Scarlet began a heated argument with Ze'ev, Cinder, and Winter all rushing to put in their opinions on just how good—or bad—Kai's hunting skills really were. Cress seized the opportunity to whisper to Thorne that she wanted to leave now so could they please get going? He made a big show of yawning and then kissed her on the cheek.

"Cress and I are going to call it a night," said Thorne. "Kai, Ze'ev—I'm excited for hunting tomorrow." He fist bumped them, which somehow worked despite the fact that they'd only met a few minutes ago. "Ladies," he said to Winter, Cinder, and Scarlet, "it's been such a pleasure. Can't wait to get to know all of you this weekend." Then he called out, "Hey Liam! Don't forget to breathe."

"Sure thing, mate," said Liam, pulling away from Iko for just a second.

"Well," said Thorne, once they had started walking away from the living room. "It looks like at least some of your relatives aren't that conservative."

"It's just my dad. He's not even that way with Winter."

"Aw, you're just his little girl," he said, nudging her.

"Don't call me little girl."

Thorne looked like he wanted to retort, but then changed his mind. "Your wish is my command."

"Stop saying that."

He paused on the staircase. He made the same face, but just shook his head this time. The second they got into the tiny bedroom he opened his mouth again. "Something wrong?"

Cress let out a delirious laugh. Then she ignored him and began packing up the few things she had undone before her kissing lessons had begun. Thorne hadn't even bothered opening up his duffel bag, so he just stood there and watched her in silence. When she zipped up her suitcase, though, he pried it out of her hands.

"I can roll my own bag!"

"Of course you can. But I insist that me and"—he glanced down at the brand stitched into her suitcase—"the Rampion here are going to be best friends this weekend. You wouldn't try to come between best friends, now would you?"

"Fine," she said. "Hope you and the Rampion have a wonderful night together!"

She practically sprinted out of the room, leaving Thorne to fend for himself.

He joined her in the new bedroom a few minutes later. And when he did, he whistled when he observed his surroundings. "Looks like the Thornes got upgraded," he said, his lips curling into a smile. "If this is the punishment we get for misbehaving, I say we misbehave all weekend!"

"Can we stop pretending for the rest of the night?"

Thorne kept whistling though, this time picking up the All I Want For Christmas Is You tune again.

"Stop!"

He did. "You know, I'm trying to be nice here, but I really can't figure out the cause of your current mood swing." He threw his duffel bag onto the bed with a plop and began to spread out his clothes on the covers. "Everything went fine in there, in case you didn't notice."

"Sorry if I'm not ecstatic that I just lied to my entire family, not to mention gave a tongue bath to a complete stranger! And now I'm about to share a bed with that stranger, who has probably also shared a bed with hundreds of other girls!"

Thorne walked over to the gigantic wardrobe and began putting away his clothes. Though she had already seen the majority of his clothes, Cress thought she saw boxers with little aces and spades designs on them. She blushed and looked away, temporarily forgetting how miserable she was.

When Thorne had finished unpacking, he disappeared into the bathroom with a toiletries bag and a pile of clothes. Cress tore through her suitcase and scrambled into her pajamas the second she heard the shower turn on, afraid that Thorne would come out when she was changing.

While he took the world's longest shower, Cress had plenty of time to wallow in guilt. She no right to take out her misery on Thorne. She was the one that had hired him. She was the one that had kissed him so forcefully right when her dad had walked in. She was the one who wasn't telling him why he was here.

Not exactly, at least.

"I'm sorry," she said the second he emerged from the bathroom. Her eyes widened when she saw that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Just those Vikings sweatpants.

"Don't worry about it," he said, going back to the wardrobe and digging through it. He found a shirt and Cress watched, almost mesmerized, as he pulled it over his wet hair. "Like what you see?" he said cockily as he let it fall over his abs.

His rock-hard abs.

Thorne laughed and shut the wardrobe. "You're blushing again."

"I'm sorry," she said again, feeling silly.

He jumped onto the bed, making the mattress bounce. She scooted further to the edge of her side. Now that there was enough room for the two of them, there was no need to be close at all.

"I like your pajamas too," he said, winking at her. Then he crawled under the covers and rolled to his side. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she whispered, reaching to her nightstand to turn off the light. She laid there for about two minutes before she said, "Thorne?"

A beat. "Yeah?"

"What did you think of Winter?"

She heard some shuffling and then saw the outline of his face in the dark as he turned toward her. "I'm not in love with her, if that's what you mean."

"But you saw how she smiled."

"Yes…"

"Do you think she's beautiful? Like…not how you call me beautiful because you have to, but because you really think so? No pretending?"

"No pretending?"

"Please."

"I think she has fake boobs."

Cress gasped. "She does not!"

"How do you know? Maybe she got them before she was adopted."

"She was ten years old!"

"Okay, so maybe that's a little early, but they're definitely fake."

Cress couldn't believe that Thorne had been looking at her sister's breasts. She tried to recall what Winter had been wearing, but she couldn't think of it. She was always wearing something extraordinarily flattering. Not that she needed to. Winter could get away with looking beautiful while wearing a plastic bag.

"I mean, she's hot, but a little too hot, if you get my drift."

"She's trying to break into modeling. How can a girl be too hot?"

"As you so poignantly reminded us, I've spent a lot of time with all types of women. I'm somewhat of a connoisseur, you could say. There's something fake about her." He paused. "Maybe it's her nose."

Cress jabbed him in the shoulder. At least, she hoped it was his shoulder. It was kind of hard to see. "My sister does not have a nose job."

He chuckled. "All right, she's totally one hundred percent natural."

"…and beautiful?"

Thorne grunted. "You're really obsessed with this. Most guys, yes, would consider your sister absolutely beautiful."

"And you…?"

"She's okay," he said, then rolled over again.

Cress fell asleep trying to imagine what kind of girls Thorne must be used to dating if he thought Winter was only okay.