I stepped out of the car, pausing to look around at the white blanket of snow that covered the cabin. I turned to my dad, shooting him a quick grin. This was what Christmas should look like.

"This was a great idea," I told him.

Much better than spending my Christmas vacation in ocean shores avoiding certain neighbors like I'd done last year.

"What better way to celebrate finals being over than tearing it up on the slopes?" He grinned, hauling my suitcase out of the station wagon trunk.

"Like I'm sure Otto's doing right now. That is if he hasn't already found a girl to distract him."

Raymundo laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like your brother."

I pulled my computer bag over my shoulder and headed for the door. I stopped dead in my tracks when I opened the door to see my brother sitting on the couch. With my ex boyfriend.

Dad almost ran right into me, making a sound that got the boys attention enough to draw their eyes away from their video game and to the door.

"Twister," my dad echoed the name ringing through my mind. "Well this is a surprise."

"I thought you told them I was coming," Twister mumbled to Otto.

"Hey, Dad, it's cool if Twister joins us for Christmas break, right?" Otto asked.

Dad looked from the boys to me and back to them. "Of course," he said hesitantly.

"My parents went to Mexico to see my grandparents," twister said to try to make up for the situation. "It was kind of last minute."

"You know you're always welcome to stay with us," Raymundo shot twister a quick smile before turning to me with apologetic eyes.

"Right, Reggie?" Otto asked pointedly.

I knew exactly what he wasn't saying. It's what he was always not saying (or sometimes saying) when it came to the subject of twister.

I told you this is what would happen if you dated my best friend.

I wondered if he would still blame me for ruining our friend group if he knew it was Twister's idea to call things off.

"Right." I agreed quickly without looking at them. "I'm gonna go get unpacked." I snatched my suitcase from my dad, darting down the hall and quickly shutting myself in my room.

My hands shook as I scrolled for Sam's number, my eyes moving to the door as I listened to it ring—once, twice.

"Pick up, pick up," I pleaded.

"Hey Reg."

"Twister's here," I said quickly and quietly.

"Here as in . . .?"

"Mt. Baldy. At the cabin. He's staying here for Christmas."

"Oh."

"Yeah," my eyes flickered to the door again and I lowered my voice. "I'm kind of freaking out right now."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

I switched my phone from one ear to the other, pacing the room. "I saw him a few times when I was home last summer, but from a distance." I pressed my lips together. "This is the first time I've actually seen him—like been in the same room with him—since we broke up."

There was a pause. A moment of him feeling sorry for me.

"Why didn't your dad tell you he would be there?"

"He didn't know," I sighed. "Otto invited him without telling us. And of course I can't get on him about it because it's his best friend. And I was the one who told him if we broke up, it wouldn't affect their friendship."

Of course I told him that back when I didn't think we would ever break up. And it definitely affected everyone's friendship.

"What are you gonna do?" He asked, unhelpfully.

I groaned. "I don't know. That's what I need you for. You two still talk, right?"

"Yeah, but it's been a few months. He didn't mention this to me or I would've warned you."

"I know." I sat on the bed, looking at the wall. Twister was behind that wall. We were stuck in a tiny cabin together for the next week. "Any advice?"

A few seconds of silence passed as he thought. "Is Tito there?"

"On a grocery run right now, but yeah, he's here for the week."

"Get some ancient Hawaiian advice," he suggested weakly.

"Thanks," I said, sarcasm dripping from my tongue.

"In the meantime, I guess just avoid being around twister as much as you can," he continued. "And who knows? Maybe this will—."

"Don't." I cut him off, knowing exactly where it was going. "I have no interest in being friends again."

"Right," he said, a hint of defeat in his voice. "Well, good luck."

"I'll need it."

A knock at the door pulled me away from my laptop, my heart racing. I quickly closed it, terrified that twister would see the thoughts I'd been processing through writing.

"It's me," Dad's voice put all those worries to rest.

"Come in."

"Hey, princess." His smile was weak and his voice was overly sympathetic. "I just wanted to let you know dinner's about ready."

"Okay."

Dinner. Interacting with twister for the first time in almost two years. Making small talk across the table.

"I sent the boys out to eat. I thought it would be better if it was just you, me, and Tito tonight."

All my emotions were tangled together, I wasn't even sure how to take that. Part of me was relieved I didn't have to deal with this yet, part of me was angry that I was coming off fragile enough to warrant my dad sending them away. And yes, there was also a little part of me that was sad I wasn't going to see twister.

"You didn't have to do that," I said, hoping for a little self-preservation.

"I thought it would be better to give you a little time to adjust. I know Otto sprung this on you."

"Im fine," I said, standing up and walking to the hall. "It was a long time ago. It's not that big of a deal."

Dad followed behind me but didn't get a chance to respond before Tito greeted me with a big, "aloha, little cuz!"

"Hey, Tito," I smiled, letting him pull me into a warm hug. "Dinner smells great."

"Help yourself," he said, handing me a plate. "We got a lot of food—made a little too much, but that was before the, uh, change of plans."

"More for us," I said quickly with no desire to expand. Apparently it didn't come across though because he gave me that same sympathetic look my dad had been sporting and I knew follow up was coming.

"How are you doing?"

With the Twister stuff, I mentally finished his question before pretending he was asking it in a general sense.

"Good," I said in a light, upbeat tone as I scooped the food on my plate. "Finals were crazy. I'm so glad that's over."

"Uh-huh," he replied, clearly unconvinced by my ignorance act.

"It's weird to think that I only have one more semester left though. And a little stressful. I've been working on tightening up my resume."

"Any idea where you want to end up?" Dad asked and I knew what answer he was hoping for.

And it was the answer that I wanted to give. But I couldn't tell him I'd been thinking about moving back to ocean shores. I couldn't get his hopes up and then let him down. Not when i was so torn about the idea. Ocean shores was my home—the place I loved, which also had a really good opportunity for sports journalism. But twister was there. And while theoretically it was a big enough city to never have to run into him, I knew I would. We had all the same favorite places, he still frequented the Shack, he still lived next door to my dad. And after the two seconds seeing him here hit me so hard, I was starting to doubt the idea that I'd be able to handle it.

"Nope, not yet."

"Reggie," Dad started cautiously, "if this is too much for you . . ."

"I'm fine," I said curtly, annoyed at the change of subject. "Please stop worrying about it."

"Because we can always—," he pushed before I interrupted.

"Dad." I shot him a look.

Why did everyone feel like they needed to protect me? I could deal on my own.

"Okay, okay. I won't mention it again," he said, holding his hands up defensively. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Too late for that.