Carter’s dad shoots him a warning glare.

  “Then Tre asked me to come home with him. Never in a million years did I think you were brothers.”

  “Of course you didn’t.” His dad smiles at me and goes behind me to Tre. “Then this is settled. Let’s have brunch. Your mom’s been cooking all morning.”

  “I’m starving.” Brynn stands and follows her dad into the kitchen.

  His mom comes over to me and runs her hand down my arm. “Welcome to our home.”

  “Thank you.” I relax a bit at how they’ve all reacted, but there’s still some lingering anxiety that Tre may not be able to brush this off as easily as the rest of his family.

  I’m about to follow them into the kitchen when Carter steps toward me. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  Another disgruntled sound comes out of Tre, and he rolls his eyes, but he kisses my temple and walks into the kitchen.

  I turn to Carter. “What’s up?”

  “I… I don’t know. I just felt like we should talk, but I’m not sure what to say.”

  “This is awkward, but I’m sure with time, it will become normal.” At least I hope so.

  “So, you and my brother, huh?”

  I nod, biting my bottom lip.

  “Well, I’m happy for you both.”

  I give him a relieved smile. “Thanks, Carter.”

  He steps in and hugs me, taking me by surprise. I’m uncomfortable, but this is his way of calling a truce, so I hug him back.

  “He’s not easy,” he whispers. “But he’s worth it.”

  “Oh, I know. We’re not exactly alike, but I think that’s what draws us together.”

  “Probably.”

  A throat clears and we step away from one another.

  “The food is getting cold.” Tre’s arms are crossed and resting on his chest, his eyes boring a hole right into Carter.

  If Carter notices, he doesn’t seem to care. He squeezes my hand and slides by his brother into the kitchen.

  “You okay?” I ask Tre.

  He crosses the room, takes me into a hug, and kisses me until I’m panting for breath.

  “Jeez, get a room, you two,” Brynn says with a plate full of food in her hand. “FYI, we started the Christmas movie list without you.” She sits on the couch and grabs the remote.

  Tre doesn’t respond, leading me into the kitchen. But unlike before, the warmth of his hand doesn’t make me feel as though everything will be okay. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Tre is struggling with this the most.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Tre

  The entire day, everyone appears to be okay with this new surprise predicament.

  I’m still in shock that she was on her way to win my brother’s heart. As hard as I’m trying to push it out of my mind, I can’t help but think back to the last time I was stuck in this situation.

  Mom decides to push off sugar cookie day until tomorrow because she wants us to show Tessa around Climax Cove. I’d rather stay in the house, but Mom’s waited all this time for me to get home.

  “Will you please move your leg away from mine?” Brynn says to Carter in the back of my parents’ SUV. The two of them are shoved in the third seat at the very back.

  “I’m a tall guy, okay?”

  “Well, you don’t need to man spread.”

  “What can I say? I need the room.”

  I shake my head at Carter. I hold Tessa’s hand in the middle row while my dad drives, and my mom keeps pointing out everything and explaining what it is to Tessa. She’s acting interested, but I can tell her mind is somewhere else. Probably wondering why I can’t seem to get back to who I was only a few hours ago. And I want to. I really do.

  Dad parks downtown along the curb near the little Santa’s village by the marina. No doubt the maze to reach Santa and get a picture with him will be alive and kicking.

  “I’m not doing the maze,” Brynn says, climbing out of the third row, groaning the entire time as though she’s ninety.

  “Tessa, do you want to do the maze?” my mom asks.

  We all stare at the makeshift maze the town puts together, leading the little ones to Santa.

  “Sure,” Tessa says, but I take her hand and pull her in the opposite direction.

  “She really means no,” I say.

  “You guys are no fun. I need grandchildren,” Mom whines. “But not yet. Live your lives.”

  We laugh because that’s her usual saying. She wants grandkids, but she’s not ready for any one of us to have them yet. I’m not sure if she’d mind if it were me since I’m the oldest, but she’d never put that pressure on me.

  “Double D’s?” Tessa asks as we head down the sidewalk and she spots the sign.

  “The town diner,” I explain.

  “All the names are so cute.” She looks around at more of the local businesses. “Nail Me Hardware?” She chuckles.

  “Yeah, not sure he thought that one out when he named it.”

  We walk into a few shops, and I’m happy to see Tessa spend some of that five hundred dollars on a mug. My mom and sister secretly buy a few things Tessa says she likes at the soap place, and we end up at the Happy Daze Bar & Grill for lunch.

  Dane, the owner—who happens to be the father of my best friend in high school, Toby—is behind the bar. He inherited the business from family and even has another location in a nearby town now.

  “That’s not Tre, is it?” Dane puts his hand over his eyes as if the lights are making him see things.

  “Hey, Mr. Murray,” I say with a smile.

  He comes around the bar to stand in front of me. “Oh please, you’re old enough to call me Dane now.” I shake his hand, but he pulls me into a hug. “Thanks for your service,” he whispers before releasing me. He eyes Tessa at my side. “And who’s this?”

  I place my hand on the small of her back. “This is Tessa, my…” I realize that we haven’t really classified one another.

  “Girlfriend! Seriously.” Brynn shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

  I clarify by looking at Tessa for reassurance, and she smiles at me.

  “Girlfriend it is,” I say.

  Dane laughs, full-on belly laughing. He slowly stops and sets his attention on Tessa. “You have to be patient with guys like us.” He waves his finger between him and me. “Once we fall, we tend to not know which way is up and end up fucking up a lot.”

  “You’re putting me in your category?” I ask, joking. “Dane’s wife runs Mad Hatter across the street,” I inform Tessa. “She’s a baker too.”

  “You’re a baker?” he asks Tessa, eyebrows raised.

  Her head tilts right and left as if she’s not sure.

  “She is. She just needs to find the right place to showcase her skills.” I put my arm around Tessa’s shoulders.

  “Blah,” Brynn says and puts her finger in her throat. “I need to eat before I lose my appetite with all this lovey-dovey stuff.” She winks then heads over to the table my parents and brother are at.

  “Where are you from?” Dane asks Tessa, looking across the street and back.

  “New York City.”

  “Oh man, I had an idea, but that’s not going to pan out with you living across the country. You live there now too?” Dane asks me, going back around the bar and grabbing the white slip of paper at the top of the register. He glances at it quickly.

  “No. I just retired, and all my stuff is back in Georgia. I came home for the holidays but have to go back.”

  “Then how did you two meet?” He grabs a couple of glasses and makes the drinks I assume were on the slip he pulled from the register.

  We both look at one another. “On a plane,” we say in unison.

  “It’s a long story,” I say, not wanting to get into it. Especially the part where she was on her way here for my brother. “How’s Toby?” Just saying his name makes my chest prick.

  “He’s good. Living in Portland. Single.” He huffs. “I thought for sure he’d settle down by now.”

  I nod, not adding much. We both can assume who Dane thinks Toby would have settled down with had the big blowup not happened.

  “Well, we’re gonna go.” I thumb toward the table where my parents are.

  “Yeah, I’ll stop by when things slow down.”

  I fist bump him and we walk over to my parents’ table. My mom looks at me, trying to decipher if I’m okay. I love my mom, but I really wish she wasn’t always so suffocating with wanting to talk about my feelings.

  I push back all the bullshit from this morning. All the bullshit from my past.

  I’m back home and that’s what matters. Plus, I have Tessa right next to me and this is everything I didn’t know I wanted. I can’t be choosy over the way I got it. Sometimes things are messy before they work out.

  After a marathon of three Christmas movies, I had to wake Tessa to get her upstairs. Brynn and Carter stayed up for another one, and my parents were already asleep.

  Now, the morning light shines through my curtains, and I stare at Tessa sleeping next to me. She’s wearing one of my T-shirts, but it’s tangled and has risen up to just under her tits—during her sleep or with the help of my hand, I’m not sure which.

  Needing to get rid of this anxiety building inside me, I slowly get out of bed and tiptoe over to my duffle bag. I change into my running gear and quietly leave my parents’ house.

  Turning on my music after my earbuds are in, I stretch. I haven’t run since the day before I got on the plane. I start with a light jog around my parents’ neighborhood, if you can call it that. The houses are far apart with a lot of land between, but there’s only one road in and out. Thankfully, they haven’t gotten hammered with a ton of snow, so I’m able to move from my jog to a good pace once I’ve warmed up.

  It isn’t until I get to the park that I see someone familiar running toward me. She smiles and waves, and I slow my pace until I’m walking.

  “Oh my god, Tre?” Theresa doesn’t break her stride, throwing herself into me, giving me no choice but to hug her.

  “Hey, how are you? Home for the holidays?” I ask, pulling off my hat, letting the air cool me down.

  “Yeah. Got in the end of last week.”

  We stand there, clearly uncomfortable with this impromptu meetup.

  I haven’t seen Theresa since senior year. On every other visit home, I’ve somehow managed to avoid her. Theresa, Toby, and I were the “Triple Ts” and hung out together all the time. Until it all got fucked up.

  “Oh hey, I heard you brought a girl home?” She smiles. “I heard she’s really pretty.”

  As usual, it doesn’t take long for word to spread around our small town.

  “Tessa, yeah.” I nod.

  “That’s great. I’m glad you found your someone.”

  I glance at her glove-covered hand and wonder if there’s a ring. Mom usually tells me everything, but she might’ve kept that bit of information to herself.

  Theresa must notice me looking and takes off her glove. “Not yet. Still searching.”

  “Well, you’ll find someone.”

  “I’m not really in a rush. I like my life in Seattle.”

  I can’t believe how uncomfortable this is. There was a time Theresa knew all my deepest secrets. She was the person I would’ve talked to about my feelings for Tessa and how she dated Carter before me. But Theresa ruined that for us. She ruined the Triple Ts.

  “I guess I better get going. Merry Christmas, Tre.” She hugs me again, then takes a moment and stares at me before she smiles and runs by me.

  “Merry Christmas,” I mumble and put my hat back on.

  I run again, my mind filling with thoughts of what happened all those years ago. I was so young and naive, and Theresa manipulated the situation.

  By the time I get back to my parents’ house, my head is another layer of fucked up. Seeing Theresa pried open a box I’ve kept shut for over a decade, but now it feels almost as raw as it was the day it all went down.

  I open the back door of my parents’ house, thinking I’ll be sneaking in because it’s so early. I figure I’ll prepare a coffee for Tessa and bring it up to her, then take a shower.

  The laughter I hear when I step in to take off my shoes nauseates me. I walk into the kitchen, and sure enough, Carter and Tessa are at the table, drinking coffee.

  Carter looks at me and smiles. “Still with the dedication of an Army Ranger.” I ignore his razz to grab a water. “I’m going to go shower.”

  Carter leaves the room and Tessa comes up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and pressing her head to my back.

  “You were gone this morning when I woke up.” She places a kiss on my back, and I circle around and kiss her lips briefly.

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to get a run in before today got crazy.”

  She places her hands on either side of my face and stares into my eyes. “Are you okay? Are we okay?”

  I should just tell her that I’m struggling with this, worried about losing her. That I can’t handle the fact she dated my brother. What if she wakes up one day and decides she doesn’t like how grumpy I am, or how neat I prefer things? How I tend to stick to myself rather than be the life of the party? But I swallow all of my fears. It’s way too early in our relationship to go piling all my baggage at her feet.

  “We’re perfect.” I kiss her again, keeping my lips on hers longer this time.

  But when I pull away, concern is still etched in her face. She doesn’t believe me, and why should she? I’m lying.

  What a great start to our relationship.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Tessa

  I’m in the kitchen with Tre’s mom, Gwen, helping to prepare the sugar cookie dough while the guys are in the family room watching football. Brynn went out to meet up with some of her friends.

  “So, what’s your secret?” Gwen asks, breaking eggs on the counter and putting them in the bowl.

  “I don’t really have a secret. My leavening is equal parts baking powder and baking soda. I don’t like my cookies too thick. But it’s not like I have some ingredient that no one’s heard of. Plus, let’s remember my bakery closed, so my cookies couldn’t have been that good.”

  She stares at me a moment, then turns around and digs into her cabinet. I continue to level the dry ingredients for her according to her recipe.

  She returns and puts a bowl in front of me. “You make yours, and I’ll make ours.”

  “No.” I shake my head. “I am not doing a competition.”

  She laughs. “There’s enough love in this house for two sugar cookie recipes. Plus, Tre might strangle Carter if he hears about your sugar cookies from him one more time.”

  I chuckle, but she’s right. It’s like Carter’s throwing it in Tre’s face because he earns a scowl each time he talks about tasting my sugar cookie.

  “Most of all, I want to taste them,” she says.

  “Are you sure?”

  Her hand touches mine. “Very.”

  I nod, and since she was going to do a double batch, I assemble her other room-temperature ingredients, and she says she’ll do one batch.

  We can hear the boys arguing and screaming in the other room. Carter and Tre really go after one another in regard to the players and teams and who is better.

  “Are they always like that?” I ask.

  She laughs. “Yes. So competitive with one another. Carter mostly. I think it’s hard when your older brother is Tre Russell. He was the prom king, captain of the football team, has a Silver Star from the military. I’ve always tried to tell them that they each have their own special qualities, but they’re pretty different for brothers.”

  We work side by side in silence since I’m not sure what to add to what she’s said. I’ve dated both her boys, so I know how different they are.

  “And then we have Brynn, who can’t keep her smart-mouth shut. But growing up with two brothers keeps you on your toes, so I can’t really blame her.” Gwen chuckles and starts her mixer. “Do you have any siblings?”

  “No. It’s just me.” I hand mix my dough, which I haven’t done since I was perfecting my recipe a long time ago.

  “That’s hard.” I hear the motherly concern in her voice.

  “Please, all Cooper Rice is is a pretty face.” Carter comes in and heads to the fridge, grabbing some beers.

  “Cooper Rice is the best quarterback the league has seen in five years.” Tre joins us in the kitchen but goes to the cupboard.

  “Why do we argue about these players who make millions to play?” Abe follows his sons into the room and hovers over Gwen’s shoulder. She pinches some dough, and he opens his mouth. Then he looks at my bowl. “What’s this? Two kinds of sugar cookies?”

  “She insisted,” I say.

  Gwen laughs. “I did. It’s only fair. Plus, I wanted to see what all the hype was about.”

  “The hype is only coming from Carter,” I say without thinking.

  Tension fills the room once more. Why did I say anything? Damn it. I just didn’t want them to expect too much. They’ll taste my cookies and find them blah, like all of New York City.

  The boys head back into the family room without saying anything else. Tre’s been so distant. Even in bed last night, he barely touched me. And since I laid awake most of the night, I know.

  We wrap our dough in Saran Wrap and put them in the fridge.

  “Can we talk?” Gwen asks. “Maybe go for a walk?”

  I nod. “Sure.”

  We go to the back door and put on our coats, hats, gloves, and boots. She leashes their dog Jazzy, and we leave without telling the guys. I’m a little nervous about why Gwen wants to talk to me alone, but I try not to show it.

  I’m impressed when Jazzy doesn’t pull on the leash. She just walks beside Gwen.

  We both don’t say a word for the first minute or two of our walk and then Gwen breaks the silence. “He’ll get there. Just give him time.”

  I glance at her and nod. “Okay.”

  “Listen, Tessa, I know we just met, and I don’t know a lot about you. I also know I’m not your mom, but I am a mother. If I had passed when my kids were younger, I would hope that another mom would step in at some point to offer my kids advice. Advice one can only gain by living it.”