Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Brynn

I wake up to an empty villa.

Pierce isn’t on the sofa. In fact, the sofa bed is already tucked away, his blanket and pillow stacked neatly at one end of the couch.

Where would he have gone?

I flip my legs over the edge of the bed and stare out the window. The landscape is gorgeous. The mountains, the fresh snow, the green trees. I hate to admit it, but I think my family was on to something when they decided to come here for the holidays.

There are footsteps in the snow from our villa to the main lodge, and I notice then his coat isn’t hung up on the coat tree next to the door. Guess he didn’t feel like taking the shoveled path.

Pierce’s suitcase sits open on the other luggage rack, and I have the urge to be nosey and take a peek, wanting to see some evidence of the man he is now.

I shake my head and go into the bathroom. His stuff sits neatly on one side of the counter—a contact case, toothbrush, razor, cologne. It feels oddly intimate to be sharing this space with him, even without him here.

Not wanting to leave him alone with my family since I know my mom will wake up early as she always does, I hurry to brush my teeth, finger-comb my hair into a messy bun, and throw on a sweatshirt over my flannel pajamas. After slipping my feet into my boots, I trudge out of our villa and make my way to the main lodge. The air is crisp and smells like pine trees.

I open the door to find my mom and dad on the big leather chairs by the window, admiring the light sprinkling of snow coming down.

“Good morning,” I say, walking over to them and sitting in the other chair.

“Better in the daytime, right?” My dad points at the window.

“It really is something.” I grab the blanket lying over the arm of the chair and pull it over my lap.

“So, do you want to tell us what’s going on?” Mom asks, poking as she always does.

“What do you mean?” I don’t look at her or my dad.

“You know, Brynn. How well exactly do you know your TA?”

I take a chance and glance at her. Sure enough, her eyebrows are raised. She’s the worst, always knowing when something is going on.

But I don’t get a chance to answer because the door opens, and Tessa walks in with my niece, Ryah. Since I spent no time with them last night, I throw the blanket off me and beeline it over to her.

“Hey, sweet girl,” I say, holding out my arms.

Ryah comes to me easily, and I twirl her around, walking over to the circle of toys in the corner.

“I’m going to make her breakfast,” Tessa says.

“I was just about to start. Heard the guys went to work out, so I was giving them some time.” Mom swings her feet down from the chair and goes to stand.

“I’ll just make her some eggs and get her some milk. Don’t worry about it, Gwen.” Tessa busies herself in the kitchen.

My mom relaxes back in her seat. This is her vacation as well, and I should remember that, since at home, she’s always busy doing something. Dad pulls out his phone and starts playing some Christmas music on the stereo. He’s so techy.

“My favorite,” I say, keeping Ryah in my arms and dancing around the room.

She lays her head on my shoulder because she’s likely still tired after last night and the disruption to her usual schedule.

“So…” Tessa says, and I know what she’s going to say before she even says it. “Pierce?”

Mom laughs. “You’re just in time! We were just starting the inquisition.”

Tessa giggles and pulls out a pan. “He’s really attractive. I mean, he’s no Tre, but…”

“Ew, stop talking about my brother like that.” I shrug. “Pierce is okay.”

Tessa eyes me hard, not about to call me out, but she’s telling me she knows he’s more than okay in my book.

“He was her TA in London. Did you know that, Tessa?” Mom says, getting up from her chair and going into the kitchen because she can’t help herself. She stops and kisses Ryah on the head.

Ryah tries to go to her, but I spin her around.

“Ohhh, scandalous. Tell me more.” Tessa pours herself a cup of coffee, sips it, and pulls an egg out of the fridge.

“Nothing to tell. That’s just how we know each other.”

“Well, he’s not looking at you like you’re his student, that’s for sure,” Mom says.

“Let’s remember that’s my daughter you’re talking about,” Dad calls.

My mom turns to look back at him. “Oh hush, you have no problem talking about the boys.”

“She’s my little girl. I’m the only man in her life as far as I’m concerned.”

I dance over to my dad and kiss his cheek. “You’re always my number one.”

He smiles at me, and this time, Ryah refuses to be persuaded away from my dad. He places his coffee cup on the table and holds out his arms for her. “Want to see the snow?”

Ryah gets comfortable on my dad’s lap, and I go to sit on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island.

“Come on,” Tessa whispers.

I know I can trust her. Seeing how her and Tre figured out their issues, she’d understand.

The door opens and a gush of cold wind comes in.

“Seriously, it’s so cold out there.” Kenzie holds Nolan, who’s bundled up in his snowsuit. “He’s going to get frostbite.”

“You live in New York,” Tessa deadpans.

“It’s the wind here.”

Tessa laughs. “Get him out of that suit, he’s probably sweating.” Tessa sips her coffee.

Mom takes over cracking the egg and scrambling it in a pan.

“I could be here childless enjoying a morning coffee, but someone’s ex-military husband had to drag my husband out of bed when it was still dark. Who picks the holidays to start a workout regimen? Only Andrew.” Kenzie shakes her head while we all laugh. “He took yours too.” Kenzie places Nolan in the blocked off area with the toys.

He whines for Ryah, and my dad goes over there with the two of them to play. God, I love my parents.

“He’s not mine,” I say.

“I’m making Ryah an egg. Want me to make one for Nolan too?” my mom asks.

“Oh Gwen, I can?—”

“Nonsense, I’m already here.” My mom waves her off, then goes to the fridge to get another egg.

“Thank you, Gwen. You’re spoiling me. Especially since Tessa should be making the eggs since she’s the one who’s allowing her husband to work out on vacation.”

Tessa balks, and they laugh. “Trust me, you’ll thank me later when his stamina is so good.”

I cover my ears. “Okay, gross.”

I’m really kidding. I got over the fact my brothers have a sex life a long time ago. I didn’t really have a choice with Carter being the way he is.

“Talking about brothers and sex… who is Faith?” Kenzie asks.

“Flavor of the month?” I direct the question to my mom.

She huffs. “He says he likes this one.” Her look says maybe not. “It hasn’t been that long though.”

I shouldn’t judge. I’m still hung up on a guy I met six years ago and spent one weekend with.

“Speak of the devil,” Tessa says, eyeing the door where Carter appears, the only guy besides my dad who didn’t work out this morning.

He holds open the door for Faith. She’s cute, but she’s his typical type. A brunette who looks at him as though he can do no wrong. I’d like a woman who challenges him a bit.

“Someone skipped the workout,” Kenzie says. “Good for you, Faith. Way to keep him in your bed. Want to do a quick tutorial later?”

Everyone laughs.

“It’s the other way around. I keep her in bed. She wanted to go workout with the guys,” Carter says, going over to the kid’s area and kneeling next to my dad to play with the kids.

The thought of Faith in tight workout leggings, bending over in front of Pierce, ignites the embers of jealousy I didn’t think still lived under my skin.

Mom finishes the eggs, and Tessa and Kenzie get their kids situated in their highchairs to eat. The door opens again, and the workout crew files in. My brother heads right over to Ryah, kissing her head and pretending to take her eggs. Then he goes over to Tessa and murmurs something in her ear. She pushes him away gently, talking about how sweaty he is.

Andrew does the exact same thing with Kenzie, except he tells her to get up off the chair and go relax, sitting in the seat next to Nolan to take over.

“You’re all losers for working out,” Carter says. “This is a vacation, and you all have women in your beds.” He sits at the table.

“I didn’t.” Pierce eyes me as he grabs a water bottle from the fridge. His forearms flex as he opens it, and I admire the sweat coating his skin.

He looks good fresh off a workout. Why am I surprised? He always looked edible when he was sweaty from sex too.

“You should’ve brought someone,” Carter says to Pierce. “Ouch.”

I turn to see Carter rubbing his forearm.

“Jesus, Tessa, those nails of yours.” Carter glares at her.

And there it is, my family thinking something is going to happen between Pierce and me. They’ve already put us together in their minds. Well, they’re wrong.

“Did you have your coffee yet?” Pierce asks me in a low voice, crushing his empty water bottle and tossing it in the recycling.

The conversation continues as they all talk about plans and when to hit the slopes.

Mom pulls out the ingredients for pancakes, eggs, and bacon. She’s obviously going to make a big breakfast.

Pierce goes to the coffee pot at the beverage station, takes two mugs, and pours coffee, then goes about doctoring them. “Gwen, I’d be happy to make breakfast,” he says, sliding a cup my way.

Mom watches him, trying to hide her smile.

I stare at the cup, and my breath hitches. Pierce doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t remark about the fact that he made it just how I take it. That six years have passed, and he still remembers I like a little bit of cream… and cinnamon, ever since he introduced me to it.

Mom bends forward over the island, staring into my cup. She falls back onto her heels and raises her eyebrows. “Is that the English way of drinking coffee?”

“The cinnamon?” he asks before sipping his cup.

“I was surprised when Brynn returned from London insisting she couldn’t drink coffee without cinnamon in it.” She leans her hip on the counter. “I mean, people here drink it too, but is it more common there?”

“I don’t think so.”

“But you drink it with cinnamon too?” my mom asks.

“Cinnamon? I’ve never tried it like that.” Kenzie comes over and looks into my cup. “You both take your coffee the same way?”

Kenzie glances at Tessa, and they exchange a look.

“It’s fairly common. They have cinnamon available in all the cafés for a reason.” I roll my eyes, sipping my coffee that somehow tastes better since he made it.

“I don’t know anyone else who does that, do you, Tessa?” Kenzie asks.

I grind my teeth together.

“Nope.” Tessa shakes her head, both of them looking at me.

“I do. My boss drinks it that way,” Faith says. “And she’s really picky about the brand.”

Tessa and Kenzie glance in her direction as though she doesn’t get what they’re saying.

“It’s very sweet and kind of like kismet that you both drink it the same way, but my question is how does Pierce know you like cinnamon in your coffee?” Mom asks.

My gut twists.

The room quiets. Even Nolan and Ryah stop babbling to one another.

I glare at Pierce because he better fix this. I am not interested in spending my entire holiday with my family in setup mode.

“I can do the pancakes,” Pierce says, dodging the question.

Thankfully, Ryah takes it upon herself to scream at that exact moment, and everyone turns back to them to see what the problem is. But I know my family. These questions aren’t going to go away until they get the answers they want.