1. Ryan

Chapter 1

Ryan

The best things about Christmas are snow, skiing, and sneaking around with Kayla McInnes.

My family has spent every winter break since I was born at our chalet in the French Alps, and since her family owns a chalet nearby, it was inevitable we’d become friends.

As kids, our sneaking meant nabbing extra sugar cookies and chocolate coins, or heading off-piste to find adventure in hidden trails and woods. For the past decade, it's meant stolen kisses and hurried orgasms whenever we've had the chance to slip away from our family festivities.

Except, I've skipped out on the last two years, and since we don't keep in touch when we’re not in the mountains, I have no idea how she’s going to feel about seeing me again.

My mother ruffles my hair like I’m five years old and takes the chair next to me.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you were coming.”

“We didn’t know ourselves until right before the flight.” My body clock is still on Los Angeles time and I’m so exhausted, I’m not entirely sure this isn’t a dream.

At the head of the table sits my buddy, Cameron, a born and bred Californian. He looks just as shocked as I am. We'd planned to spend the holidays surfing, not skiing. He’d never even seen snow until today .

I moved to the US for film school nearly a decade ago, but I didn’t meet Cameron until I needed a second sound guy for a short I was working on a few years back. After that we ended up at the same studio, and when our leases came up around the same time, we found a two-bedroom in a great location and have lived together ever since.

He’s a good friend. We live together and work together, and if it weren’t for his ‘you’ve only got one life’ attitude, we wouldn’t be here at all. After a few beers on Friday, my pining for the mountains got the better of me, and next thing I knew, we were shoving clothes into bags and headed for the airport.

Over Dad’s carbonara, we fill them in on what we’ve both been up to at the film studio. Thankfully, Cameron doesn’t mention his side hustle where he jerks off into a microphone and puts it on the internet for thousands of women to hear. It’s weird as fuck, but I shouldn’t complain, since it paid for us to get last-minute flights to Geneva in business class.

It’s nice seeing him here with my family, even though he’s a total fish out of water. Mum quizzes him about his skiing experience and offers for my sister, Hannah, to give him some lessons. She trained as an instructor years ago and was supposed to do a season here until her shitty ex-boyfriend cheated on her and she cancelled all her plans.

Sitting across from me, Hannah seems quieter than usual. There are only two years between us, and though we live an ocean apart, we’re still reasonably close. She checks in regularly, but these past few months I’ve been busy mixing a new streaming series, and I’m definitely failing in my brotherly duties.

Hannah works for our dad’s entertainment law firm, but she’s a perfectionist who puts way too much pressure on herself. She’s struggled with her mental health in the past and though she looks fine, something feels off. She’s barely made eye-contact with me or Cameron since we arrived.

After dinner, Mum and Dad take their wine to the sofa while us kids clear the table. Hannah rinses plates and I stack them in the dishwasher.

“Does Kayla know you’re here?” she asks.

“No, I’m hoping I can surprise her.”

“Who’s Kayla?” Cameron asks behind us, and Hannah’s head snaps in my direction.

“You haven’t told him about Kayla?”

“She’s my mountain friend,” I shrug. “What is there to say?”

I’ve never known how to label Kayla. She’s not a girlfriend, even though she’s everything I’d want from one. She’s a friend, but I go months— years— without talking to her, then we do decidedly un-friendly things whenever we’re together. Fuck buddies doesn’t come close to what we are. She's the first place my mind goes in the quiet moments.

She’s my soulmate.

I shove a leftover piece of garlic bread in my mouth and don’t let myself think about it.

“Dude, what the fuck is a mountain friend?”

“She’s our friend who spends Christmas here too,” Hannah tells him. “We always meet up when we’re all in town.”

Cam bursts out laughing, smacking me in the chest with the back of his hand. “Oh, thank god. Bro, I thought you were about to tell me you were friends with a troll or something.”

“You’ve read too many fairytales,” I laugh.

“Can you blame me? This place is like Narnia. I saw those forests on the drive over. There’s no way they don’t have creatures living in them. ”

Hannah stares at him like she’s trying to figure out if my friend has rocks in his head. Eventually, she snaps out of her trance and focuses her attention back on me. “Are you going to see her tonight?”

“Nah, think I’ll show Cam the hot tub and find her after I’ve caught up on sleep. You joining us?”

“Nope,” she says quickly, heading for the door and disappearing upstairs. Something is definitely up with her. I’m going to figure it out, but first, beers under the stars with my bro.