Just one week from Christmas, Sam Thornton and her twin brother are inconvenienced with the news of new neighbors who, unfortunately, have been befriended by their overly social parents.
So when they are forced to hang out with the Baker's son for...
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"Thank God you guys are alive. I thought you were dead in the snow and I'd have to eat my own arm to survive the cold on my own." Dakota meets us at the door.
Winter shoots me a knowing smile as he pulls off his boots and coat, kicking the snow shoes into the corner. "Sorry for the worry and stress we caused you, man." He jokes with a slight smile.
I release a small laugh as I strip off my own coat and throw it onto the rack atop of Winter's. "Yes I'm sure you were trembling from fear in here all on your own." I jut out my bottom lip in fake compassion, knowing very well that he was just stuffing his face with cookies and playing games on his phone while we were outside freezing our backsides off.
"Yes well, I'm sure you two were perfectly fine so I won't feel too bad for leaving you on your own. In fact, you can thank me." He winks at me before shoving his hands in his pockets and sauntering back into the living room.
My mouth opens slightly, avoiding eye contact when Winter comes to stand beside me, warmth emitting from his arm against mine as we watch my brother walk away.
"What was he saying?" He breathes, pushing the hair from his forehead.
"Uh...I'm not sure. Who knows what he's ever talking about? I mean he's crazy." I laugh awkwardly.
"Okay..." He chuckles quietly before moving to stand in front of me. My eyes slide up to his when he surprisingly places his hand gently on my forearm. "Hey so thanks for coming out there with me. It really helped to have someone come with me. I'd like to say I'm a guy so that means I wasn't afraid to go out there but now I can admit that I was worried. Anyway, I just wanted to say that but now I'm kinda regretting it." I watch him in the dim candlelight as his jaw clenches and he rocks back and forth on his heels.
A soft smile plays on my lips. "No problem. It was actually really fun and exciting. There's something about drama that's very adventurous and I love the feeling of it so need to thank me." I laugh.
"You know, I should be worried about our parents but they're at The Grand Hotel so they're probably being taken care of better than we are. They probably even have heat." He says begrudgingly.
I lean against the wall behind me, my arms crossed over my chest with my hands tucked away in the long sleeves of my cotton sweatshirt. "Yeah I've thought the same thing. They're probably worried sick about us."
"All the more reason to stick together." He says softly, his pupils lighting up in the half lit room.
"Right..." I say, not really sure how to respond.
There's a pause of silence as we just smile awkwardly at each other. I'm the first to break the ice by saying, "Let's go sit with Dakota so he doesn't feel left out...even though he kind of is because he deserves it after being such a chicken." I throw over my shoulder in a whisper as I walk away.
After a few seconds, he follows me into the living room and takes a seat next to Dakota.
"So...what do we do now?" My brother asks as he slumps deeper into the sofa. "I'm so bored already."
The three of us sit as we contemplate ideas and possible activities to occupy our time. It's honestly really odd to not be able to say "let's just watch a movie" because that's the go-to thing to do when you're with friends and there's nothing to do.
As we sit in the quiet, I look out of the window behind me, the wind howling against the walls of the house. My heart sinks when my eyes zero in on the house next door. Not my house but the one on the other side. The snow is almost a quarter of the way up the front door and we haven't even made it through the night. Not to mention the storm hasn't shown any sign of stopping. We might actually get snowed in.
"What about a good ole middle school game of truth or dare?" Dakota breaks the silence as he rubs his palms together almost maniacally. The sight frightens me slightly under the light of the candles on the coffee table.
"Is truth or truth an option?" I snort.
"No that's for chumps like you who don't know how to live." My twin gives me a flat and pointed look.
"I'm down." Winter chips in.
My gaze fixes on him as I inspect his cool and calm demeanor, his sock covered feet casually propped on the coffee table.
Whoops I guess I gave Dakota a hard time for no reason.
"Really?" Dakota looks over at him. "Awesome. That's two against one, sis." He looks at me smugly.
I stick my tongue out at him. "Fine. Just remember our rule." I remind him.
"Whatever." Dakota sighs. "You suck the fun out of everything."
"Rule? What rule?" Winter inquires curiously, leaning forward.
"It's nothing." I quickly say before Dakota says anything stupid. To which he simply rolls his eyes.
"It's just that when we were thirteen and at some birthday party, I may or may not have dared Sam to kiss this chubby guy in my class. So after that, she made a rule that I can't dare her to kiss anyone and same for her daring me." Dakota explains quickly, his eyes darting over at me every once in a while to inspect my reaction.
Winter licks his lips before grinning widely, his eyes meeting mine. "Well darn, Dakota, that's disappointing." He jokes, earning a small laugh from me.
"I know I'm just so irresistible. See I told you, Sam. Kissmas is the best time of year." Dakota goes along with it, a cheeky smile on his face.
"Okay whatever let's just get this over with if we're gonna do it." I sigh, crossing my legs in front of me Indian style.
"I'll go first." Dakota claims.
"Of course." I mumble.
"So..." He looks between Winter and I, Winter looking at me in amusement and smiling as if we have some sort of inside joke. "Winter. Truth or dare?"
I raise my brows at the boy across the room expectantly before he replies with, "Dare."
