April scoffed at her. “I am not. I’m being practical. There are three of us crammed into one tiny room, while Kai has a room all to himself. I’m just saying we should make the rooms even. How is that being unreasonable? And since Jessie is the one who decided to drag him along at the last minute, she should be the one to stay with him. It’s only fair,” she said with a haughty shrug.
Jessie was so shocked at April’s suggestion that it took her a few tries to spit out a response. When she did, it wasn’t what she really wanted to say, but it was the first thing that made it past her lips. “I thought you and Kai were still friends? Why are you sore that I brought him along?”
April turned her eyes to Jessie; they were ice-cold, but there was a lingering pain behind the wall of anger. This wasn’t about Kai joining them on their girl’s weekend, this was about Jessie’s unfortunate comment about April acting like a slut. “I’m not mad he’s here.” Returning her eyes to Harmony, April shrugged and said, “It makes sense, Harmony. Why be packed like sardines if we can all be comfortable. And besides, we’ll be spending most of our time on the slopes or in the lodge. Does it really matter if we don’t all sleep together?”
Harmony bit her lip, and Jessie knew April was convincing her. Jessie felt like the frigid air was freezing her lungs. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t room with Kai, but if Harmony saw April’s side of things, how could Jessie argue against it? Because in a way, April was right…if this was any other situation, they would be more comfortable two to a room.
Knowing this was her only chance, Jessie put a hand on Harmony’s arm. Her pale eyes were conflicted. “Harm…I want to stay with you guys. I know I messed up girl’s weekend by inviting Kai, but my grandmother insisted. It doesn’t mean I don’t still want to spend as much time with you two as possible though. I want to be in the same room as you guys.” And I can’t sleep in the same room with Kai. I just can’t.
Harmony opened her mouth, but April was the one who spoke first. “Look, I didn’t want to be a complete and total bitch, but you’re not really leaving me a choice. I understand from Kai that you were just trying to protect me...or whatever…but I call bullshit on that. You basically called me a whore who wasn’t good enough for your family. If it was really about protecting me from his past, you could have pulled me aside and told me Kai was hung up on someone else. You didn’t, so obviously it had nothing to do with sparing my feelings. You just didn’t want me with your cousin for some reason.”
For a minute, Jessie was too dazed to respond. He’d told her he was hung up on someone else? When she recovered, she immediately shook her head, but April held her hands up. “Save it. I thought I could do this, I thought I could mend us, but seeing you and Kai together just reminds me of that whole night, and I can’t do it. If you don’t room with him tonight, then I’m going home. I can’t sleep in the same room as you. Sleeping in the same house is bad enough.”
With that, she turned and stormed toward the lodge. “April!” Jessie yelled, but she ignored her. Kai finally noticed something was going on, and had a concerned expression on his face as he alternated his gaze between Jessie and April.
Jessie let out a frustrated grunt as Harmony put a hand on her shoulder. Her cheeks were still muddled, but she looked calmer. “I’m sorry, Jess. She’s just…hurt, I think. She values your opinion, and you were pretty…rough on her.” Harmony’s brows drew together, like she was wondering why.
Before she could ask, Jessie spat out, “What am I supposed to do, Harm?”
Harmony shook her head; her hair was tucked into a knit cap, but some loose strands brushed her shoulders. “Give her space, and see if Kai will let you crash with him. I really think she’ll feel bad for kicking you out of the room, and this whole thing will finally blow over. And besides, you haven’t spent time with your cousin in a while, right? Just think of it as a good opportunity to catch up? You can have cocoa, make s’mores, curl up by the fire…it will be just like camp!”
All the color drained from Jessie’s face. Curling up with him would be like no camp that Jessie had ever been to. Kai was still looking her way, brows scrunched as he tried to figure out what was going on. Light flakes were collecting in his hair and for a moment, Jessie thought he put every outdoors-wear model to shame. For someone who had never even seen snow, he looked right at home on the mountaintop. Jessie couldn’t picture anything good happening if they stayed in the same room together. All night. Alone.
While Jessie tried to understand how this weekend had gone south so quickly, Harmony wrapped her arms around her in a warm hug. “While you’re bonding with Kai tonight, I’ll work on April. This weekend will be the end of it. I promise.”