Forcing a smile, Kilyn replied, “Right. The interior designer.”
I walked up and stood next to her. I could almost feel the anger rolling off her body. “Well, I mean that’s not all, we’re friends as well.”
“Oh . . . because that made it all the better, Thano,” Thad mumbled.
Phoebe looked between all three of us with a confused expression. “So wait, are you friends, dating, the decorator? Because the fire, the pillows, and blanket on the floor scream more than just the decorator and more like friends with benefits, perhaps?”
Kilyn took a step away from me and turned to Thad. “So can we leave?”
His face dropped. “I don’t think so. We barely made it up here. The state police were shutting down the road that leads up here. It’s snowing like crazy. I think we’re all going to be stuck up here until they can plow the streets.”
Kilyn’s face fell. “You mean we’re stuck up here tonight?”
“Maybe for more than one night.” Turning to Phoebe, he wiggled his eyebrows. “Good thing I brought food and a blow-up mattress!”
My heart dropped. We were stuck up here and it was my fault. Not to mention Kilyn kept stepping further away from me.
I’d have to worry about what I said later. Right now, we had to figure out a plan. “I’m going to walk over to the neighbors. Maybe they have a way out of here since they live up here.”
“Thano, I already said they closed the road. We barely made it past them before they closed it. There’s no getting out.”
Kilyn wrapped her arms around her body and frowned as she rubbed vigorously to warm herself up.
“Are you cold?” I asked walking up to her and wrapping my arms around her. She melted into me and relief rushed through my body. She wasn’t that mad about my fuck up. It was then I realized how cold it had gotten in the cabin.
Phoebe smiled. “I’m going to guess Kilyn is way more than just the interior designer.”
Glancing over at my brother and his girlfriend, I smiled as Kilyn buried her face into my chest. “I’m freezing.”
“Shit. You didn’t even bring a jacket, did you?” All she had on was a T-shirt and jeans.
Phoebe jumped up from where she was sitting in front of the fire. “I’ve got an extra jacket, but why don’t we just turn on the heater?”
Kilyn and I looked at each other and busted out laughing. “Well, hell. Why didn’t we think of that?” I said walking over to the thermostat.
Turning the heater on, I held my breath until it turned on. At least we had one thing on our side.
I held up my hands and called out, “We have heat!”
It wasn’t more than ten seconds later and the power to the whole cabin went off.
Kilyn let out a frustrated moan and said, “We had heat.”
Things were not looking good.
PHOEBE AND I sat and stared at the fire in silence. Thano and his brother decided to hike over to the closest neighbor. Even though Thad brought food, it was like a bag of chips, candy, and Pop Tarts.
“So how long have you and Thad been dating?” I asked, breaking the awkward silence.
With a warm smile, she said, “We’ve dated on and off for about two years. We’ve been dating pretty solid for the last six months, though.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, wow.”
When she shrugged and looked away, I wanted to ask why their relationship was an on and off one.
“You’d think after two years he’d want to take the next step.”
“Marriage?”
She laughed. “No! Not even. I’d take a full time commitment and meeting his family. I mean, I know Thano and Nicholaus, but I haven’t met anyone else. My own family is beginning to nag me about getting married and having kids.”
Wrinkling my nose, I asked, “Really? How old are you?”
“Twenty-three. Almost. Another week.”
Wow. I’d have to ask Thano how old Thad was. I was guessing thirty or so. I couldn’t really understand the whole parent pressure thing since mine weren’t around. “That seems kind of young to be thinking of settling down and having kids.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “You’re not Greek. You probably don’t have a mother breathing down your neck every time she sees you, whispering ‘tick tock the clock is running.’”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “No, I’m certainly not Greek. My parents passed away when I was fourteen.”
Her smile fell. It was always the same reaction from people when I told them my parents died. It was that look of pity. I hated it.
“I’m so sorry, Kilyn. I wouldn’t have said that if I had known.”
With a sincere smile, I reached over and squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.”
She pulled in a breath and blew it out. “Here I’m bitching about my nagging mother and . . . damn. Change of subject. How did you and Thano meet?”
Just his name caused my body to react. Biting on my lower lip, I grinned. “A few weeks back. We bumped into each other at a bar. Talked for a few minutes and the next day he was at my best friend’s cooking class. Ever since then, it seemed like we kept running into each other. He ended up coming to my office looking for an interior decorator and he had no idea it was my business.”
Perking up, Phoebe pulled her knees to her chest and wiggled her eyebrows. “Fate has been throwing the two of you together.”
Was that what was happening? With a chortle, I shrugged. “Maybe. Or it was all a string of coincidences.”
She shook her head while pinching her brows together. “No. There is no such thing as a coincidence.”
“You don’t think so?”
“Nope. If you were to ask my Yiayia, she would tell you fate is throwing you both together. Of course, then she would find out you’re not Greek and say fate screwed up.”
Laughing, I couldn’t help but feel a connection with Phoebe. I liked her. “So is it important with your heritage to marry Greek?”
Phoebe stared at me like I had grown two heads. “Was Eros the Greek God of love?”
My eyes drifted up in thought, I tried to recall when we studied Greek mythology. “Um . . . yes! He was!” I called out in excitement.
“There’s your answer. Marrying Greek is huge. Not really so much with our generation, but with our parents and grandparents it’s still very big. But with my generation steering away from it, it is slowly becoming more accepted . . . kind of.”
I stared at my hands as my chest ached.
“It doesn’t matter to Thano if you’re Greek or not, Kilyn. Trust me.”
Lifting my eyes, I forced a smile. “Oh, it’s nothing like that anyway. I’m a long way off from worrying about that.”
She gave me a look like she wanted to say uh-huh sure.
The door opened, saving both of us from the direction this conversation was going. We both jumped up, Phoebe rushing to Thad’s side. “I was beginning to worry!” she exclaimed.
Thano glanced over to me and smiled. Returning the gesture, I walked up and took a few bags out of his hands. “Good thing my neighbor is into all the prepping and shit. He had food and plenty of lanterns for us to use for light.”
I placed the bags on the counter and pulled out granola bars, protein bars, dried milk, which caused me to shudder, and a few other boxed items along with hot dog buns.
Holding up the buns, I furrowed my brows. “Hot dog buns?”
Thad laughed and opened up a small ice chest that had hot dogs, some mustard, and cheese in it. “Dinner!” he exclaimed.
Phoebe jumped and clapping her hand. “Oh my gosh, we can cook them over the fire!”
You couldn’t help but smile at Phoebe’s excitement.
Thad smiled and said, “If we can find a stick. Bundle up, baby. Let’s go exploring outside.”
Thano walked up and looked at me with those dark green eyes of his. “Lift up your arms.”
Something in his voice had me doing what he said
almost automatically, which was not like me at all. My lips opened and I wanted to argue, but a small part of me was wishing he would pick up where he left off.
When he held up a sweatshirt, I started laughing. Looking up as he put it on, I closed my eyes and welcomed the warmth of it. My stomach dipped as I was overcome with the smell of Thano’s cologne.
Oh dear God. I’m keeping this thing.
“I had it in the trunk of my car and somehow I was able to get it open enough to reach in for it.”
I loved that he thought to look in his car for something for me to wear. I wasn’t used to a man actually caring about my well-being.
“Lucky me,” I whispered, as I lifted it to my face and took in a deep breath while Thano turned and started unpacking the rest of the food.
Phoebe and Thad were in the living room laughing about something. I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy. It was clear Thad cared deeply about Phoebe. The way he loved on her made me swoon.
“They’ve been dating off and on for a few years.”
Peeking up, I watched as Thano watched the interaction between his brother and Phoebe.
“That’s what she told me. Why have they not committed to one another?”
I was prying, but I couldn’t help my curiosity.
Thano shrugged. “Not sure. I think it’s the age difference to be honest with you. Thad says Phoebe is immature.”
For some reason, I got very defensive of poor Phoebe. “She’s twenty-two. What does he expect?”
Holding up his hands in surrender he said, “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I honestly don’t know why he isn’t committing to her. All I know is he has fun with her, and maybe that’s all he cares about right now.”
With a smirk, I examined his face carefully. “What about you? No girl ever stole your heart enough to settle down?”
When his face turned white, I knew I had asked the wrong thing. I had totally forgotten he mentioned someone briefly before.
“I’m sorry,” I quickly added. “That’s not any of my business. I’m sorry I asked.”
Spinning around on my heels, I dashed over to Thad and Phoebe before Thano could utter a single word. From the look on his face, I was positive there was a girl out there who had stolen his heart and broke it. And that knowledge had my chest aching and my head spinning.
“Who wants to play a game? We can play charades!” Phoebe exclaimed.
Thad moaned as I laughed and said, “I’ll play!” I tried to sound more excited than I really was. The last thing I wanted to do was play a silly game, but if it passed time and it kept me from reliving the stupid mistake I just made with Thano, I’d play.
“Okay!” Phoebe said with a clap of her hands. “We need paper.”
Thad snapped his fingers and pretended to pout. “Oh, darn it. No paper. Looks like we’ll have to pass on the game we played in high school.”
Phoebe’s smile vanished and my heart broke for her. Although I kept it to myself, I had a notebook in my bag.
“I thought it was a fun idea to pass the time, Phoebe.”
Peeking over at me, she gave me a weak grin before sitting in front of the fire. “Thanks, Kilyn.”
I stole a glance toward the kitchen only to find Thano staring at me. Quickly looking away, I watched as Thad added more wood to the fire.
“We should probably bring in more firewood from the porch before it gets covered in snow,” Thano said walking up behind me. I could feel the heat coming from his body and I fought like hell not to look at him. My head and the ache between my legs were starting to argue with each other. One wanted me to keep my distance from Thano, the other wanted more.
So much more.
Thad threw another log in the fire before looking over to Thano. “We’ll stack some wood by the master bedroom door.”
“Are we all sleeping in there?” Phoebe asked.
Thad and Thano both snapped their heads over and looked at her. I tried like hell to hide my smile. Obviously Thad had no desire to have a slumber party with his brother and I knew why. He planned on getting lucky tonight.
Thano’s reaction didn’t surprise me either. I knew he wanted me as much as I wanted him. I wasn’t so sure, though, he would be doing anything with his brother here. Especially with a girl who was, clearly, not Greek and no condom.
“No, baby, we’ll sleep in the guest room upstairs. It has a fireplace too.”
With a wide smile that said she was more than happy with that arrangement, Phoebe said, “Yay! This is like a scene from a romance book! Couple gets stuck in cabin during a storm.”
Rolling my eyes, I stared at the fire. Claire and Phoebe would get along great with their stupid romance books. None of it was real. At least, it wasn’t for me.
“What’s wrong, ladybug? You don’t like romance books?”
Ugh. This guy was hot one minute and cold the next. I was starting to get whiplash with his mood swings. “No. I don’t,” I said as I continued to stare at the crackling wood.
Thano sat next to me and bumped my shoulder. “Why not?”
I moved my head and looked directly into his eyes. “Because life isn’t like that. It’s not filled with love and flowers and the guy rushing in to save you. Real life is filled with heartache, disappointment, and moments you’d do anything to forget about it.”
Something moved across Thano’s face. His eyes mirrored my sadness I was sure. We both knew that heartache. The only difference between us was he loved the woman who broke him. I hated the man who broke me.
Slowly turning back to the fire, I forced the tears at bay.
He’ll never make me cry ever again.
Never.
I STOOD AT the back window and watched the snow continue to fall. Kilyn’s phone was about dead, but she had called Claire to let her know what had happened so she didn’t worry about her.
My mother had called about an hour ago. I knew I should have let it go to voicemail, but I answered it like a stupid fool. Thad had, of course, told my parents about the cabin I had built. Then he went off and told her I was trapped up here . . . with a girl.
I cringed as I thought back to my conversation with her a few hours ago. I had to go outside so Kilyn didn’t hear me.
“You’re with a girl. I knew you were with a girl. Didn’t I say I knew there was a girl?”
Sighing, I pulled the hood from my sweatshirt up and over my head. “Mama, there is no girl. Kilyn is an interior designer. She’s also a friend.”
“That’s not a Greek name. What is that?”
Swallowing hard, I mumbled, “Irish.”
“What? What was that? I didn’t hear you.”
“Irish, Mama. She’s Irish. Kilyn O’Kelly is her name and she is just a friend.”
I could hear my mother saying something to someone before coming back on the line. “Why? Why do you do this to your mother? What did I do to deserve the heartache my boys give me?”
“Mama, it’s freezing outside. I’ll call you tomorrow when I know more about the roads after this storm.”
“You be a gentleman, Athanasios. No funny business with the Irish girl. They have bad tempers you know.”
Rolling my eyes, I let out a gruff laugh. “I love you, Mama. I’ll call you tomorrow and please don’t worry.”
“We aren’t finished talking. You will come by the house when you get back. Straight here. No sex! If you do, you wrap your stick!”
I was positive the look on my face was one of horror. “I’ve got to go, Mom.”
Hitting End, I tried to erase the last minute of that conversation.
“Hey, Phoebe and I are heading up stairs. I’ve got the fire going good in both bedrooms.”
Looking at my brother, I smiled. “Shit. How long have I been standing over here?”
He shrugged. “Long enough for Kilyn to fall asleep and me to start the fires. You’ve got to stop getting lost in your own head, Thano.”
My eyes darted over to the fire. Kilyn was snuggled
up under a blanket sound asleep.
“I’m not lost. I know exactly where I am, and I’m not ready to let anyone else in here with me.”
Thad frowned and shook his head. “Then I suggest you let Kilyn sleep in the bedroom and you sleep out here. I get the feeling she’s been hurt before. The last thing she needs is for you to fuck around with her emotions because you don’t have your own shit together.”
I opened my mouth to respond back when I shut it again. I knew he was right. The right thing for me to do would be to leave her alone.
But I didn’t want to.
Placing his hand on my shoulder, he wore a concerned expression. “It’s time to move on, Thano. Savannah would have wanted you to move on.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded my head and hit the side of his arm. “Thanks, bro. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I watched as Thad headed upstairs. He carried one of the blankets my neighbor had given us and a couple of pillows.
My eyes drifted back over to the sleeping beauty in front of my fireplace. A part of me didn’t want to move her; she looked so damn cute.
Walking into my bedroom, I pulled the blanket back from the bed. The fire was roaring and wouldn’t need any wood added to it for a while.
I blew out a deep breath of air and headed back out to the living room. Reaching down for Kilyn, I picked her up and carried her to my room. I tried like hell to ignore the knot in my stomach when she wrapped her arms around my neck and nuzzled her face into my chest.
When I laid her on the bed she whispered my name. The sound of it off her lips had my stomach dipping. I dropped to my knees and watched her sleep. Gently moving a strand of her dark hair from her face, I smiled as I took in her beauty.
My heart ached as I tried like hell to fight the feelings I was developing for Kilyn. She was so full of life, yet behind her eyes I saw such sadness there. I wanted to make it disappear, but how could I when I myself carried the same sadness.
The fire cracked as I watched her sleep. Each breath she took had me wanting her more. With every whimper she made, another piece of my wall tumbled down. What would it be like having her wrapped in my arms? Would she be the one to finally wake my heart up?