“I hear you. Listen, don’t let it ruin the trip, okay? We’re gonna have a great time. Maren’s taking forever to pack, but then we’ll be on our way after we drop off the cat.”
“You’re boarding Big Tuna?” Peter’s cat was old, fluffy, and sweet as hell. I wasn’t a cat person, but I loved Big Tuna.
“Nah, just taking him to my folks. He hates being alone, and they’ll spoil him rotten.”
“Sounds like your parents.” Heavy snowflakes came down fast and furious against the windshield and I grimaced, gripping the wheel. “Okay, man, I’d better watch the road. It’s coming down real heavy.”
“Oh wait. Hold on. Maren wants to talk to you real quick.”
Oh Lord, if Maren had something to say, that could only mean one thing.
Lyra was coming on our ski trip.
Lyra, Maren’s best friend and my arch nemesis—we drove each other crazy and could barely handle being in the same room without bickering. If Trupti was coming, I wouldn’t give Lyra a second thought. We’d be in our own little bubble, doing our thing. But now… Now I had to deal with one of my least favorite people on Earth. For four freaking days.
“So…” Maren began, I could picture her smiling on the other end of the line.
“What?” I was already irritated.
“Lyra’s taking the shuttle and is almost to the resort. She said she’s about fifteen minutes away.”
“And?”
“And so, it’ll probably just be the two of you in the suite before the rest of us get there.”
“What about Scott and Allison?”
“They’re getting in later tonight. Scott had to work.”
I huffed into the phone. “What the fuck, Mare? Why didn’t you guys give me a heads-up? I would’ve waited, stayed home awhile. Shit, I would’ve gone to a coffee shop for three hours…or five.”
“C’mon, Dev.” Maren sighed into the phone, but I shook my head, feeling defiant. First Trupti and now this. I had zero patience left.
“What? I’d do just about anything to avoid being stuck with her. You know this.” And she did. Maren knew almost better than anyone just how badly Lyra and I got under one another’s skin. The feeling of disdain was totally and completely mutual. Lyra despised me just as much, if not more, than I did her.
Maren’s tone softened. “It’ll just be a few hours. We’ll get there as soon as we can. Besides, you two can tolerate one another for a little while, can’t you?”
“Highly doubtful.”
“Dev!”
“Fine. I can handle the Mistress of Evil for a few hours, I guess. Pretty sure I packed my earbuds… Maybe I’ll just tune her out until you arrive.”
“That’s the spirit,” she deadpanned, and a chuckle escaped my mouth. I loved irritating Maren. She was such a sweetheart, but if you crossed her too far, look out! She was cute when she was mad, though, and so I loved to poke and prod and get her to that breaking point. And even at her worst, she was nothing compared to the headstrong piece of work that was her best friend.
“I gotta go, Mare. All this talk of Lyra is really upsetting, and the last thing I need is to get into an accident due to emotional distress,” I teased, a wicked grin on my face as I watched my windshield wipers flip back and forth, squeaking softly against the glass as the large snowflakes continued to land in heaps on the glass.
“You’re such an ass, but we love you. Be safe, and we’ll see you soon.”
I gripped the wheel and exhaled, mentally preparing for Lyra Castillo, utter pain in my ass.
Chapter 2
LYRA
“The roads look pretty rough, folks. It’s going to be a bit longer than the itinerary suggests. Please be patient and know that we’ll get you there as quickly and as safely as we can.”
People around me groaned and grumbled, but I smiled down at my book, knowing I had more time to escape into the story I was currently obsessed with. I’d read every word Jane Austen had ever uttered, but every time I reached the end of a story, she left me craving more. And so I was rereading my favorite book of all time, Pride & Prejudice. Again. And pretending I was a member of the Bennet family, losing myself in every page, in every word.
My mother had two names for me…soñadora was the first…and the one I heard most often. I was a dreamer, a fantasy chaser, the one who’d written her happily ever after back in chapter 3. But real life never seemed to measure up to the fictional characters I’d read about, and so my actual happily ever after seemed unattainable. Rather than pout about it, I’d followed my true passion—books.
Happily reading while the others on the Brighton Resort shuttle grumbled and complained, my phone buzzed from my purse at my feet. I smiled when I saw my best friend, Maren’s name on the screen, but scowled when I read the content of her message.
-Don’t kill me, but Dev will be getting there soon after you….and Peter and I are running late. His cat puked right before it was time to go. Took forever to clean it up.
-Ugh. You have to stop sneaking him people food!
-I know. Peter already gave me a lecture.
-But Dev, seriously? Is he bringing his girlfriend at least? I haven’t met her yet.
-Neither have I, but no, she can’t make it.
-Can’t or won’t?
-You decide.
I needed a smirking emoji. Badly.
-Just get here quickly, okay? I’m not feeling all warm and fuzzy toward Dev lately.
-When have you ever?
-LOL good point, I guess.
-But, yes, we’ll get there as soon as we can.
I glanced out the window of the shuttle bus, barely able to see the trees as we drove by. The snow was coming down hard and the air was thick, as if the window was covered with a sheet of vellum paper. But it wasn’t. It was snow. Just snow.
For a moment, I panicked, imagining Maren and Peter getting stuck in the snow, unable to make the trip, leaving me alone with Dev for days.
We’d kill each other.
Lord, don’t make me take a life this weekend. It’d be a shitty way to start the new year.
Dev was one of Peter’s best friends and, since Maren and I were so tight, we’d been forced together more times than I could count. He was gorgeous, yes. But I’d never met another soul who could get under my skin as quickly as Dev Modi. He was a pill. And he loved to push every button I had, and he did it with pride. If being a douchebag was an Olympic sport, Dev would win the gold. Every. Single. Time. And I proudly told him as much.
Now before you start feeling sorry for the guy, I was under no misapprehension that Dev thought highly of me. Oh no. His opinion of me was just as low. He called me a pain in the ass and a stubborn piece of work every opportunity he was given. And he had a lot of opportunities. He and my mother had that in common.
My mother called me a dreamer, yes, but she also called me a chica obstinada or stubborn girl. She loved to regale family members of stories of my willful, headstrong childhood. How when I was three years old, I became obsessed with The Wizard of Oz and demanded that everyone in the family refer to me as Dorothy. I imagined myself as Dorothy Gale and expected everyone to refer to me as my new favorite character. My father happily called me by my new moniker. Frank L. Baum was one of his favorite authors, and he took it as an opportunity to introduce me to the classic books. But my mother? She refused. Totally refused. Instead, she would flick her wrist, roll her eyes, and call me chica obstinada. I was three.