Chapter 1: Naughty & Nice: Chapter 1

“Are you nearly ready?” Hendrix bellows up the stairs.

We agreed to leave ten minutes ago, but I’m still rushing around my room, throwing things into my small suitcase.

I stayed up late last night reading, something that I’m now regretting.

“Yeah, I’m right there,” I lie, stuffing a handful of panties into my bag.

A deep chuckle comes from downstairs.

I’ve no doubt that he predicted this. My best friend knows me better than to expect me to be organized and ready on time.

I scan my closet, trying to decide what I should take. It’s easy, really. We’re staying in a log cabin for five days to celebrate the holiday away from all the stresses of real life. All I need is sweatpants, hoodies, my most comfortable underwear, and a whole heap of books.

Heaven.

It’s another ten minutes before I’m zipping up my suitcase and hauling it from the bed. It thumps against the floor and not a second later, Hendrix races up the stairs.

“Done?” he asks, poking his head into my room.

“Yes, we can go now,” I laugh as he grabs my luggage and turns his back on me.

“Knew we should have booked for seven days,” he mutters flashing a grin over his shoulder.

“Dude, we’re like ten minutes behind schedule. We’ll make it up on the drive.”

Oh man, and is it going to be a drive.

Thirteen hours on the road with my best friend. Honestly, I’m almost as excited about the road trip up to Canada as I am the cabin itself.

The snow… I can’t wait for the snow.

“Not with your driving,” he quips.

“Good thing you’re taking the first leg, isn’t it?” I tease, already feeling the stresses of college slipping away.

This break is exactly what we need.

We started at Trinity Royal College three months ago after a childhood of not believing it would be possible for either of us.

Sure, we may have had to swallow a little bit of our pride and accept some help—the biggest of which being the house we currently live in. But Hendrix’s big sister Lorelei and her husband wouldn’t have it any other way.

We couldn’t have achieved any of this without their help. I owe them everything.

A cool breeze whips around me as I step out of the house, but I shake it off. It’s got nothing on the place we’re heading.

I drop into the passenger seat of Hendrix’s Audi, something else that’s courtesy of Lorelei, and wait for him to join me.

“How confident are you that you’ve got everything you need?” he asks the second he drops into the driver’s seat.

“Uh…”

“We’re leaving,” he says with a laugh, starting the engine, ready to floor the gas and speed away.

“Rude,” I mutter.

“You’ve already packed more than you used to own,” he points out.

I think it’s meant to be a joke, and it is. But also… reminders of our pasts always hurt a little.

It’s not that I miss it. I don’t. I love my new life at Trinity Royal; it’s everything, and more than I thought it would be. It’s just… sometimes it can be hard, being the girl from the trailer park and trying to fit into a world that is vastly different from everything we experienced in our early lives.

Life here is… easy. We don’t walk around looking over our shoulder. Street corners aren’t littered with used needles. There aren’t gunshots and shootouts every few days. And the best part… we have actual food in our refrigerator, heat, and electricity. I hope they’re things I never get used to and take for granted. I always want to feel this grateful for the life we’ve fallen into here.

“Yeah,” I agree sadly.

“Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean⁠—”

“It’s cool. It’s… true.”

“All talk of the past is banned from this trip,” Hendrix suddenly announces.

“Sounds perfect.” The less I have to think about it, the better. And it’s not like my family will call over the holidays to check in on their eldest daughter. As far as they’re concerned, I’ve left their lives and that’s it. It hurts, of course it does, but also… it’s a relief. It wasn’t until they were no longer a part of my life that I understood what a drain they were. I feel like a whole new person now, and I love myself so much more for it.

“Ready?” Hendrix asks with an excited twinkle in his eye.

My best friend is my savior. He was always the one good thing in my life from our hometown. I don’t think he understands just how much he’s saved me over the years. No matter what happened, he was always there. I hope it’s something I never lose.

“So ready. Take me to paradise, baby,” I sing happily, images of the cute log cabin we’ve rented filling my mind.

Hendrix presses his foot to the gas and the car pulls out of the driveway, but we barely move an inch before the back door is yanked open.

“Hey, vacationers. Room for another one?” A familiar voice fills the air and the interior of the car instantly feels smaller.

“The fuck, Wild?” Hendrix barks as he glares at his twin brother in the rearview mirror.

“I thought I was going to miss you,” Wilder pants as if he’s run all the way here.

“Sadly not,” I mutter under my breath, although I ensure it’s loud enough for everyone to hear.

He sucks in a breath like he’s about to bark out a retort, but Hendrix cuts him off.

“Why are you here, Wilder? You’re meant to be heading for the airport.”

“Flights were canceled due to the weather.”

Silence fills the car.

“So do something else with the team,” Hendrix suggests.

“Most of them are going home instead.” He doesn’t say the words, but they’re not necessary. There is no chance of Wilder doing the same. None of us ever want to go back to our hometown to spend the holidays with our parents. It’s just not an option. “A couple are staying. But fuck that. Especially when my little brother is heading for a vacation right this second.”

“A vacation you weren’t invited on,” Hendrix points out, stealing the words right from my lips.

“Well, I’m here now, so let’s go.”

Without instruction from my brain, I spin around and glare at Wilder, but the second our eyes connect and my stomach knots with guilt, I regret the move.

I don’t keep secrets from Hendrix. He knows every single thing there is to know about me. Hell, he was even the one I called the day I first got my period. But this…

Fuck. This is one thing that I can’t tell my best friend.

Ever.

Wilder’s eyes wrinkle as he smirks back at me.

Asshole.

He sits back and pulls the seatbelt around his stupidly big body.

Hendrix and Wilder are identical twins, but in only a few months of training with the Trinity Royal Titans, his already ripped body has only grown, becoming more powerful, and more… sinful.

My cheeks heat and I twist back around, wishing I could extract myself from this situation.

Hendrix can’t say no to Wilder. Not that I think he should. Deep down, I know that we can’t leave him here to spend the holidays alone. Wilder isn’t a bad person, he’s just… a lot.

If I thought leaving him here wouldn’t mean him being alone, then I might push for it. But with Lori and Kian away, he doesn’t have any other options.

“Wilder,” Hendrix sighs, predictably coming to the same conclusion that I have.

“It’s fine,” he says dejectedly.

The click of the seat belt unlocking rips through the air before it rolls back into place.

“I’ll go. A couple of the guys are staying. I’m sure they’ll have me. Can’t cook for shit, though,” Wilder mutters, making a show out of shoving the car door back open. “It’s not like we have any childhood traditions to uphold or anything.”

My heart aches as memories from our former years hit me upside the head once again.

“Get back in.” My voice rings out around the car and for a couple of seconds, it’s met with nothing but silence.

I don’t look back to see Wilder’s reaction. I can’t.

Whether he’s rocking a smug smirk or an expression of disbelief that I’ve caved, I don’t want to know. I’m too busy mourning the loss of what I had hoped the next few days would be like.

I guess our plans really were too good to be true.

“Are you sure?” Hendrix asks in shock.

“We can’t leave him here alone. It’s the holidays,” I say, cringing because he’s listening to every word I’m saying.

Why can’t I be more cutthroat?

We should leave him behind. This is our vacation. Our plans.

But… he’s family.

With or without the colossal mistake I made a few weeks ago, he’s still one of the closest people I have in my life, even if it isn’t really by choice.

“She’s right and you know it, Bro,” Wilder says when Hendrix pauses as if he’s about to argue.

Wilder’s arrogance makes my teeth clench, but I guess it’s something I need to get used to, because now we’re stuck together for the next seven days.

On two thirteen-hour road trips, there and back, and in a small, remote log cabin.

My stomach flips.

This is a disaster.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Wilder says, wrapping his arms around the front seats and sticking his head between them.

His fingers brush my shoulder, and despite the fact I’m wearing a thick hoodie, I can’t catch the sharp intake of breath that turns two sets of identical eyes on me.

“Everything okay?” Hendrix asks. There’s nothing but concern in his, whereas, when I glance at his twin brother’s, all I find is mirth and excitement.

I really should just get out of the car and spend the holiday lost in books. It would be the most sensible thing to do.

But being alone…

No, thank you.

“Yeah,” I say, plastering a fake smile on my face—one which I pray my best friend falls for. “I’m just excited to hit the road.”

“Same,” Hendrix sighs, falling back into his seat. “I am so ready for it.”

“You know,” Wilder says, also getting comfortable in the back for the first leg of our trip, “when you first told me about your plans, I thought it sounded pretty dull. But I think you’re right. This vacation is going to be epic.” Unable to stop myself, I glance back and my stomach twists at the smirk playing on his lips. It’s full of promises of things I don’t want…