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“Fuck this,” she muttered under her breath.
Cameron sniggered from the seat beside her. She was done with finding the value of x, coefficients, and graphing quadratic functions. Katie set the pencil down on her desk. She’d never use any of this shit in real life anyway, so what was the point in making her brain hurt?
Being in the back had its disadvantages. She and Cameron were the last ones out the door when the bell finally rang. Katie stopped in the hallway to put on her coat before she reached the stairwell. He stopped with her.
“Was that your last exam?”
Katie paused mid-sleeve and grinned. “Yeah.”
“Me too.” He helped her with her coat. “You staying here for Christmas?”
“No, I’m catching a train this afternoon to visit my folks.” She wound her scarf tighter around her neck in preparation for the arctic blast when they opened the door to the outside. “Are you going home?”
They’d lost the playoffs. There’d be no bowl game. No chance at the pros.
“Got a flight out to Billings in the morning.” He smiled, a hint of dimples showing, and opened the door. “Going skiing.”
“Have fun with your family and Merry Christmas,” she said, smiling. “I’ll see you next year.”
How corny was that?
“We don’t have any classes together next semester, so I probably won’t see you much.” He looked kind of sad. Why did he have to look like that?
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll still get to see you.”
“Maybe.” Cameron leaned in and hugged her. “Hope so.”
He kissed her on the forehead and took a step back. “Merry Christmas, Katie Copeland.”
Then he smiled and walked away in the opposite direction on the icy sidewalk.
Merry Christmas, Cameron Mayhew.
Hours later, on a train headed west, Katie mused on how much had changed in the six months since she’d left her childhood home. How she had changed. Would they notice? Everything was so different now. She’d met Brendan. Fell in love. She saw a future with him—a life. A beautiful life.
Kevin was waiting when she got off the train. She’d expected to see her dad, and for a second there, she’d almost mistaken him for their father. He must’ve grown half a foot and had filled out some since she saw him last. He had stubble on his face that hadn’t been there before. Her brother looked more like a man than a sixteen-year-old boy.
“Kev!”
She dropped her bags on the platform to hug him, then ran her fingers through his shaggy blond hair. Taller than she was now, Katie tilted her head back to look up at him. She’d never had to do that before and it felt weird.
“Hey, sis.” He gave her a squeeze. “I’ve missed you.”
“Oh, I’ve missed you too.” She had. A lot. Katie hugged him again. “You should come visit me and Kell for spring break.”
“Yeah. That’d be cool.”
Katie glanced around the small station. “Where’s Dad?”
“Back at the house.” He picked up her bags. “Shit, Katie, what the hell did you pack in here?”
“Presents mostly.” She smirked. They started walking outside toward the gravel lot. “I can’t believe Dad let you take his truck and come get me.”
“Um, he didn’t exactly.” Kevin stopped in front of a brand-new Ford F150 Raptor. “Came to get you in my own.”
What. The. Fuck?
She’d had to beg to borrow her mother’s Volkswagen. Getting a car of her own had been out of the question—a big fat ‘no’ any time she’d brought it up. How did Kevin rate a fucking sixty-thousand-dollar truck?
