"Five . . . four . . . three . . . two—"

Jasmine's countdown is cut off by the shrill sound of the bell ringing.

It's Friday, more specifically the last day of school before Christmas break. Jasmine has been counting down until the bell all English period, and I began counting how many times Jordan flicked her in the arm for it.

"Great timing," Bryce mocks, patting Jasmine on the back as he slings his backpack over one shoulder.

"You're such an asshole," she puffs, and Bryce winks at her before turning on his heel and heading straight out of the room.

Jasmine rolls her eyes at me and I give her a helpless shrug, scurrying after Bryce.

When he catches me following him, he stops in place to wait for me. I smile at this, and when we're side by side, he wraps his arm around my shoulders, making me feel short as always.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" I ask him as we walk together towards the lockers.

He pulls me closer to his side as we snake through a vast crowd of excited students, but his arm drops from around me when we find ourselves standing directly in front of our lockers.

I reach to twist open my lock as Bryce does the same, answering, "I'm not sure. My dad and I will probably just stay in and do nothing all day."

"You guys don't have any traditions or anything?" I ask, popping my locker door open and shoving all my binders inside, then retrieving my jacket.

Bryce shakes his head at me. "Nah. My dad almost invited my grandfather to fly down though, but I managed to convince him otherwise," Bryce tells me, pulling his sweatshirt down over his head, causing his shirt to ride up a tad bit.

This exposes a few inches of his abs, and I have to pry my eyes away.

God, Lexi. You're such a creep.

"You don't get along well with your grandpa?" I ask, and Bryce laughs a little.

"He's a character. You'll see what I mean if you ever meet him someday. He thinks my music career is a waste of time, and he also hates speaking English so we usually spend the majority of the time arguing in Arabic," he says, and I bite my lip as I listen to him.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I say, and he shakes his head at me.

Raising one of his hands to tuck my hair behind my ear, he bends down a little so his face is closer to mine.

"You always have so much sympathy to give. Why's that?" he asks me, his voice low and quiet.

I gulp hard at the close proximity, but I don't get a chance to answer him before there's a harsh tug on my arm.

I spin around to find my brother beside me.

"Can we hurry up and get out of here? I really hate this place and now that we're off for almost two weeks, I want out," he tells me, and I chuckle, watching as Bryce straightens out his back, tucking his hands into his pockets.

"Don't be such an ass, Charles," Bryce comments, walking past us and heading right down the stairs.

"That's rich, coming from you," Charlie replies, following Bryce and dragging me along with him.

I'm a little mad that I didn't get to say goodbye to any of my friends before we don't see each other for awhile, but it will have to do seeing as my brother is barely paying me any attention.

Charlie and Bryce continue to bicker all the way as we walk out the front doors and to the parking lot. I notice how Bryce parked next to Charlie's car today, so the three of us walk to the vehicles together.

"Are you coming to the New Year's party at my house?" Bryce asks, unlocking his truck with the click of a button.

"You know how much I hate parties," I tell him, trying to politely turn him down.

I didn't even know that he was throwing a party until right now, and I feel a bit out of the loop. If this party ends up anything like that party by Ryan's cottage, I don't think that I'll ever recover.

"Awe, please Lex? I promise that it'll be fun. And it's pretty much on my birthday, so you kind of have to go," Charlie pouts from beside me, and I flick him in the arm.

He swats back at me in return, and Bryce snorts from where he's standing a couple feet away from us.

"I'm so glad that I'm an only child," he comments.

Our eyes narrow at him and he laughs at our reaction, leaning against the side of his truck.

"Just think about it, Blossom," he tells me, winking as he pulls open the car door, stepping up into his seat.

Charlie huffs as he unlocks his car, and we both step into the vehicle. I slam the door shut, buckling my seat belt before turning back to my brother who is typing on his phone.

I lean over to look over his shoulder, seeing that he has a text conversation with our dad pulled up.

"What's up?" I ask him, and he turns to me, dropping his phone into one of the cup holders, plugging it into the charger.

"Dad says we need to be home by three-thirty for some reason," he informs me, and when I look past him I see that Bryce has already pulled out of his parking spot, his truck no longer in sight.

"He didn't say why?" I question, and Charlie shakes his head at me as we drive out of the parking lot and onto the streets.

"How odd," I comment, and my brother starts to laugh at me for no reason. I slap him in the arm, and he grins at me.

"You talk like an old person. I really hope you've noticed that," he tells me, and I groan.

"I'm not here for personal attacks," I puff, and Charlie turns up the radio to eliminate the chance of another conversation starting up.

When we arrive home and step out of the car and into the house, all seems perfectly normal.

Charlie seems to be thinking the same thing, as closing the door, he says, "I still don't understand what Dad was talking about."

I shrug at him, pulling my phone out of my pocket. The lock screen lights up and it reads 3:32, so I bite my lip in confusion, tucking the phone back away.

All of a sudden, the door that I had just shut flies open.

I take a hurried step away from the door, but when I see who's there, I can feel my eyes light up in glee.

"Uncle Mike!" I exclaim, rushing up to my uncle who had just appeared in the doorway.

He pulls me in for a tight hug and I laugh, realizing that even though I saw him just last summer, it feels like it's been awhile; although he used to live here, he moved to Alberta a few years ago after a messy divorce with his ex-wife.

"Hey Lexi," he smiles, pulling away from me to

look at my face. He then turns to my brother, giving him a hug too.

My uncle is followed by my dad, and it's almost creepy how alike they are. I know that identical twins always look extremely similar, hence the name, but it's still a little disconcerting. The twin gene really does run in the family, and this is further proved when my cousins, Adriana and Addison, step into the house as well.

I still can't tell them apart to this day, despite them being thirteen. I know I should have figured it out by now, but I just haven't.

It's become a bit of a joke how my dad is a twin, and his dad is a twin, not to mention that his brother had twins, yet Charlie and I aren't twins. That's why we find it funny how though we aren't actually twins, we're so close in age that it almost feels like it sometimes.

"Surprise!" my dad says, patting both Charlie and I on the back.

He takes Adriana and Addison's coats out of their hands, hanging them up in the closet, and I find the girls watching me closely.

"Is something wrong?" I question, and they shake their heads at me in perfect unison.

Definitely creepy.

"How about we go take a seat in the living room? Kathleen should be home soon," my dad offers, and Uncle Michael nods.

He gestures for his daughters to come with as the four of them head for the living room, leaving their suitcases strewed in the foyer.

I huff at this, rolling the three bags into a neat line against the side of the staircase.

"You're obsessive about this stuff," Charlie teases. and I squint my eyes at him.

He throws his hands up in surrender and I laugh, following his lead to join our family in the living room.

We take our seats on the open chairs, finding our dad and his brother chatting away as the girls are whispering to each other.

One of them turns to me, her brow eyes wide when she asks, "Hey Lexi, I heard that this guy I follow on Instagram goes to school with you now. Do you know anybody named Bryce?"

Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

Charlie answers for me, chuckling as he says, "Bryce Bradshaw? Because yes, she certainly knows him."

I throw a pillow at him which he catches, setting it down on the floor beside him.

Our uncle and dad seem to have heard the question because Uncle Michael turns to the twin that had just spoken, scolding her by saying, "Don't be nosy, Addy."

Now having a mental note that the one wearing the blue shirt is Addison, I figure that I'll just have to figure out what each one of them is wearing every day of their stay.

Addison rolls her eyes at her dad and Adriana giggles from beside her, twirling her hair around one finger.

"He's really cute. You should definitely go out with him. If you don't, I will," Addison says, and her father buries his face into his palms, shaking his head.

"My God, do you girls think about anything other than boys?" he asks, clearly distressed, and totally synchronized, they answer, "No."

"You see what I have to put up with?" Uncle Michael asks, turning to Charlie and I.

We both laugh, and he smiles a little, then asking, "Why do my girls know about your friend?"

Addison shoots up in her seat, eager to answer the question for us. "He has a YouTube channel where he sings. You'd probably like him; he's really good. And also really cute," she laughs, and Adriana nods her head rapidly in agreement.

Addison then takes out her phone, typing away on the screen before handing it to her dad. He scrolls through whatever is on the screen before handing the phone back to her, clasping his hands together in his lap.

"He's definitely too old for you," he sighs, and they Addison pouts, leaving Adriana to pat her on the shoulder in a comforting way.

My phone buzzes, and when I read the message that causes it, I laugh.

Speak of the devil.

My heart swells a little. I would really like to go out for dinner with him. I really, really would. But when I look back up to see the group sitting in front of me, I think it's safe to assume that I can't just leave the house to go out with a friend.

Bryce texts back straight away, and I feel Charlie trying to catch a glimpse of my screen.

I burst out into a fit of laughter when I read that last text, and Charlie snatches the phone out of my hand.

His eyes widen as he reads our conversation, and he locks my phone when he sets it down on the table between us.

"He just asked you out," he states, and though I quickly shake my head at him, the idea has got my brain's gears turning. I hadn't thought of it that way, but maybe Charlie is right.

"No, it wouldn't be like that," I clarify, and he gives me a look filled with doubt. I pull my phone away from it, unlocking it again, having a thought.

"Hey, Dad?" I ask, and my dad looks towards me, away from his brother.

I've just had a thought, but before I bring up my idea with Bryce I should probably ask for permission.

"Yes?" he asks me, and I drum my fingers against my thigh. It seems that Bryce's habit has rubbed off onto me too.

"Can I have a friend over after dinner?" I question, and he cocks his head to the side.

"Jasmine?" he asks, and I shake my head at him, nodding towards Adriana and Addison as a hint as of to who I'm referring to.

His expression shifts to one that's knowing, and he gives me a small smile.

"Of course, dear," he says, and I grin at him.

🌸🌸🌸

We ended up ordering Chinese takeout for dinner, and my parents insisted that I don't have to help with the clean up so I'm now waiting anxiously by the door for Bryce to arrive.

Adriana and Addison are upstairs getting settled into one of the spare bedrooms, and my parents, brother, and uncle are all chatting in the kitchen still.

The doorbell rings, and I shoot up from my seat on one of the steps of the staircase. I scurry towards the door, twisting open the lock

before pulling the door open.

"Hi," I say, suddenly feeling giddy at the sight of Bryce in front of me.

I take a step to the side so that Bryce can enter the house, and to my surprise he immediately bends down to press a kiss to my forehead.

"Hi Blossom," he smiles, closing the door behind himself.

I know that we saw one another just a few hours ago, but it's still nice to hear his voice again.

He's not wearing a jacket so he just kicks his shoes off, being nice enough to line up his boots with the rest of the shoes by the door.

"Where to?" he asks, taking my hand, and that's when I hear two high-pitched squeals coming from the staircase.

"Oh my God! He's even better looking in person!" Addison squeaks, and her sister nudges her in the arm as if to tell her to keep it cool.

Bryce eyes widen at this reaction, and I see a glint of mischief in his eyes and he drops

my hand, choosing to coil his arm around my waist instead.

Turning to look down at me, he questions, "Who are they?" in a voice loud enough for them to hear.

There's the clear sound of footsteps approaching us as the twins appear right in front of us, their eyes wide.

"Wait, are you dating him? Lucky!" Adriana exclaims, and Bryce laughs.

At first I think that he's just generally repulsed by the idea of being in a relationship but I realize that that's not the case, seeing as he then says, "I would feel bad for her if we were dating. I'm a total asshole."

"You're not that bad," I tease, and Bryce gives my waist a squeeze.

"Yeah, he's nice to you. He's a jerk to everyone else though," Charlie comments, appearing in the doorway, coming from the kitchen.

Bryce gives him a small smile as Charlie walks towards the four of us, heading straight for the girls.

Patting them both on the back, he says, "You two need to give them their space."

They both toll their eyes at him, and he gives them a gentle nudge in the direction of the kitchen.

I mouth the words 'thank you' you him as he essentially drags the girls into the other room, giggling, as I look up at Bryce. He's smiling at me, and I tug on his hand.

"Let's go down to the basement?" I offer and Bryce nods, following me as we walk down the hallway, opening the door to the basement and shutting it after us.

I don't bother to lock it as I switch on the lights, stepping down the stairs and walking around a corner into the next room.

I turn on another one of the lights, then walking over to take a seat on the sectional sofa.

Bryce sits down next to me, so close that the sides of our legs are touching, and I turn to him.

"Hi," I breathe, and he taps me on the nose.

"Hey."

We stare at each other for a moment, mesmerized by each other's eyes. I have to force myself to look away, distracting my focus by reaching for the television remote. I switch on the screen, turning back to Bryce to find him watching my every movement like a hawk.

"What do you want to watch?" I ask, gulping hard, and his eyes twinkle a little.

"What kind of movies do you like?" he asks me, and I shy away, thinking about how he'll probably mock my answer.

He continues, saying, "Well, I only really watch horror movies, which I know you hate, so unless you want to watch The Conjuring or Hereditary, I advise you just answer."

Crinkling my nose, I tell him, "I really only watch movie musicals so I guess we can watch one of your gross horror movies."

I open up Netflix, handing the remote to Bryce who has one of his eyebrows raised at me.

"No, we can watch something else. Remember when you were watching that movie with Jordan?" he counters, and I blink at him, leaning my elbow against the back cushion of the sofa.

"I'm fine, Bryce. I'm not a child. I can handle it," I almost snap, and Bryce's hand is suddenly over my mouth.

He shakes his head at me. "I didn't mean it like that, Blossom. I just don't want to ruin your night with some dumb movie," he says and I nod at him, not sure why I got so sensitive all of a sudden.

I guess I just don't want them to look at me as if I'm some sort of kid that needs to be babysat.

"Yeah, I don't know what came over me," I say quietly, now watching the screen as Bryce clicks through the list of recommendations.

He's biting his lower lip in though, and he rests his palm on my thigh in response.

"No problem," he says. I instantly find myself staring shamelessly at him, particularly at his mouth.

He said that he wanted to kiss me the other day.

I hope he still stands by that.

"Are you all right?" Bryce asks me, setting the remote down on the coffee table, tilting his head to the side.

I stare blankly at him for a moment, and his expression shifts to worry when I don't say anything.

"Blossom?" he questions again, but he's

silenced when I reach up to hold his face between my hands.

I catch the way his breath hitches, and he quickly shuts his mouth.

I take a moment to admire the sharp lines of his face, especially his jaw, and I can hear my heart hammering in my chest.

Bryce takes the lead, leaning forward and resting his forehead against mine, both of us keeping our eyes wide open.

His eyes are such an interesting colour. They seem to shift between a dark brown to a rich hazel, all the way to a warm amber tone.

I can feel his hot breath fanning against my skin, and just like that, I prepare to do the boldest thing I've dared to do in a long time.

Taking a deep breath in, I look at Bryce, silently asking for permission. His hands fall to my hips, holding me close, and I shut my eyes, wanting to kiss him more than anything else in the world.