"Why does it keep falling!"

"You're not putting enough icing."

"Yes I am. Look."

"Now thats too much."

"How about instead of critiquing me you help." I glared over at Knox who just stood off to the side of me.

"I would gladly help if you moved over to the side and let me." He countered. Grunting I took a large step the side and gestured to it.

"Better?"

"Much." Taking the spot next to me Knox grabbed the icing from my hand. "The trick is to line the bottom of the tray then while the other person is holding the pieces you ice the outside."

I wanted to say that's what I have been doing you just haven't been helping, but I bit my tongue. Seeing that everyone around us were way further along and decorating their houses we couldn't afford to argue anymore.

We were all currently seated in my mom's dining room making gingerbread houses. After dinner my mom brought out the gingerbread pieces her and Olivia made at the bakery earlier today. We were separated into teams with my older brother Lucas and Annie helping the two girls make a house, Jackson and Olivia pairing up, which left Knox and I.

"Hold the sides while I finish." Knox instructed. While we finished on building our house everyone around us talked about how they were decorating theirs.

"You know we could have had this finished if you were helping to begin with." I muttered.

"If you would have moved out of the way and I would have." He shot back.

"You were just standing there watching me."

"I was waiting for you to swallow your pride and ask me." I wanted so bad to say something back but I shook my head.

"No more arguing. Lets decide how we will decorate." I suggested instead. We were getting no where. I took a quick glance around at everyone.

Seeing Lucas, Annie, Sophie and Charlotte I held back a laugh. The two little girls were sitting there eating all the snacks and the frosting while their parents were trying to put icing on the roof like snow. Just a quick glance and I could tell their gingerbread house was going to be a mess.

Then I looked over at Olivia and Jackson. Seeing their house perfectly built and decorations already covering it I knew they were going to be our biggest competition. The pair were whispering to each other like they didn't want us to hear. Jackson glanced up and met my eyes, a smirk appearing on his face. Narrowing my eyes I turned away.

"Okay so Olivia and Jackson are our competition." I leaned in closer to Knox and whispered. "Knowing Jackson he is going to do something big."

"Something big?" Knox looked at me like I grew two heads.

"One time he made a lake in the 'backyard' and a melted snowman."

"A lake?"

"Yeah. And my mom loved it so of course he won. We can't let them win." Knox looked over at me with raised eyebrows.

"What?" I questioned.

"Your competitive." He commented.

"I grew up with two brothers. Everything was a competition. We actually stopped doing this a few years ago because of how intense we were."

"What do we get if we win?"

"I'm not really sure actually. Use to be some sort of candy." I shrugged. Who knew what my mom had up her sleeve. She hasn't made a single peep since we started.

"We need to do something cool. I have a feeling my brother and your sister are planning something." Knox and I looked over at the pair at the same time. They had positioned themselves further away and now had their backs turned. Yep, planning something.

"Okay." Beside me Knox nodded. "Have anything in mind?" Seeing that we were now on the same page I grinned.

I looked around at all the stuff we had laid out on the table. It literally looked like my moms bakery in here. Every inch of the table was covered with pieces of gingerbread in shapes of the houses and some just in rectangles. All the treats Knox and I bought earlier scattered around. It took a minute of looking for an idea to hit.

"How about," I leaned in and whispered softly. "we make our house almost like a mansion? We grab more pieces of gingerbread and basically build more walls and then make separate roofs. Because we have been slow we only had four walls done anyways, it could work." I explained.

"Make a few walls taller to give it depth." Knox was slowly nodding as the picture formed. "I think we can do it."

We looked at each other and I saw the corner of Knox's mouth tilt up just slightly. It wasn't close to a real smile but it was enough to make my own grow. We gave each other a slight nod of the head and got to work.

We worked as a team as we built our new gingerbread house. I would hold the pieces while he iced and then onto the next one. While we waited for pieces to dry we talked about things we could add to make it look better.

In no time we had our gingerbread house built and ready for decoration. We got in a good groove as I made snow with the icing while Knox made some of the things he wanted. We may have started out bumpy but we were now working as a great team.

Every once in a while I would look over and see Sophie and Charlotte helping decorate their house by making a mess. At one point I saw Charlotte pour sprinkles all over the top.

I tried to see what Olivia and Jackson were doing but they were still huddled together doing god knows what. I had a feeling we were going to regret letting them be a team. They seemed to get along great and if they became friends they probably will be a trouble making duo.

As we got closer and closer to finishing, Knox and I kept throwing jokes and comments at one another. I was actually surprised at how sarcastic he could be when he wanted to. It was nice having someone who could dish it back. I even managed to catch a peek of a smile on his face more than once.

We were adding a bit more details when my mom suddenly yelled from the living room that we all had 3 minutes left. It was one of the rules Olivia insisted on was having a set time for our competition, which my mom was clearly enforcing.

Knox and I quickly added some last minute things as my mom counted down the seconds. As soon as she hit one we all took a step back as she walked into the kitchen. I heard Annie beside me mutter 'thank god' which made me stifle a giggle. Seeing our creation I turned to Knox with a wide smile.

"It looks great!" I beamed.

"It does." I brought my hands up for a high five and he only hesitated for a split second before he pressed his hands to mine. A tingle went through me as he laced our fingers together and tugged me forward. My front was now pressed to his as he dipped his head down. His cheek grazed my left one, the scruff of his beard tickling my skin. I breath hitched in my throat at the feeling. My hands were clasped in his firmly keeping me in place.

"Your mom is watching." His voice was a soft whisper against my ear. His words were like ice water hitting me. Right. He was doing this on purpose for our deal, to convince my mom we really were together.

I knew the position we were in from where my mom was standing made it look like we were kissing. The perfect way to make it seem like we were without having to actually kiss me. Swallowing thickly I pulled away a moment later.

I couldn't stop the wave of disappointment that hit me. For one split second I actually thought he was doing it for real. I wasn't sure why I thought that. This wasn't anything more than a deal and he just holding his end of it.

Plastering on a smile I gazed up at him like I would if he had kissed me. When I looked off to the side I found my mom standing there beaming at us. The look on her face made my heart squeeze in my chest. She sent me a wink before going towards Sophie and Charlotte who were calling her name.

With my mom's attention now else where, as well everyone else, I untangled my hands from Knox and took a step back clearing my throat.

"Thanks." I didn't meet his eyes as I moved around him.

I wasn't upset that he did what he did...no I was upset that he didn't really kiss me. And the fact that I did want him to kiss me made it all worse.