“We… we should get back to the house,” I say. Now I’m the one who’s practically shouting.

“We should probably check the snow situation first,” Jack says reasonably from the bed, where she’s still stark naked, where she’s not even remotely trying to hide how stark-fucking-naked she is.

Meanwhile, I’m scrambling for my clothes, searching for my bra and underwear. “I just… I just feel like, it’s Christmas Eve, and we should probably—”

“Elle.” Her voice is abrupt, stern. “It’s seven in the morning. It’s not even light outside yet. What’s going on?”

I trip and fall my way back into my long johns. “Nothing is going on.” My voice is an unholy shriek of panic, and Jack would have to be a moron to believe me. “I’m just sure the family is worried about us. We need to get back to—”

Jack is not a moron. “To Andrew?” she asks.

I glance at her on the bed. She’s sitting up, the quilt around her waist and her breasts exposed to the cold morning air. Our fire went out sometime in the night.

“Elle, don’t do this.”

“I’m not doing anything,” I sputter.

“Are you…?” Jack shoves a hand through her greasy morning hair. “Do you regret what happened between us?”

“No,” I say. And I don’t. Do I? Why do I itch everywhere? “I just need a minute to, you know… think. Regroup.”

“Elle.” She keeps saying my name like it’s a string tying me back to her. “Don’t do this. Don’t freak out.”

“I’m not freaking out.”

I am absolutely freaking out. A year ago, I went home with this woman and ended up with my heart broken. Ten days ago, I signed a napkin contract because I thought money was the only thing that could fix my broken life. There’s a hole in my chest and a family two miles away who are never going to forgive me when they discover the truth. Andrew is a guarantee and Jack isn’t and I—

On the bed, Jack clenches her jaw. “Are you going to go back to him?”

“Who?”

“What do you mean who?” She spits. “Andrew. Are you going to marry him?”

“I can’t marry Andrew.” Even if he is a guarantee, I know I can’t.

Jack climbs off the bed. “Then what is this? Why are you pulling away from me?”

“This…” I flail a hand back and forth between her naked body and my half-covered one. “Us… we… we’re going to fall apart.”

“What are you talking about?”