Page 2 of The Holiday Ex-Files

I had just pulled up the file I needed when someone loudly knocked on my door. I say someone but I knew who it was by his knock that sounded like the beat to Queen’s, “We Will Rock You.” I looked at the time. What was he doing here at nine in the morning? I threw my baby-soft pink comforter off me, startling Neville so badly he yelped as if he was in pain. The poor thing was afraid of his shadow. Maybe I should talk to the vet about upping his meds.

I picked up Neville, as he was too afraid to jump off my plush king-size bed, which had a good dozen pillows on it. The more pillows the better, as the him used to make fun of them. And the frillier the better, as the him didn’t like frill either. My room looked like a ruffle factory had exploded all over it. I wasn’t exactly proud of it, but it was mine, all mine.

I padded across the cold hardwood floors in my tiny one-bedroom condo that I’d spent way too much money on. That’s what I got for living in a ski town, my hometown. It was worth it though. I loved Aspen Lake. Unfortunately, so did everyone else, it seemed. Real estate prices were out of control. I would never say that to my father. He loved this sellers’ market. Thankfully, my side job brought on by the incident and my Photoshop skills made living in my favorite place possible. I could at least thank my ex for that.

I took my time getting to the door. I stopped and turned up the thermostat. It was kind of chilly. Lows were getting down into the thirties overnight now. Then I headed for the kitchen and filled Neville’s dog bowl up with his specialized food and his bottled water of choice—FIJI. He loved the good stuff. I set Neville down and let him enjoy his food.

Meanwhile, he kept knocking and knocking and knocking. He’d moved on to Mac Miller’s “Knock Knock.” I let him do one more chorus of it because I liked the song. Then I moseyed on over to the door. I stood in front of it, contemplating whether I should open it. I didn’t understand why he kept coming around this past year. I knew what he wanted, and he could email me his request. But, I knew I would eventually grow tired of his knocking—and I knew he would never leave—so I opened the door in all my jeans and hoodie glory. My sandy-brown hair was up in a messy bun, and I had only gotten around to moisturizing my fair-skinned face. That was about as fancy as I got when I was editing.

On the other side of the door stood Noah Cullen. Yeah, like those Twilight vampires. He was just as beautiful as them too, except he didn’t sparkle—other than his shiny white teeth. I bet he’d bitten his fair share of women. His skin was far from granite; instead he looked to be kissed by the sun, which highlighted the barbed wire tattoos wrapping his muscular biceps. I swear he wore a tight T-shirt every day just to show them off, even if it was twenty degrees outside. His dark, tousled hair curled just above his ears completing the classic bad boy look—the kind of bad boy girls loved. But not this girl. Though my heart was in a deep-freeze, I did see the appeal.

He flashed me a brilliant smile. “You answered a full five minutes quicker than last time. It’s almost like we’re friends again.”

Ouch. That stung, but I didn’t let it show. If he only knew how much I hated giving up our friendship. But he was a painful reminder of his best friend. And of too many good times I couldn’t bear to remember. And most importantly, he was too much a part of the incident. He’d helped me pick out the infamous tree (yeah, the one that starts with a C) and had decorated it with me, all because the him was too busy, but apparently not too busy to well . . . never mind. I flung the door wide open, knowing he’d invite himself in anyway.

“You got Ben”—my voice always made some weird strangling noise whenever I said my ex’s name—“in the divorce. Don’t you remember?”

He slid in and shut the door before I changed my mind and asked him to leave. “I’m suing for joint custody now.”

He had a knack for making me smile. And judging by his smirk, he was proud of that fact.

I wiped the smile off my face and sighed. “What are you doing here?”

He tugged on a loose strand of my hair like he was one of my big brothers or something. That was weird. I didn’t need another big brother. Five were plenty enough. “Come on, Cams, you know you love it when I drop by unannounced. I’m the only person who likes the crappy coffee you make.”