“Sure!” I said, maybe a little too fast. “Hep!”

“Sweet. I’ll pick you up at the inn around 6:30. And bring your brother, too, if you want.” He winked at me and turned back to the table. “All right, folks. Who’s staying with me for the afternoon? Let’s hit it.”

Wait. Was I just invited out on a date with my brother? And was Honey Braids coming, too? But I couldn’t think about that now. I had to think positive and remember the way Drew’s eyes looked like dazzling blue marbles and his lips came together, smooth and shiny and the way that — hep! Ugh. Still had those hiccups.

I made my way back to our lunch table in the back.

“Hey, guess who found us,” Jeremy said, barely moving his lips. Liz was standing next to him in her white furry jacket. She had a new, long scarf in pink and red, and her cheeks were the same colors, warm and rosy.

“Heard you did PB!” she said.

“Huh?”

“Pine Bluffs,” explained Jeremy.

“Oh, yeah,” I said.

“Wow! Would you be up for doing it again with me this afternoon? Heidi and Dina were lame-o’s and stayed back at our hotel.” She looked from me to Jeremy, so hopeful. I felt a little bad for her. I knew what it was like to want to be liked.

“Sure,” I said, and hooked my arm through hers.

No answer.

I speed-dialed again. Straight to voice mail.

Where could she be? I needed to check in with Phoebe before Drew picked me up. I was outside on the front steps of the inn, stamping my feet to keep warm. Under my jacket all I had on was a clingy black cardigan and jeans. I know, yawn. But it was the only thing I could come up with. I also blow-dried my hair upside down and did the electric socket dance. That’s when I run around shaking my head and arms as fast as I can like I’ve just been electrocuted. It’s the only way I know how to get my hair to look like it has some body to it. It never stays bouncy for very long, but it’s still fun to dance around in my underwear.

And now I really needed some Phoebe advice. What if Drew had gone home and decided he didn’t want to kiss geeks with long ears anymore? Honey Braids had looked much hipper than me. Or what if he did still want to kiss me, and do everything else, too?

I speed-dialed Phoebe again. Nothing.

I heard the front door open behind me and then a dog raced across the front lawn. I love dogs. We used to have a mutt named Simon when I was little — part terrier, part golden retriever. This one was black and tan and looked like it was some sort of mix, but I couldn’t tell, maybe Labrador, maybe husky. Anyway, he was really beautiful. And fast.

“Hey,” came a voice behind me. It was what’s-his-face — Eric.

“Hey.”

“How did skiing go today?” he asked.

“Good. We did the Pine Bluffs trail,” I said.

“Nice! That’s tricky.”

“Yeah.”

Eric threw a stick out into the snow. We both watched as the dog tore across the lawn to retrieve it, then brought it back to Eric’s feet. He threw it out again.

“Hey, listen. I just wanted to say thank you for sticking up for me this morning in front of that lady.”

“Sure, whatever.” I was thinking of reminding him that he was the one who lectured me about my temper just a few days ago, but I let it go. New Year’s Resolution: no more grudges. Except for Kathy. Okay, fewer grudges. I had a few more days before New Year’s Eve. Agh! Would I still be a virgin next year?

“So, are you, um … going out?” Eric asked.

“Yeah,” I bit my lip to keep from smiling too goofily. “Any minute now, actually.”

“With your friends from last night?”

“Yeah, some of them.”

“Drew?” Wait, how did he know Drew?

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

“Sounds like fun. Hot Toddy Tuesdays?”

“Yesss,” I said slowly. What was this, twenty questions — the unfun edition?

“Listen, Sam. This is none of my business, and I shouldn’t be butting in but — well, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. But Drew is kind of … well, he goes out with a lot of the vacationers, and uh …”

He kicked at a small chunk of ice on the walk.

“What are you saying?” I said. My mouth felt dry and thick.

“Well, I mean, it’s none of my business —”

“Yeah, you said that already.” Now I was getting angry.

“But I’ve just seen him … oh, never mind.”

What was with this guy? Who did he think he was? And what did he know about Drew? He had no idea what Drew was like! I’d bet Eric had never even slept with someone. What a jerk! And then I thought about Drew that afternoon with Honey Braids. I remembered her patting her belly. Mmmm. I wasn’t about to tell Eric that she was probably coming out tonight, too. Whatever. She was just one of his students, right? I wasn’t about to get jealous after one night of kissing. We weren’t even dating yet, were we? Agh! For the second time, this strange guy had rendered me completely speechless, and I was pissed.

“Well, yeah, that’s it.” He whistled and the dog came bounding over. “I just wanted to warn you because … I don’t know, you were really nice to me this morning and …” He puffed out his cheeks. “Now I feel like an ass.”

“Oh, really? Well, that’s probably because you just acted like an ass,” I said. His forehead pulled into a frown. But I kept going. “Listen, I’m kinda sick of your little lessons on family values and dating. I’m not about to marry this guy, I’m just going out to have hot toddies and fondue and I don’t need you to tell me whether that’s a good idea or not! And if you think —”

“Sam?”

Drew! I turned around. His blond hair was rumpled and his cheeks were windburned. I wanted to run into his arms and have him scoop me up into the air. But then again, knowing me, I’d probably knock us both over.

“Eric, right?” said Drew.

“Yeah. Hey,” said Eric, throwing the stick out again.

“Did I … interrupt something?” Drew asked carefully.

Oh, no. How had he gotten here? How much had he heard? I looked around to see if I could find his car. He must have come around back from the parking lot. But I didn’t care. I just wanted to leave now.

“No! Not at all! Let’s go!” And I grabbed his hand. It was big and warm.

“That guy lives there, right?” Drew asked as we got into his black Jetta. The heat went on full blast and I wanted so badly to just have the hot air blow away all the clouds that were fogging up my head.

“Yeah, I guess.” I said.

“Was he bugging you?” Drew asked.

“No. Did you hear —?”

Drew shook his head before I could finish. “I was too busy staring at your hair.”

Yay, electric socket dance! “It’s usually really flat. But I have this trick,” I started. But Drew cut me off again, this time with his lips. I could smell his cherry ChapStick, could feel his cold nose on my skin. And it felt great. I closed my eyes and tried to shut out the past ten minutes with Eric. What did he know anyway? And who cared what Drew had done in the past? Or how many girls he had dated? He was with me now.

By the time we got to the Fondue Pot, there was already a table set up in the back for us. I recognized some of the people from his lunchtime crowd. Honey Braids was there, still in her lavender sweater.

“Hey, y’all!” she called when she saw us.

I squeezed Drew’s hand and gave her a huge smile as we sat down.

There were a couple of other people from their class, too. I saw two of the girls look at my hand in Drew’s and then lean in to each other and whisper something. It felt good. Liz and Dina were there, too. Liz looked really disappointed when she saw that Jeremy wasn’t with me.