Falling for my Enemy's Brother

Craig hadn’t even planned to stop.

He was just trying to get back on the main road, maybe grab something warm. A greasy burger from the roadside diner he’d Googled twenty minutes ago. The kind with milkshakes served in tin cups and fries that came in paper-lined baskets.

Maybe even figure out when to ask Merlina out again. Privately. You know, when she wasn’t surrounded by a bunch of watchful relatives and freezing weather that felt straight out of a disaster movie.

The roadblock changed all that.

He eased his car to a slow stop behind a line of stranded cars, snow crunching under the tires. He tugged on his gloves and got out, heading toward the cop who still looked mildly amused by the whole mess.

Craig pulled out his translator app and asked in butchered Spanish what was going on. The officer replied with something like, "Blocked pass, plows delayed, sit tight."

So he stood there, arms crossed, steam rising from his breath, staring down the snow-packed road like maybe sheer willpower would get him moving again.

Then he heard it.

Giggles. A pair of eyes on him. He turned his head slowly and that’s when he saw them. A messy group clustered around a silver SUV. They were laughing, chatting, huddling for warmth. Two guys. Three girls. All wrapped in coats and scarves.

At first, they just looked familiar. Like maybe he’d seen them around earlier at the festival. But then his eyes found her among them.

Merlina.