No Two Are Alike

13 | sugar and spice

Something was up with the Winters boys.

Chloe pushed down on the bike pedal, gritting her teeth. She wasn't an idiot. Anyone could see that Jack was behaving strangely; after their night together, he had practically jumped out of bed, sprinting towards the toilet like a bat out of hell. Like, come on. Chloe had morning breath, but was it that bad?

She pedaled harder.

And then there was Logan. He kissed her at the cocktail party, took her skating, and then invited her on a ski holiday to France. But when Chloe asked him to kiss her at La Folie Douce, he had balked. And then basically shot down the mountain.

She cringed. Ugh.

So embarrassing.

She wiped at the sweat clinging to her brow. No, not embarrassing — strange. Both Winters boys had gone completely and totally mad this December.

And she had no idea why.

"Oh my god," Rowan groaned. "I cannot believe you talked me into this."

She was panting, keeled over the front of her bike. Sweaty red clumps of hair clung to the nape of her neck. Black mascara pooled under her eyes, and Chloe smirked.

"I told you not to wear make-up."

"I hate exercise," Rowan moaned. "And I hate you."

"You love me."

"I'm burning your Christmas gift."

"Don't you dare," Chloe said, her eyes narrowing. "Or I'll buy you a year-long SoulCycle subscription."

Rowan glared at her. Up front, the perky instructor was lifting weights in a way that Chloe wasn't sure was physically feasible for her. Remixed Michael Bublé pumped through the speakers, thrumming in time with the red and green lights.

"It's festive," Chloe continued, picking up her weights. "You said you wanted to do more holiday activities, right?"

"Like eating mince pies."

"We can do that after."

Rowan looked slightly mollified. Chloe lifted her weight, grunting slightly.

"You know," Rowan said, pulling a face as she shifted slightly on the bike, "this is the most action I've gotten in weeks."

"I thought you were seeing that Fred guy? The singer?"

Rowan waved her off. "I'm airing him. Anyways, I only dated him because he reminded me of Lewis Capaldi."

Chloe sighed. "Welcome to the celibate club, mate." She paused. "Actually, can it be a club if it's only for single people? Seems terribly ironic."

"Wait, what?" Rowan whipped around to look at her. "You still haven't slept with Logan?"

"We've barely even kissed."

Chloe's cheeks felt hot, and she decided to blame it on the sweaty room. She could feel Rowan gaping at her.

"Why not?"

"Well, it's not my idea," Chloe snapped. "I want to kiss him, obviously."

"But?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I guess he's not in the mood."

"Bullshit," Rowan said derisively. "Men are always in the mood." She glanced at the instructor before fiddling with the dial, letting out a sigh of relief. "Have I mentioned how much I hate spin?"

"Did you turn your resistance down?" Chloe asked, amused.

Rowan pointedly ignored this. "Why don't you just jump him?" She reached for her water bottle. "See what happens."