"You like what?" Dakota asks, looking between the two of us as we finish gathering the last of the yes piles of canned food.

I keep my mouth shut, my gaze locked on the task at hand as I try my hardest not to overthink Winter's cryptic statement and to also avoid eye contact with Dakota. I don't need him blurting out anything stupid.

"You have a crush on my sister?" He asks Winter nonchalantly.

Something stupid like that.

My eyes close slowly as embarrassment sinks deeper and deeper into my chest, my muscles stiff. I breathe in my nose, opening my eyes to peak at Winter's reaction. He gives my brother a look of confusion.

"What makes you say that?" He responds, standing up with his yes pile. Which consists of a can of yams (ew), his own can of crushed pineapple, refried beans, mixed fruit, and a can of sweetened condensed milk. I have no idea what he's planning to do with the last one but I'm not even going to ask.

My brother looks between the two of us. Me with fiery red cheeks and Winter looking calm and bewildered. This makes my cheeks burn an even darker shade of red.

"I heard you talking in here because I happened to be, you know, passing by. Something about a crush? I figured maybe this time crammed together in a life or death situation would spark some romance. Not to mention all these candles. I mean, come on." He chuckles as if he's chatting about the weather, a slight smirk on his lips.

"Dakota." I hiss under my breath. I feel Winter's confused smile glaring into the side of my head but I choose to ignore it to avoid further humiliation. "You need to shut up. Like now."

He shrugs in response, picking up his own collection of canned goods. "All I'm saying is the mood is right. The lighting is low, it's snowing outside, you two both like crushed pineapple...I'm getting serious Baby It's Cold Outside vibes. That's all I'm saying." He winks at us before walking into the living room with his stash.

I try to reach out and grab his ankle to either trip him or stop him from leaving me alone with Winter but, unfortunately, I miss and he escapes without looking back.

Remaining still, I sit there quietly. Pressing my lips together, I bite down on the inside of my cheek to distract from the awkward silence.

"I'm...so sorry." I breathe, looking down at my hands before releasing a nervous laugh in hopes to make myself feel less like I want to climb out or my own skin and army crawl away.

He shakes his head, his lips slightly parted as if he doesn't know what to say. "Uh...no. It's totally fine. You warned me about him earlier and I didn't fully understand what I was up against."

His words and stature instantly calm my nerves, a relieved smile springing to my lips. "Yeah, well, I wasn't kidding. I honestly have no idea why he doesn't have a girlfriend yet. Clearly he's the relationship guru." I say sarcastically with a small laugh.

This earns a deep chuckle from Winter, his head shaking slightly as his head drops, his shoulders shaking. "You know, I don't think I've ever quite met anyone like him." He says before raising his head to give me a small smile. "Or you."

The smile falls a little from my face, confusion wrapping my head in a thick blanket as I try to decipher the mixed messages this guy is giving me.

"That's nice of you to say. You too." I smile, playing it safe.

"Thanks." He nods. "Let's eat."

"Good idea." I laugh, grabbing my crushed pineapple and other assorted options.

After settling on the living room couches with forks and can openers, we dig into our random food selections.

Halfway into my fruit, I pause. "Wait...we haven't even turned on the generator and I really need to charge my phone." I speak through a mouthful of pineapple.

The two boys sitting in front of my freeze, an embarrassed smile slipping onto Winter's face while a puzzled expression overtakes my brother's handsome features.

"Whoops."

"Oh I forgot we had one of those."

Their responses cause my eyes to roll. "Okay well whatever. Let's just get it started up."

Winter groans, his cheeks full of mixed fruit. "I'm too lazy." He mumbles to me.

"Quit whining. Just tell me how to do it and I'll do it." I tell him with a laugh.

He shakes his head before standing up, setting down his fork and can. "Nah I'll do it just let me go get the gas by the door."

Once he's gone, Dakota gives me a pointed look as he holds up his olive covered fingers. "So..." he bites the snack from his pointer finger, "you have the hots for our neighbor with the weird name." He chews.

"He does not have a weird name!" I whisper, keeping my eyes on the hallway as I wait to spot Winter.

"Are you kidding me? Your infatuation has inflamed your brain. Who the heck is named Winter?"

"Hey I happen to like my name!" Winter hollers from the dining room as he walks back in with a bright smile, gas in hand.

"Well okay then." Dakota mumbles before mouthing sorry to me and biting another olive from his thumb.

I shoot him a glare behind Winter's turned back as he fills the generator with gas. My eyes glide around the room before landing on my backpack, an idea to cure my boredom landing in my thoughts.

"So I was thinking that since we have a generator and I could just charge it later, we could watch a Christmas movie on my laptop? I kind of forgot that I had it until now." I say, looking between the two of them.

"A movie sounds amazing, Sam." Winter grins at me. My stomach does a small flip as he holds my stare.

"Okay cool." I laugh.

"Whatever, I don't care. I mean, I'm down I guess." Dakota sighs, sinking into the couch.

I roll my eyes. "If you don't want to watch a movie then just go to sleep or something because that's pretty much the only thing to do at this point."

His head rolls to the side as he gives me a dead stare. "It's currently like one in the morning so I think I'll take you up on that offer. Give me one of those blankets. Actually...no, give me two. It's like negative one thousand degrees in here." My brother gestures.

Sighing, I grab a couple blankets from the pile on the floor and chuck it in his direction. "There you go. Now go to sleep and stop talking." I give him a fake smile.

"Ha-ha." You're a regular comedian. "Goodnight, hoes. Don't get frisky while I'm unconscious." He mumbles before laying on his side and closing his eyes.

After a few minutes of silence, snoring emits from his lips.

"Well that was fast." Winter laughs, his eyes locked on Dakota with amusement.

"Yeah he's odd." I say. "Wanna watch that movie now?"

He looks over at me with a toothy grin. "Got Home Alone?"

"You know I do." I nod with a low laugh.

"Let's do it then."