Page 11 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

I'd practically danced from room to room like a Disney Princess fallen in love with prince charming.

My phone buzzed again.

"That jackass," I mumbled through my clenched teeth.

"Block his number," Shay ordered.

"How?" I asked.

"I don't know. I'll google it."

Crossing my arms, I slouched back in my booth and tried to ignore the texts coming through. Each one was a fresh layer of hell. I flipped the phone screen side down. Phrases likeI'm sorryandnot real, did nothing for my mental state.

Yeah, I know it was all bullshit.I blinked back the moisture stinging my eyes.

"Okay," she began, slipping her blond ponytail over one shoulder, "it's pretty easy." Snatching my phone, she entered my four-digit passcode.

About a minute later, she slid it back in front of me. "Done."

"Thank you."

The relief threading through my system felt an awful lot like regret.

She narrowed her eyes at me before resting her fingertips on my now silent phone. "Do you want me to delete the texts he's already sent?"

"Probably should," I answered, my voice breaking on the last word.

I pinched my apple cinnamon cocktail between two fingers and downed the remaining contents. The extra shot of bourbon I'd added burned the entire way down. It was easier to swallow than my disappointment in myself and Will.

Fucking Will.

"That son of a bitch." I groaned.

"I'm sorry," Shay offered, even though she had nothing to apologize for. "I'll be with you when you tell Rose."

"You don't have to."

"I don't want you to do it alone."

If I sank any lower in the booth, I'd be laying down. "How am I gonna tell her?"

There was a band around my chest. To fill my lungs, I had to fight against it.

Across the table, Shay considered me. Her head tilted. Sympathy and kindness warmed her eyes. "Let's not think about it now. I'll text Lawrence that we'll need a ride back to my place."

I snorted. "He loves when we do that."

"He does." A sarcastic smile spread across her lips, and she lifted her empty glass, signaling to Ben behind the bar for another round.

He jerked his chin, before switching tasks to mixing our drinks. It said something about the trashy circumstances when she didn't make a comment about being thirsty for the bartender.

Time was a nebulous thing. I couldn't track it in normal increments. Instead, I judged the passing of time by the near empty drink in my hand. Despite sitting no where near the entrance, frigid wind blasted through the room when the front door swung opened. It was the kind of cold that bit past the heat pouring through the vents. But my blood turned to iceShay froze in her booth that turned my blood to ice. Her eyes widened. Her lips parted and her upper lip curled the slightest bit.

Without even looking, I knew.

My sister was here.

William

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