Page 231 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

I opened my mouth to tell my dad he was wrong, but then the girl held her phone a few inches from my nose. The image was a blur of color and light until I leaned far enough away.

"Jeez, don't shove your phone in her face," the tall blond admonished.

"Sorry." The girl pulled her phone back a few inches, but I could make out the image. In it, I was mid eye roll and smiling. In my hands, I held a Christmas chessboard. And he looked at me with the warmest affection. So warm I could feel it through the phone.

The girl put a hand on her hip. "Some of the comments are dumb, like thinking that he's cheating on Rose with you. But I was all, ‘She's her sister. Obviously, she and Will are friends.’"

I didn't have enough saliva in my mouth to speak, not that I knew what to say, anyway. Jerking my head, I managed something like a nod.

"Well, now Rose will know you two went shopping for her," Mom said, shaking her head. "Is that the gift you got her?"

"One of them," I forced out. My eyes flicked left to right, feeling as if everyone was looking at me. The picture was innocent. It could have been worse. But I still felt the violation of my privacy. We were just at a store. Why would someone take a secret photo of us and then post it on the Internet? We hadn't even started dating, and I didn't want eventhisamount of attention.

"You bought her a chessboard? Does she play?"

"I don't… I don't know. It's funny," I argued. "The pawns are elves and they're all smiling. It's like they're happy to go die for Santa and Mrs. Claus."

My parents and the high schoolers considered me with disturbed looks.

Swallowing, I swiped a hand over my bun. "Rose will think it's funny."

"I'm sure she will," Mom replied after a beat. But she didn't sound convinced. I didn't really care. I needed a quiet spot to think and regain my composure.

It's not a big deal. It's just a stupid picture.

But it was more than that. It was a microscope I didn't want to be under. A magnifying glass that would leave me burnt.

Will

Three nights before Christmas

"We should tell your parents tonight," I said to Rose's profile. She was staring at something just past my shoulder, not registering I was even speaking. I followed her gaze.

Lawrence stood with his back to us.

"Rose." This time, I spoke with enough force in my voice to get her attention. "We need to end the lie. It's gone too far. I want to tell your parents tonight."

A crease formed between her eyebrows. "That we broke up or…?"

I shook my head, looking far more confident than I felt. "That we've been lying to them."

"No. Nope. They'll freak out."

"We are not pulling this off. We're going to get caught if we keep this up. It's better to get ahead of it."

"We're doing fine."

"I'm not keeping my distance from Lizzy, and I don't want to." I admitted with a heavy omission of fucking around in the basement. "And you"—I jerked my head in Lawrence's direction, where Rose's attention had already wandered—"are not being as discrete as you think, either."

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I don't want to keep lying. Particularly, not about Lizzy—"

"We are not telling my parents in the same conversation that we lied about datingandyou having the hots for my sister," Rose interrupted.

Exhaling a deep breath, I agreed, "That's probably smart."

She smirked. "So, it's unlike us?"

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