Page 279 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

We'd all arrived together, piled in the family minivan. So, if Kelly said it was time to go, then it was time.

"I'll text her," I said, but Kelly was already walking down the hall toward the dark auditorium. Her heels clicking in contrast to the heavy footfalls of Jim's boots at her side, her arm hooked in his.

Lizzy chewed at the cuticles of her thumb, and I paused in typing the message to Rose. "What's wrong?"

Crossing her arms on her chest, Lizzy shook her head. "Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

The jerk of her head was the only answer she gave me. Turning, she followed her parents. Her back was ramrod straight.

Unease fitted back into my shoulders. I wanted to rush to her side, ask her if this was about the photo, but there were too many eyes around us.

I wasn't sure she wanted me near her, or worse, that she might actuallywantdistance. Which was the exact opposite of what I wanted.

We'd had a fun day, been freer with each other than we should have been. But in the end, what I was offering her was empty. I was still hiding. The pale shadow of what we could become was bullshit if all I could give her was kisses in the dark and nothing else.

A loud gasp snapped my head up.

"Mom," Rose's surprised voice called from inside the opened door of the auditorium.

"What the hell?" Jim demanded louder than I'd ever heard him be before.

"Shit," a man hissed. I didn't have to see him to know, without a doubt, it was Lawrence.

My jaw tightened grinding my teeth. I took the last few steps through the open doors. The aisle lights in the floor were the only illumination in the spacious room. The darkness ate it up, leaving just the outlines of Lizzy and her family and Lawrence visible. The outline of a jaw, a shoulder, the angry wrinkles on Jim's forehead. Rose and Lawrence tucked into a darkened corner, standing far too closely as if they'd just been in each other's arms.

I knew this lie would blow up in our faces, but I thought it would be my fault.

It might have been naïve, but instead of anger or irritation, I felt sympathy for my friend who could have everything she wanted if she'd just let down her guard for a moment.

"I can explain," Rose tried.

"Explanation is unnecessary." Kelly shot a glance at me.

"Mom. Dad." Rose held her hands out, a silent plea in her palms.

Lawrence considered me out of the corner of his eye, as if guilt kept him from looking at me straight on. His weight was on the leg furthest from me, ready for an attack.

Jim placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't do it. Not here."

I loosened the clench of my jaw, realizing how tightly bound my muscles were. It took a few seconds of focus to relax my stance. My concern must have looked like aggression with my hands fisted at my sides. No wonder Lawrence was watching me like I was a danger to him.

"It's time to go." Jim urged me to turn away, but my feet were still planted.

Unshed tears glistened in Rose's eyes. Lawrence's head hung in shame.

Just inside the door, Lizzy stood holding her elbow with one hand and the other pressed to her mouth. I wanted nothing more than to get her and her sister home. To take this mess we'd made somewhere private.

Scraping my palm over my lips, I nodded to Jim.

"Good for you, son," he spoke to my back.

It was my turn to hang my head.

twenty-four

Will

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