Page 152 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

"She invited me to hangout. I'd tell her I was busy, whether I was or not. She can tell when I'm lying, just like I can tell when she is. Eventually, she stopped trying. I never even started."

Rose sniffled.

"You could still. If you wanted to," I suggested. Grief was thick in the room. It weighed down the atmosphere, pressing into my sternum. My heart ached for these two sisters experiencing so much loss when they were under the same roof.

"I do. I want to make it right. But I can see how much I have hurt her. How that pain carved her out. Years on years of this. I want to fix us, but I've done so much damage."

"Have you ever said sorry?"

"Too little too late, don't you think?"

"Maybe not."

She let out a watery laugh. "I talked so much shit. To anyone who would listen, I made it out like she was some codependent weirdo who was obsessed with me. Instead of a scared eighteen-year-old who hadn't realized that her twin sister was going to abandon her for a new life."

"That sucks."

"It does."

I didn't press her further. After a while, Rose's tightly controlled breathing turned to snoring.

Eventually, I fell asleep wondering if Lizzy was okay.

William

Seven nights before Christmas

"Do you think it's safe to use the elevator?" Lizzy asked with her arms crossed over her chest. She chewed on her lower lip with her eyebrows drawn together.

I wobbled my head from side to side. "There's a risk the power could go out, again. What floor are you on?"

"Seventh."

"I don't want to climb seven flights of stairs—"

"Me either."

"—but I'd do it with you." I gave her a little smirk. "You have to promise not to laugh at me when I'm breathing really heavy."

She did that adorable snort she'd done a couple of times. "I'd be too busy trying not to die. No, let's risk the elevator."

Her tentative little smile pulled at the dusty levers of my heart. Her kiss had been all warmth and quiet sighs. With every protective layer that thawed, I caught a glimpse of the passionate woman underneath.

It provokedeverythingin me. I wanted to pull her tight against my chest and be some place she felt safe. I wanted to search for all the ways to unravel her tightly wound persona. I wanted toknowher.

I wouldn't tell her any of that.

It was a lot—too much for just a few hours of conversation and a single kiss.

But secretly, I harbored an unhealthy amount of hope for what we could be.

I should tell her aboutWill it Bloom?and how Rose and I were shopping the show for streaming services. It would be better than Lizzy somehow googling me and thinking that everything tonight was a lie. Especially since I had never had such an honest encounter. I'd never bared myself so completely.

Maybe I could hold this one thing back and trust that it wouldn't blow up in my face.

My boots thudded on the tile floor, and hers clicked as we made our way to the elevators right around the corner. I slipped my hand from my pocket and pushed the button to call it to the main floor. A bell chimed and the stainless-steel doors slid open. I followed her into the cabin, wishing that I had more than the next few seconds with her.

I wouldn't wish for the power to fail, but being trapped here with Lizzy would be a silver lining.

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