Page 19 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

"He told me about last night."

Tears stung my eyes. I blinked down at my lap, willing them to go away.

Mimicking her body language, Rose leaned on the tabletop too. "I really need you to bring your over protectiveness down a notch, okay?"

Balancing all four drinks in his hands, Ben stopped next to where Will stood. He pretended not to notice the weird tension in our group. I was sure he did, though. That was why everyone came to Benji's, because he and his waitstaff acted as if they were oblivious to local drama.

He distributed the drinks before he and Rose hugged. "Good to see ya."

"You too. The bar looks great," she offered.

"Thank you. It's a work in progress, but it keeps getting a little better every year." Turning his attention, he held out his hand. "You're Bill."

"Sometimes he goes byWill." Shay said his name like a dirty word, dripping venom, drawing it out into two syllables.

Ben's eyebrow twitched before he pretended as if she hadn't spoken. "I've watched some of your videos. You two are cute together."

The knife in my gut twisted. I would have known who Will was if I paid attention to my sister's Internet presence. But a para-social relationship was salt in the wound. I'd learned years ago that it was better for my mental state to not seek her out. Not to google her or scroll through her social media profiles. It hurt too much.

That really backfired.

I couldn't keep track of time or follow the conversation over the buzzing in my ears, but it didn’t seem like Ben stuck around for long.

When he walked away, Rose put a hand on my wrist. I forced myself to meet her eyes.

"Bill and I aren't actually dating," she whispered.

Wrinkles crossed Shay's forehead. But Rose’s shoulders remained confidently set. Against my better judgement, my eyes landed on Will's face and found his mossy green gaze fixed on me with concern and apology fitted into their softened corners. My heart ached, forcing me to look away.

Rose continued in a lowered voice. She explained about an agent shopping their YouTube channel to streaming services, and her and Will's attempt to appear more desirable by giving their audience the relationship they'd always wanted to see.

"Itofficiallystarted this morning," she explained. Will winced at her emphasis on the word 'officially'.

"It's not real." She turned in her seat, giving me all her attention. "Everything is okay."

"How long are you two going to do this?" Shay asked.

"I don't know." Rose looked up at Will, but I still hadn't processed the information well enough to venture a second look in his direction. "We were thinking either a week or two before or after Valentine's."

Shay leaned in closer. "That doesn't make any sense. If a streaming service picks up your show because you're pretending to be in this cute little relationship—"

"Not because of the relationship. Because of the hype. A breakup is also hypey."

"Unless the breakup makes your audience turn on you."

"They won't do that."

Shay raised a skeptical brow.

"You can't tell anyone, Shay."

"Anyone? Or just Lawrence?"

Rose's lips pressed into a tight line. "Anyone."

"Lizzy." Will's voice broke through the noise of the bar and the ringing in my ears.

Like a moth to a flame, my eyes found his. His lips set in a stern line. His focus pinned me to the booth. I could practically feel the weight of his body on mine. The clean scent of his soap mixing with the sharp smell of our sweat. On my upper thigh, my skin tingled at the bruises his fingers had left.

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