Page 200 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

"Polo."

His boots clicked on the tile, echoing off the walls. Placing the box on the floor, he put his hands on his hips and considered the tree, then the rest of the room. The breadth of his ribcage stretching his navy henley did something to the air in my lungs—too hot, too thick.

Out of the corner of his eye, he shot me a knowing glance. Heat rose into my cheeks. I looked away chewing on my lower lip.

He scraped thick, square fingers across his mouth. After a breath, he asked, "Is your mom as competitive as Rose?"

The change of subject—start of subject?—was welcome. "Oh yeah. They get way too intense about this."

He cringed. "Good. Good."

"It doesn't help that every year it's neck and neck between them and Shay's family."

"Your friend from last night?"

I nodded.

"She's got a mean glare."

"It's not fun to be on the receiving end. You handled it well."

He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, his biceps flexed under his long sleeve. The soft cotton hugged the contours of his muscles, and I lost track of all my cohesive thoughts.

"It was," he started, a quiet, tentative hesitation braided into his words, "worth it…to make you feel better."

I grinned down at my toes. He was too cute and sweet. I wanted to dive headfirst into all the feelings he brought to the surface. The sensitive ones that I usually kept hidden. The ones that I was usually afraid of because of how they left me vulnerable.

"Do you feel better?" he asked.

"I do…but I felt pretty shitty last night."

"I bet."

I forced my face to remain neutral, concealing the depth of my remembered pain. "No, yeah, don't worry about it."

"Sure, but this whole thing feels unfair. You didn't sign up for all of this, it was just kinda hoisted on you."

He wasn't wrong. But I didn't know how to receive the sentiment. Fighting back tears at Benji's last night to flirting over coffee was a harsh transition, yet I could bring myself to regret it as far as I could resist his charm.

Then there was the aspect of being included in Rose's life—not that it was something she'd chosen. It didn't really matter, though. I would take the scraps if it meant that maybe we could—

I didn't know what, but it seemed like a step toward something better.

"Do you have any siblings?" I asked out of nowhere, and he blinked in surprise before shaking his head.

I shrugged. "It won't be the first time I've lied for her. I'm willing to."

I left out that I was almost happy to do it.

"Has she ever lied for you?"

I snorted. "Oh, yeah."

His thick eyebrows shot up, wrinkles creased his forehead. "A lot?"

"Well…probably not as much as I have for her. But one time when we were eighteen, I spent a weekend in Montreal without our parents knowing. She thought it was a terrible idea, but she covered for me, anyway."

"It was a terrible idea."

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