Page 8 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

Rose and I were out of our depth, but Elise knew more about all of this than we did. She'd suggested we appear more unified, based on the input from the rejecting network. I didn't know if pretending to date was what she had in mind. Our fanbase seemed happy about it. The announcement had been flooded with comments about Rose and me being a cute couple.

According to our social media profiles, we were "trying it out." A perfect place to back track without creating too much drama. There weren't a ton of people paying attention, anyway. We weren't a huge show, even in YouTube standards.

It'd only be for a couple of weeks before returning to normal.

Hopefully, Lizzy would still be interested in hearing from me by then. I really wished meeting her hadn't timed so poorly with this little farce. I hadn't called or messaged her yet. But the temptation was real.

She didn't seem like she could fall into such a hair-brained idea. Rose and I might not have gone this far if Rose hadn't complained about inevitably seeing her ex-boyfriend when she went home for Christmas.

"I swear," she'd whined, "fucking him is detrimental to my health, but I cannot stop myself. I need a goddamn babysitter."

It was unclear how we'd gone from that comment to texting her parents that I'd be joining her. Like most of our choices, the decision happened quickly and without a lot of forethought. Her flight was fully booked, so I'd opted to fly in a night earlier.

Now we were in her parents' driveway as the sky turned dark purple, bright pink, and gold.

A pine tree strung with lights and stockings hung on the mantle, created a perfect Christmas scene through the bay window.

If I had gone to my mom or dad's, the view would be different. Neither of my parents did much for the holidays. Luckily, neither of them was exceptionally upset that I would miss this year. They were disappointed, but they just understood.

Or they thought they did. Actually, I had lied through my teeth about a budding relationship between me and Rose.

I scraped my palm across my jaw. "What about your sister?"

Rose's shoulders tightened like they usually did when someone mentioned her twin. "What about Anne?"

"Is she gonna believe us?"

Rose scoffed. "Anne won't care. She'll avoid us all week, anyway. She's like a temperamental house cat with new people. She might even hiss at you."

Snorting, I joked, "If she's that bad, I'm doomed to fall in love with her."

"Don't you dare!" Rose shifted in her seat, leaning her back against the passenger door. A mixture of terror and outrage filled her blue eyes.

"I won't."

Despite the speed that I fell for Lizzy, I didn’t become infatuated with every grumpy woman I met.

"God." Rose groaned. "I didn't even think about that. What a nightmare."

"I was just kidding."

She sighed, resting her head on the window behind her. "I'm more anxious than I thought I would be."

My comforting smile felt tight at the edges, but it was my turn to set her at ease. "It'll be okay. We'll be pretty much the same. I just might hold your hand sometimes."

"I can survive handholding."

"It's just a couple of weeks."

She sat up straight, her shoulders squared. "Just a couple of weeks. Come here, let's do a pic for Internet people."

Holding her phone at arm's length, she put her other elbow behind her on the center council. I leaned forward, placing my chin near her shoulder. We smiled at the camera, both of us looking a little unsure.

"Um…maybe look at me out of the corner of your eye or something," she suggested.

"I can do that."

"Nope. That's not good."

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