Page 55 of When Ivy Met Mr. Holiday
“Give it to me straight.” He waggled his brows.
For a moment, I took comfort in how easily we fell into our playful friend routine. “Seeing as we’re both big fat liars, I’m going to have to go with naughty.”
Jack’s grin vanished, and his face fell slack.
Shocked by his reaction, I said, “I’m sorry. Did you expect meto saynice?”
“No,” he sighed, flipping on his turn signal to the road leading home.
His disappointment confused me. I’d honestly thought he would take pride in being naughty.
“Jack, you know I think you’re a nice guy. Arrogant, but nice.”
His lips twitched, just shy of a real smile. “I’m sorry this has been so hard on you. It was never my intention.”
“I know.”
The rest of the drive passed in silence. It wasn’t tense, exactly—but something weird definitely hung in the air. I didn’t like it at all.
Jack pulled up to the house, shifted into park on the circle drive, and then hit me with, “I need to head back to town.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Just need to pick up something.”
My head tilted. “What?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be right back.”
Right. Becausedon’t worryalways meant there was definitely something to worry about. What could Jack possibly need in town? Or why hadn’t he just taken me with him when we’d passed through it moments ago?
“I’ll just come with you,” I offered.
Jack shook his head. “Ivy, I can tell you don’t feel good. Go crawl into bed, and I’ll join you soon.”
That sent a little shiver through me. Jack joining me in bed.
Oh. My. Gosh. What was wrong with me? I knew he meant it platonically. Not once had Jack crossed the line while weslept together. Surely, he would have by now if he saw me as anything but his friend. This was Jack we were talking about.
Feeling that I probably needed some separation from my best friend, I nodded and fled the car without another word.
Space. I needed space.
The lightly falling snow did nothing to cool me down as I walked toward the front door. I could feel Jack staring at me, waiting for me to make it safely in the house. That was Jack. Always taking care of me. Always looking out for me.
Best friend ever.
Waves of guilt and desire coursed through me as I numbly walked through the house, telling myself I should just take the top bunk and let my family believe we weren’t “waiting” anymore as it squeaked the night away. Not that any of them were really buying it anyway. Maybe Paige, but even she had her doubts.
I was grateful everyone was busy getting ready for a family movie night and no one stopped me to chat. I might have confessed to all my crimes—the biggest one being that I had some more-than-friendly feelings for Jack. I just needed someone to talk to.
But then I would have had to admit I’d been lying to everyone this entire trip. I couldn’t do that. Not when everyone seemed so happy for Jack and me.
What had I done?
Like a zombie, I walked into my room and got ready for bed, putting on my flannel elf pajamas and doing all the bedtime skincare routine things. The entire time I stared in the mirror, wondering what Jack was doing andtelling myself I was absolutely sleeping on the top bunk. This was nonnegotiable. No more cuddling with Jack. It was messing with my head and heart.
But apparentlynonnegotiablemeant we were totally going to do it.
