Page 68 of When Ivy Met Mr. Holiday
Yep. I guess I’d said it out loud. It was like hitting “Reply All” on a sensitive email.
“Wait—this whole thing was fake? You’re fakers?” Paige looked a little murderous. And a whole lot betrayed.
I made a mental note to keep Coke far, far away from her before I found out whether it actually could dissolve bone.
Jack was still pinching the bridge of his nose when Mom shoved him aside.
He hit the floor with a thud.
Apparently she turned into She-Hulk when properly provoked.
I hadn’t seen her this upsetsince . . . well, ever.
“Young lady,” she said, her voice sharp as a new ice-skate blade. “Are you telling me that you and Jack are not actually boyfriend and girlfriend?”
I buried my head in my hands, so ashamed.
“We’re not,” I whispered, waiting for the relief to come after finally telling the truth.
But it didn’t. I felt heavier and worse than ever. Like Jack had said, sometimes in his world, a lie is better than the truth. I’d truly crossed over to the dark side.
“Somebody explain,” Dad demanded. “Why would you lie about something like this?”
I lowered my hands, ready to spill the whole sordid affair. But Jack was already back on his feet, commanding the room like always.
“I’ll tell you why. It’s because I’m in love with Ivy.”
Uh . . . say what?
The room went dead silent.
Every eye was on Jack—even mine.
But he had eyes only for me.
He sighed, exasperated, and threw up his hands. “I love you, Ivy. I’ve loved you since the day you fixed my orange hair and swore we’d never be anything more than friends. I told you I’d prove you wrong about men and women being just friends.”
He took a step closer.
“This is me saying, ‘I told you so.’”
My ears were ringing, my brain barely keeping up with all the mind-numbing words falling out of Jack’s mouth.
“I’m so confused,” Mom articulated my exact thoughts. “Are you or are you not faking this relationship? And why were you kissing Sienna?” Mom swatted Jack’s arm.
I concentrated on that last part, unable to properly deal with the other thing at the moment. Thelovething.
“Ivy, I didn’t kiss her, I swear. She kissed me and must have had Tae on standby to capture it.”
“But you said Tae never bends the truth,” I reminded him.
Jack took a slow breath and ran both hands through his hair like he was trying to keep his head from exploding.
“Ivy, I swear to you, I’m telling the truth.”
“You also told me I was right about men and women being able to just be friends. So what should I believe?” My voice hitched, cracking like my confused heart.
“I’ll have my lie detector shipped here,” Paige offered. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
