Page 70 of The Holiday Ex-Files

We definitely just popped another egg, Miss Sparkly sighed.

Oh, I felt it this time. Oy vey, I was in trouble.

“Hi,” I said like a breathy teenager. I might as well have twirled my hair and licked my lips.

Mara looked between the two of us with a look that said, “You just lost the bet. You owe me your life.” With his appearance, I had all but forgotten that Noah had said his costume was for the woman he loved, and I had bet Mara my entire life that I knew it wouldn’t be for me. But . . . that couldn’t be. Right? I mean sure, Noah knew I loved The Vampire Diaries. He and Ben even used to watch it with me sometimes. They made fun of it the entire time, but my love for the show had never waned.

Miss Sparkly didn’t want to think about the past. She was thinking of all the possibilities this opened up for her; she was definitely going to off me. Probably in my sleep. Or perhaps she would make me embarrass myself so much, by doing all the things she was thinking of doing with Noah, that I would go crawl in a hole and die of my own accord. She was seconds away from grabbing that sexy jacket of his, pulling him to her, and seeing if Noah’s breath was truly as good as it always smelled. I actually ended up licking my lips thinking about it. Crap.

Noah smiled, and I think he perused me with his eyes, before he returned my greeting. “Hi there. You look—”

“Oh. My. Gosh. Noah!” Annika squealed as she came running at him.

It was then I remembered who she had come as.

“Look at us all matching.” She practically pushed me out of the way and threw her arms around Noah, looking like the love of Damon Salvatore’s life, Elena Gilbert. Well, at least the TV show version of Elena. In the books she was blonde and a totally spoiled, stuck-up brat. I wanted to think that way of Annika now. Or at least Miss Sparkly did. Sparkles was checking to see how sharp our nails were. But Annika was lovely. Disgustingly so, with her shiny long cocoa-colored hair, olive skin, and eyes so brown they looked like pools of chocolate. And given the way Noah leaned back and stared at her in her own cropped tight leather jacket and plunging red V-neck shirt, it looked like he wanted to dive right into those chocolate pools.

“Remember how much I raved about those books in high school? I even teased you once and called you my Damon.” Annika pulled Noah to her again and squeezed the life out of him.

There it was—the proof. Noah did, indeed, love Annika. His costume was a tribute to her.

I could hardly bring myself to glimpse at the pair, but all it took was seeing Noah reciprocate the hug. I glanced at Mara and her face said it all—she knew she’d lost the bet.

I gave her a faux smile. I should be happy I’d won. I mean, now the next month’s Thai takeout was on Mara when we watched Cosmetics and Crimes. Yay.

So how come I felt as if I had just lost?

“I have to go welcome everyone,” I said, all flustered.

“I’ll come with you.” Mara zipped my way, and we left the two lovebirds alone to fawn all over each other.

Once we were out of earshot, which was like two feet away thanks to the loud music, Mara looped her arm through mine and semi whispered in my ear, “I guess you were right.”

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“You’re upset?” Mara guessed.

“No.” I waved away her insinuations all while Miss Sparkly was near tears. A deep sadness emanated from her and began to seep into me. I tried to reassure her it was for the best, but it was a half-hearted plea. I knew things would change between Noah and me now. Judging by Annika’s reaction, she was ready to take the next step. I was happy for Noah.

No, you’re not, the nagging voice in my head cried. Be honest with us and own this.

I don’t know if I can. I don’t want us to hurt.

We are hurting. We’ve been hurting for years. We will keep hurting unless you go through the pain.

I have been working through it.

Not all of it.

I know, but I can’t deal with the Noah thing now. I have a party to host.

Fine, but we will discuss this later.

“I’m happy for Noah,” I added in. It was the truth. He’d been in love with Annika forever. To hold a flame like that and never let go, no matter how much it flickered, that deserved a happy ending—even if I didn’t know if I believed in those anymore.

Mara pursed her lips together, Judgy McJudging the truthfulness of my words. “You could tell me the truth, you know? I wouldn’t fault you.”

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