Page 4 of Home for the Holidays

“Are you fucking kidding me? We literally just had that entire conversation about how you are great, but you need to come out, and you think, what? That meant go home and lie to your mom about me? Do you think I could ever pass for a straight woman?” She passed her hand up and down, motioning to her ripped, baggy jeans and baggy sweater. “Be real.”

“First of all, you are always mistaken for a straight woman, and you know it. And second, you could help me deal with my mom.”

She rolled her eyes. “That soundsso fun.”

“See?”

“I was being sarcastic, you ass.”

“Ugh! Iris, please?” He slid down to the floor again, his hands clasped in front of him. “Please, please, please, Iris! I will owe you big time if you do this for me. You aren’t doing anything for Christmas. Can’t you just pretend for one week? Onetiiiinyweek?”

“Zac, please don’t ask me to do this. I do not feel comfortable lying to your family, none of whom I have ever met.”

“I think we can pull this off. We get asked all the time if we’re together.”

“Yeah, but that’s only when we’re drunk and hanging all over each other at a bar.”

“Lucky for you, they have alcohol in Vale Park, Indiana. And bars. We could get drunk and hang all over each other.” He wagged his eyebrows and smiled widely. “C’mon. Free trip. And you’ll get to meet my whole family, even my big queer dad. Please, please,please?”

His pleading was wearing her down.Shit. She took a deep breath and held it for one beat, two, three before she let it out slowly. “I’m not kissing you in front of them.”

“What about a peck?”

“One or two pecks. And that’s it.”

“Will you let me hold your hand?” His smile was so stupidly contagious that Iris couldn’t help herself.

“Yes, I’ll hold your hand.”

“So you’ll go?” His excited squeal was contained only by him rolling his lips together.

“Yes, I’ll go. But, like you said, you fucking owe me.”

He lunged forward and threw his arms around Iris, hugging her as tightly as ever. “Oh my god, Iris, I promise you, I will owe you forever. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“One condition,” she said as she pushed him away from her, hands still on his arms. “You have totryand come out to at least your mom. I’m not pushing you out of the closet, but I think it’s important. For you. For your mental health.”

His face fell. “I can’t just promise to do it when we get back?”

“Nope.” She squeezed him. “Zac, you have to be honest with your family, especially your mom.”

“Okay, fine. I promise.” His smile was, once again, contagious. And she hated him for it. “Thank you so much for doing this.” He sat next to her again, his legs crossed in front of him. He pulled her leg over his and rubbed her calf. “And hey, if this goes over poorly, when we’re both forty and single, marriage really could work. Well, I’ll be forty. You’ll be fifty.” He didn’t wait for her response—which was going to be her smacking him on the leg—as he grabbed the remote. “Can we please watchThe Holiday? I need a Jude Law fix.”

God, he wassogay. “That’s fine. I need a Kate Winslet fix.” And god, so was she.

But as the movie started, worry started to gurgle in her stomach. What was she doing? She was a horrible actress and an even worse liar. She turned slightly so she could watch Zac’s profile, the way he smiled when Cameron Diaz tossed her boyfriend’s things out the window. He was absolutely gorgeous. Everything about him. He had a beautiful heart, too, which was what had drawn her to him to begin with. It would be so much easier if they could just fall for each other. Six months of friendship, and she was probably closer to him than anyone else in her life. But, just like every other relationship Iris had ever had, she didn’t know nearly enough about him. And even if she knew every detail, she’d still be a lesbian. After years and years of thinking it’d be easier if she could like guys, here she was, still liking women.

How was she going to pull off being straight for the next week? The last time she had tried to pass for straight, she was fifteen, and she hadn’t been convincing. The only person in her life who had been surprised when she came out at the ripe age of eighteen was her mom, who hadn’t beensurprisedso much asupset, thinking she had failed as a mom instead of just being happy her daughter was finally comfortable in her own skin.

Ugh. Dread flooded her body. What a turn of events. She had gone from sticking up for Josh for not wanting to be shoved back into a closet to allowingherselfto be shoved back into a closet.Wow. And she wasn’t even drunk. Either Zac was super persuasive, or she was turning into a softy in her old age. She needed to make a list of the things Zac was going to have to do to pay her back. Oh, the list would be extensive, for sure.

Hopefully, she could convince a few more people she was straight—for as long as it took for Zac to get up the nerve to tell his mom he wasn’t. Iris could do anything for a few days, right?

Right?

Shit, what had she gotten herself into?

CHAPTERTWO

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