Accidentally Under Your Tree (Grand Ridge Christmas #1)

9. Will

Three nights before Christmas

"Olivia is in town today. Is it cool if I spend some time with her?"

It took me a moment to realize Rose was speaking to me. I was too busy remembering Lizzy straddling my lap. Sinking down, taking me inside of her the night before to register much of anything else.

"My friend Olivia," Rose said. "She's in town for Christmas and I'd like to spend time with her. Will you be able to figure out something else to do today?"

The morning sun burned warm through the bay window at our backs. Her mom was typing loudly on her keyboard in the adjoining office. Somewhere in the house, Lizzy was working as well. I couldn't think of a good enough excuse to find her. I just wanted to be in the same room.

"Yeah, of course. Who is she again?" I tapped my fingers on the velvet sofa arm.

"The one with the shitty fiancé."

"Ah, right." I recalled Rose complaining about her friend's engagement to a total asshole, but I wouldn't have recalled the person's name.

"Is he shitty?" Kelly asked over her persistent clicking.

"The worst."

"In what way?"

Rose arched an eyebrow. "Um…she doesn't say anything. You know how she is. But the only good thing I can say about him is he's gainfully employed, and hot."

"Well, that's sad. After everything she's been through…"

Rose nodded, even though her mom couldn't see her. "Is it okay if I take the car?"

"Sure," I agreed. "I'll find something to do."

Fifteen minutes later, Rose and I exchanged an awkward hug after she went to kiss me on the cheek, and I went for her forehead. Giving up on salvaging the goodbye, she exited out the side door. The engine of the rental car came to life, and Kelly called from the office, "Will can you do me a favor?"

My stomach dropped, overwhelmed by a paranoid fear that her next words were going to be along the lines, "Can you not fuck around with my daughter in the basement?"

Forcing my expression calm, I leaned against the doorjamb. "What's up?"

She grinned at me like the cat who ate the canary. "You get along really well with Lizzy."

Cold sweat prickled across my skin.

"I've noticed," she went on more stiltedly, "that you're helping the girls…reconnect."

"I don't know how much I play into that."

"I don't either, but I'm happy to see it, anyway."

I curled and uncurled my toes inside my comfortable socks. "So, what can I help you with?"

"I want you to take Lizzy shopping for a gift for Rose. She usually gets store credit somewhere, but it'd be nice if she got her something more personal. She just might not know what to get her, but you probably would."

"Uh, I'm not great at gifts, but I can try." Anxiety still twisted my gut, but relief was slowly untying the tension.

And that was the Christmas miracle that put me sitting in the passenger seat as Lizzy drove to a nearby mall—at her mom's request. Lizzy tapped the steering wheel, silencing the stereo as soon as the first note of a song began to play.

The waves of her ponytail swung as she looked both ways before pulling out of her driveway, and I remembered burying my fingers in the strands as I slipped inside of her.

I sucked in a sharp breath, the memory sparking echoing sensations through my body.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Mm-hm." I cut my eyes her way.

A devious grin split across her face, understanding the directions of my mind. "Oh, yeah. You're fine."

"What have you done to me?"

"Nothing you didn't deserve."

"We need to change the subject, or we're going to have to find somewhere to pull over."

"I didn't debauch you enough last night?" she purred.

"I'll never get enough of you."

Pink rose up her neck and filled her cheeks. Her lips pursed, struggling against a smile. She had a way of pulling at the strings of my heart, made it swell too big for my chest. It thudded against my ribs. I rubbed the heel of my hand into its persistent beat, but it wouldn't calm.

I jerked my chin toward the silent radio. "What were you listening to?"

She chewed her bottom lip. "Miley Cyrus."

"Why'd you turn it off?"

Wrinkles creased her forehead. "Um…I guess because my ex hated my music. So, I turned it off on reflex."

"I don't mind. Party in the USA is one of my go-to karaoke songs."

She snorted. "Of course."

"What? I listen to Miley?"

"Karaoke. Nightmare."

"To sing or just be there at all?"

"All the above."

"Would you just go and hangout with me?"

"Do you really like it?"

I shrugged. "I have a lot of fun."

She chewed her full lower lip. "I'd go. But only if you promise not to dedicate a song to me."

"I promise not to tell other people that I'm dedicating a song to you. But you'll know."

The smile she'd been fighting won out. "Fine."

It felt like more than a compromise about something pithy. It felt like common ground. It felt like there was space where I could be outgoing and ridiculous, and she could be prickly and quiet. There was room for both of us.

"We got all the way here, and I still don't know where to begin." Lizzy's voice echoed a bit in the mall's interior hallway, over the Christmas music.

"Gift shopping is like that, isn't it?" Jerking my head toward a bookstore, I grabbed her hand. "Let's just look around."

She trailed behind me through the open doors. The smell of coffee and baking cookies wafted in the air from the cafe to our right. Bookshelves covered the bulk of the floor space, but the music and game department were decent.

Lizzy paused to flip through a planner decorated in pastel colors and soft lines.

"Need a new planner?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, I keep everything electronically. It's just pretty."

"Do you want it?"

"There's no point." She closed the cover and ran her hand over it. "I'd just own it to own it. I don't actually have a use for it."

I tilted my head, trying to get a better look at her face, to make sure I wasn't imagining the wistfulness in her voice. "Does everything have to have a purpose?"

"No, but planners should, I guess." She looked over her shoulder at the stacks of books. "Does she read much anymore?"

I allowed the change of subject. Shaking my head, I tried to remember if I'd ever seen Rose with a book in her hand. "I wouldn't say so."

"Hm, she used to."

"Do you read a lot?"

"As much as I can." There was a tone to her voice that brought me to a stop—a deep emotion barely restrained.

I turned to face her. She'd drawn in on herself going too still, just like she did that first night I met her. When she'd been nervous and without control. I tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, wrapping my other arm around her waist. Giving her whatever comfort I could. "You should get her the last book you liked."

Her lower lip slipped from between her teeth. "I don't know. Do you think she'd like it? Doesn't that seem like a, I didn't know what to get you, gift?"

"It seems like a way for her to get to know you again."

She looked more unsure than I'd ever seen her. Leaning forward, she rested her head on my chest, tucked perfectly under my chin. After a few breaths, she said in an unwavering voice. "I miss her."

Her temple was warm under my lips. "She misses you, too."

Just a few more beats passed before Lizzy straightened. "We should probably be more careful."

I wanted to pull her tight again, to tell her I didn't care. But my choices affected Rose too. I should have been more aware of my actions. I felt small, letting them both down in so many ways.

We should come clean . The thought sparked in my mind like the flip of a switch. The show and the fans be damned. But it wasn't a decision I could make on my own. Maybe Rose would at least consider telling her parents. It'd help to stop lying to them.

To be absolutely truthful with myself. With Lizzy.