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“Ryan … it’s beautiful … but … I…”

“Don’t say you can’t go,” he said.

I turned in his arms to face him again. “How can I? They’ll find out.” I nodded toward my door.

“I promise they won’t.”

“You can’t make a promise like that. You have no control over it.”

“It’s low risk. Fiona knows about us, and it hasn’t gotten back to our parents.”

I trust Fiona, I wanted to say. I didn’t know if his friends were as trustworthy.

He reached into his coat pocket and took out a mask that had been tucked in there. It was intricate, with jewels around the eye holes and long silk ribbons to tie it around my head. “Will you at least think about it?”

“When is it again? The ball?”

“This Friday.”

I thought about our family calendar downstairs. Something was on there for this Friday. I couldn’t remember what. I took the mask from him, running a slow finger over some of the jewels. I thought about what Fiona had said, how I might be able to find out more info about the town Scrooge at the ball. That people might talk. My eyes drifted back to the bed. But that wasn’t the only reason I wanted to go. Maybe it wasn’t even in the top five. “I’ll think about it.”

The smile that spread across his face made it seem like I had said yes.

He pulled me into another kiss that left me breathless. When we separated, he headed for the window. “I’d better go.”

“Wait, no, not out the window.”

“Not out the window?”

“No, we talked about this. I’ll walk you downstairs. It’s too icy out there for the ladder.”

“You care about me,” he teased, giving me a side hug.

“I mean, I wouldn’t even want my enemy to fall down a ladder.”

“Do you have an enemy?”

“It used to be you,” I said.

He laughed, louder than he should’ve. I threw my hand over his mouth, and he quickly cut off the sound. We both stared at my door, holding our breath for several long moments. Finally I sucked in some air and lowered my hand.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry you couldn’t watch the movie with me last night,” I said, thinking about how sad he had seemed as he walked away.

“I’m sorry about that too,” he said.

“Come on.” I moved for the door and reached my hand back for his. He grabbed on. His hand in mine felt good. I didn’t want to have to hide how we felt about each other when he brought me so much happiness.

I opened the door a crack and looked both ways down the hall. It was dark except for a night-light plugged into an outlet halfway between Harris’s room and the bathroom. I stepped forward, and Ryan’s other hand found my hip as he followed me. It sent shivers up and down my spine. I squeezed his hand and led him into the hall. My heart was racing as I stared at the closed door of my moms’ bedroom. It was fine, they were asleep, I told my heart as I walked us slowly toward the stairs.

We were quiet on our journey until we reached the ground floor. Then Ryan was taking everything in. Our house that looked like the set of a Christmas movie. His eyes were wide because, even at night, my moms left the lights on, and it was special. At least I thought it was. Maybe he was thinking it was over the top, too much.

“No wonder you love Christmas,” he said, close to my ear.

I smiled. It really was no wonder. I took a couple steps toward the front door.

“Can I see the rest?” He gestured toward the hall and kitchen.