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Chapter 17
There are so many different ways to lie in bed. You can lie with your lover, lie to your lover, lie to yourself. Ivy was about to do all three. She had been determined to get Nick out of her head. By any sexual means necessary. Good thing she was in Drew’s hotel room. Ivy was wearing a very sexy Santa Claus outfit.
“Not that I don’t like the outfit, but isn’t it a little early for Christmas?”
“I never thought it was fair that Santa came only once a year.” Ivy smiled. “Let’s fool around.”
Drew didn’t have to be asked twice. They began making out on the bed. Deeply. Passionately. Tongues swirling. Hands moving all over each other. Ivy’s hand acquiring physical confirmation that Drew was up for anything.
For some unknown reason, Ivy started thinking about actors shooting love scenes. She had known that when the actor was into it—he couldn’t fake it. He wore a genital guard that was basically a sock covering over the male member. It had a drawstring so it wouldn’t slip off. It was easier for an actress to fake her excitement than a man. Meg Ryan in Katz Deli inWhen Harry Met Sallyhad taught America that. Ivy wasn’t trying to fake anything. She was getting into rocking and rolling and the soft moans. Drew knew all her favorite places and was spending a lot of time visiting them. Ivy was feeling it, closing her eyes, when Nick flashed into her mind.What the hell?That’s the guy she wanted out of her head, especially when she was getting…
“My head!” Drew said. Ivy didn’t realize that her memory had jolted her physically. She had recoiled and somehow she’d kneed him in the head. Ivy quickly apologized and guided him back downtown. But the image of Nick had cooled her off. Drew sensed something was not right. “Do you like that?” he said, his voice muffled.
She did. But there was nothing. Nothing was happening. “Sorry, I’m just tense.”
“How about a back rub?” Drew said, and before Ivy could answer he dived facedown on the bed. He wasn’t offering a back rub, he wanted one. Ivy rolled over, straddled Drew, and started rubbing his back. It did nothing for her.
“I think I’m a little too tired,” Ivy said as she stopped.
“You didn’t seem tired five minutes ago.”
She rolled off of Drew and laid back in the bed. She wasn’t going to tell him that she was feeling excited until in the throes of passion her mind was still playing the Nick show. So she lied. “I’m worried about the movie. We still don’t have a good title.”
Drew got out of bed, got dressed, and went back to his laptop.
“You’re working again?”
“Well, there’s nothing else going on here.” His phone started buzzing. “See? A work call.” Then he answered, “Hey, Rory, what’s up? Yes.” Drew listened and laughed.
“No, not busy at all,” he said.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ivy demanded.
“Ivy, this is a business call.”
“But we were…”
“We were what?” Drew said as he covered his phone.
Ivy couldn’t find the right words, so she threw out a bunch of them. “We were in bed… Santa… Never mind!”
Drew continued his call. Ivy grabbed her phone, clothes, and went into the bathroom. Got dressed and stayed there. She looked at herself in the mirror, folded her arms in aTaxi Drivermanner and mumbled the iconic line: “Are you talking to me?”I am,Ivy thought to herself.You’d better stop thinking about Nick.Ivy was about to walk back and apologize to Drew when—her phonedinged.
It was an Insta post from Lauren. It was from the sleepover. Everyone was in matching Christmas pajamas. Including Amari.#ChristmasInJuly #ChristmasEveEveSleepover #BFF. Ivy was stunned. Christmas Eve Eve sleepovers were something she started with her friends when they were thirteen. They would all buy matching pajamas and watch movies. Ivy peered closely. Those were the same pajamas that she used to have. How did Amari get a pair?
DING!Another post. Another friend. Kathy.WATCHING A MOVIE WITH A MOVIE STAR.It was a selfie of Kathy and Amari in front of a giant screen TV frozen on an image of Amari from her movie.DING!Another post. The whole gang singing a Christmas song.
Ivy was about to reply when the door opened. Ivy quickly hid her phone. Drew cast a quizzical eye at her action. “What are you doing in here?”
“Nothing. I mean, I was… What do you think I was doing in here? I was going to the bathroom.”
“I heard Christmas music.”
Ivy lost it. Her little lies were making her feel awful. She blurted out, “If you’re going to work, I’m going to work. And when I work, I play Christmas music. And for the record, I don’t like the fact that you are stalking me.”
“Stalking you? You left the bathroom door unlocked. And I have to use the bathroom. It’s my hotel room. You wanted to stay with your parents, remember? Keep it professional?”
“Is that what you’re doing with Rory?” Even Ivy wondered where that came from.
