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Agreement and apologies followed, and Tess eventually put aside her sternness. Within short order, Anna received a place to stay for the next few days, as Tess guaranteed that the roads would be no safer for travel tomorrow than they were right now. According to the news, they might have gotten buried in over a foot of snow by the time dawn cracked palely over the horizon.
He could already envision the horrific days of Christmas shopping that would ensue once the snowplows finally freed the suburbs of their stark white prison. He was happy he didn’t have any Christmas plans.
And then he winced. Because he realized that hehadChristmas plans. Well, Christmas Eve plans. He’d forgotten entirely about his need to shop for gifts. There was Tess. And Anna. He’d look like a complete ass if he didn’t get her something, which also meant he needed to grab Avril something.Shewas probably the person he most ought to get a gift, even if tonight might have ended in an ultimate disaster.
“Is something wrong, Liam?” Anna asked, the first person to notice his souring expression.
“O-oh, er, it’s nothing serious,” he said, waving a hurried hand through the air. “Just thinking about wading through crowds of people to get a few Christmas gifts once the snow’s gone.”
“You haven’t bought them yet?” she asked.
If anyone else had shown such surprise, he’d have scowled at them. With it coming from Anna, who seemed earnestly shocked that someone hadn’t penciled in several dates to finish their Christmas shopping by the end of the first week of December, he let his irritation go.
“No, I usually do it this week, and there’s the Christmas Eve party… and I wanted to get you both gifts, at least.”
“Oh.” It was the second time he’d heard that wretched word today, but this one came from Anna, who spent a moment blushing, and then a few more in thought. “Avril probably hasn’t done hers yet either. She always waits until the last second.” She shook her head in that exasperated sisterly way he was beginning to recognize as a common response when she mentioned her unruly roommate.
“Knowing Avril, I think she might enjoy the hecticness of waiting until the last possible moment,” Tess said. She looked at him. “You might even see if you two could go together.”
They were the first actual words she’d said to him since her one-word response to his compliment at Anna’s apartment, and as far as he could tell, there was nothing out of the ordinary in her tone or demeanor toward him. It wasn’t enough to offer him complete relief, but a few of the needles digging into his spine exited his skin.
“I’ll check with her and see if she likes the idea,” Liam promised.
With Anna delivered, he soon decided it was time to make himself scarce. If he waited too much longer, he’d end up soaking his pants with snow on his return trip.
“You should come over for lunch tomorrow,” Tess said as she walked him to her door. “We’re all going to be snowed in for the next few days, so I’ll cook for us as much as possible.”
Her smile was radiant, and more needles clattered on the ground as they departed his skin.
He nodded emphatically. “I’ll see you then, Tess.”
“Bye, Liam. Stay warm.”
Her lingering smile made sure he did.
Chapter Twenty-One
Her Pace
He woke far too early, and he knew why even before he opened his eyelids. Light bled through his eyelids like someone had pointed floodlights directly at his face. Grumbling to himself in a languageless complaint, he slowly opened his eyes, only to immediately regret it and shut them tight.
A bombardment of light gushed through the inadequate defenses of his window’s blinds, slamming into his face. He knew it meant the clouds had cleared off, allowing the pale sunlight to magnify the white wonderland sitting outside his window. That knowledge didn’t make the throbbing headache he was experiencing any more palatable.
Rolling onto his other side to put his back to his window, he dragged a hand over his face and yawned deeply. Floundering as if he was blind for his phone on his nightstand, he dragged his heavy eyelids open once more as he stared at his screen.
A few messages caught his eye, including a response from Avril in their group chat, in which she’d colorfully admonished Anna for her actions last night. He also found a message she’d sent to his phone twenty minutes ago.
You’ve got them both over there for at least the next couple of days. Try and make some progress on your own.
He didn’t reply, but he did stuff the desire to sink back into another hour or two of sleep away. Pushing himself out of bed, he staggered to his shower and let its scalding hot waters fully wake him up, during which he considered how to go about today. At the very least, he had an invitation to lunch with Tess and Anna, but their pairing provided an uncertain path before him.
He wanted to spend as much time as he could with Tess, but he needed to pretend that he wanted to spend all his time with Anna. The more time they spent away from each other, the more likely Tess would grow suspicious about their supposed relationship. But the opposite might also pique her intuition, especially if she spotted them acting like a couple of strangers over the next few days. Liam remembered the awkwardness of his and Anna’s hug well. Their supposed relationship would never survive any real scrutiny, unless people really did accept that their stiltedness was par for the course for the two of them… which it might be.
His quandary remained unresolved by the time he emerged from his shower. Maybe Anna, being the original architect of this deception, would have an idea or two about their predicament.
He took care of his morning hygiene, got dressed, and then sat down for some breakfast. By the time he’d finished the last of those, he’d decided he would lay his hopes on Tess assuming that he and Anna were just awkward when it came to public displays of affection. Adding a coat to his ensemble, he also decided to check just how buried the blizzard had left them.
It didn’t take more than a moment to discover that while the snowplows might free the roads in a few days, it might be weeks before he saw his grass again. Even before he got to the white wonderland sprawling in every direction before him, he needed to confront the platform of snow that had buried his porch under it.
