I aced my GED, but I couldn’t think of a single acceptable Christmas gift for Brian. Now, it was the day before Christmas Eve, and I was at the mall. This was supposed to be a fun, relaxing day with my girlfriends, but between the noise, the chaos of frantic people desperate to finish their last-minute shopping, and the fact that Ana and her new boyfriend Jason had crashed the party and come with us, I was quickly getting stressed. And sore. We’d been here for hours now. This was the most physically demanding activity I’d done since my accident. When we passed an empty bench, I stopped the group. “Sorry, guys. I have to rest for a while.”
I slowly sat down on the bench, sighing in relief when the weight was taken off my feet. Ana shrugged and turned her attention to Jason, but Juliette and Vivian both frowned in concern. “You okay?” Vivian asked.
“Yeah. I just need to sit for a few minutes. Why don’t you guys go help Juliette find a gift for Dad and then come back?”
“You sure?” Juliette asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. You guys go ahead. I already got him a gift, and I really do need to sit for a while, or I’m going to have to go home early.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Vivian offered, sitting down beside me. “I’m done with my shopping, and I have no idea how to help Juliette with your dad.”
Juliette shot me a hopeful expression, as if I might suddenly have the answer to her problem. She’d been having trouble this morning deciding on a gift. I shrugged. “I got him a briefcase.”
Juliette’s frown deepened. “He’s going to love that.” She glanced at Ana. “What’d you get him?”
Ana gave her sister an evil grin. The two of them had a competition every year to see who could get their parents the better gifts. Ana had been very secretive about Dad’s present, but since Christmas was only two days away now, she finally spilled. “I got him a copy of the new Janice Bishop novel. The one that doesn’t come out until March.”
“WHAT?” Juliette screeched. “He’s not even going to care what I get him now! How did you manage that?”
Ana shrugged a shoulder and smirked in my direction. “Ella. Publishers give her whatever books she wants.”
“That’s cheating!” Juliette’s eyes bulged, and she shot me a wounded look. “You helped Ana with Dad’s gift?”
“I didn’t.” I shook my head, confused. “I didn’t even know Dad likes to read.”
Juliette rolled her eyes. “Why do you think he was so excited when he found out you were a book blogger? It was something you guys had in common.”
This news settled in my heart, creating both warmth and sadness. “He never said anything.”
Juliette shrugged. “He probably just felt awkward. He was so scared of you when you first got here.”
I felt bad about that but not too much, because I think I was as equally terrified of him. “I’ve never seen him read. What kind of books does he like?”
Ana snorted. “The ones where the good guys always catch the bad guys.”
That made me smile. Dad hated nothing more than losing a case. From what I’d heard, it didn’t happen to him often, but it was devastating for him when it did. I could easily picture him reading about the underdog detective catching the notorious criminal against all the odds. “I’ve never even seen him pick up a book.”
“He doesn’t have a lot of time for it, ” Ana said, “but it’s his favorite hobby.”
She shot Juliette another smug smile, and Juliette sighed, defeated. “There’s one author whose books he always makes time for—Janice Bishop. He’s going to flip when he sees the early copy.” She scowled at Ana. “You totally win this year.”
“I know.” Ana smirked at me. “Thanks for the hookup, Ella.”
I shook my head emphatically when Juliette shot me another wounded look. “I swear I didn’t.”
“But you always leave your e-mail open on your laptop,” Ana pointed out, “and your e-mail address goes a long way with publishers.”
My jaw fell slack. “You used my e-mail? You pretended to be me?”
“Ana!” Juliette gasped. I wasn’t sure if she was more horrified that Ana had done it or just mad that she hadn’t thought of it first.
“What? Sorry. That was before I thought Ella would help me if I asked her to. It was just one e-mail. And I was totally professional about it. They were excited to hear you’re interested in testing out a new genre. They said if you like it, they have a lot more books where that one came from. Oh, but I think you have to post a review about it now.”
Juliette punched her sister, while I slapped a hand over my face. But, really, no harm was done. I would have helped her if she’d asked for it, and now I was curious to check out these books my father liked so much. I was desperate to find things we had in common. There didn’t seem to be much.
“Fine. Whatever. Just…please ask in the future, okay?”
Ana rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
“I can’t believe this.” Juliette groaned. “I’ve been stressing over Dad’s gift all day, and you knew all along I didn’t stand a chance!”
Ana’s eyes lit up. “On the bright side, now you can get him that bottle of cologne he’s been not-subtly hinting about for weeks.”
Juliette rolled her eyes but still nodded. “I guess. I’ve got nothing better, and I’m ready for lunch. We can hit up Sephora and then go eat.”
The thought of going into a shop with all of those smells which would make my head pound worse than it already was made my stomach roll. “Or…you guys can go get the cologne and then come back and get me to go to lunch.”
Both twins nodded, no questions asked, and headed down the crowded mall. Once they were out of earshot, Vivian nudged me with her elbow. “Did you really need the rest that badly, or did you just need a break from Ana and Jason?”
“Both.”
Ana and I, though we were making an effort to be civil, were still not friendly by any stretch. And Jason was the guy who’d accidentally torn my skin graft near my elbow back before Halloween. Needless to say, hanging out with either of them was never high on my list of priorities. But Jason was Ana’s boyfriend now, and both he and Ana were making an effort to smooth things over with me. It was awkward, but I was trying to play nice, too, because I wanted the rift between Juliette and Anastasia resolved. It wasn’t technically my fault that they weren’t close the way they used to be, but it felt that way.
“She actually hasn’t been that horrible today,” Vivian mused. “I think Jason mellows her out.”
“That, and Mom and Dad have been sending her to weekly appointments with my therapist.”
Vivian snorted. “Good. If you ask me, that girl had plenty of issues long before you ever showed up. Anyway, enough about her. How are you? I’ve hardly heard from you this week. Things must be going well, huh?”
She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, and though I knew she was only playing, I still blushed. “It’s been good.” My face flamed even brighter, causing Vivian’s eyes to nearly bug out of her head. “Not that good,” I amended. “We’ve just been hiding out. Things have been crazy. We both needed the peace and quiet and some time to get to know each other face-to-face.”
Vivian burst into laughter. “Yeah, face-to-face. And body-to-body.”
“Shut up! We haven’t done anything more than kiss.”
I pushed her in the side so hard she nearly fell off the bench. She laughed even harder. “Hey, I’m not judging. I’m living vicariously. Are you seriously still only kissing?”
I shrugged. “Not that he wouldn’t love taking it further. He asked me to move in with him last night.”
Vivian gasped. “No way!”
“Way. We were talking about moving day, and he asked if he could bring my stuff to his place instead of yours.”
My spunky redheaded friend sat beside me, wide-eyed and utterly speechless. I understood her incredulity. I was still reeling from the shock of his request. “I said no.”
Vivian shook herself from her frozen state and chewed her lip a moment before saying, “Are you sure that’s what you want? I’d understand if you want to ditch me.”
She was completely sincere, and as much as I would have considered her feelings in the matter, I didn’t need to. “No.” I shook my head. “I can’t move in with him. I’m not ready for that.”
Vivian let out a puff of air, as if she’d been holding her breath. “Good.” Her face exploded with exhilaration, and she grabbed my hands. “I love Brian. I really do. But I am so excited for you to come be my roomie.”
Her enthusiasm was contagious. “Me too. I’m going to need my girl time even more now. Brian’s so intense. I don’t want to get completely wrapped up in our relationship and forget about everything else. Brian might be ready for that, but I’m just getting to a point where I can finally start living my life again. I don’t want Brian to be the only thing in it.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not about to let you ditch me, even if you have left me alone at school and snagged the most amazing boyfriend in the world. Now that Brian has transitioned to boyfriend status, that makes me your new best friend. You need me even more now.”
I laughed. She was joking, but in a way, she was also right. “Yes, I do. And after lunch, I really, really need you to help me figure out my gift dilemma.”
“We’ll figure something out.”
“You guys ready to walk again?” Juliette asked, returning with a small Sephora bag added to her pile of booty. “’Cause I’m starving.”
“Me too.” I hadn’t eaten much for breakfast this morning, and I’d definitely burned through those calories by now. “Not the food court, though. Let’s go somewhere dark and quiet, where we can hear each other talk and no one will stare at me or ask for an autograph while I eat.”
I’d been recognized a number of times today. It was so weird every time some stranger stopped me. I think it was starting to get on all of our nerves.
“Good idea,” Juliette agreed. “I know just the place.”
The restaurant we wanted was downstairs, and since the elevator was out of service, I was forced to use the escalator. Escalators weren’t my best friends. I could use them, but I had to be really careful getting on and off of them. It was a slow, mildly-embarrassing task, but even as difficult as escalators could be, they were still better than a long flight of stairs.
As I finally placed my weight onto the moving step, I was shoved aside and nearly lost my balance. Vivian had to grab me to keep me from falling and severely hurting myself.
“You know what you need?” Juliette asked, glaring at the jerk who’d muscled his way past me onto the escalator.
“Magical force fields?” I grumbled, rubbing my throbbing hip. “A personal shopper?”
Seriously, I use a cane. I limp. You’d think people might give me a wider berth but no. Those four feet Mr. Pushy got ahead of me on the crowded escalator must have been really important to him.
“A Taser gun,” Juliette answered, pretending to shoot the man in the back with her finger. “So you can fry jerks like him.”
I laughed, but I wasn’t sure she was kidding.
“Hey, buddy!” a strange voice called out from behind me, grabbing the attention of the guy who’d pushed me out of his way. I glanced over my shoulder, just in time to see a hottie holding a bulging Macy’s bag glare at the jerk in front of me. “Do you treat all women so disrespectfully, or is it just the beautiful ones with disabilities?”
Mr. Pushy’s face paled when he glanced at me again and noticed my cane. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I thought you were just talking to your girlfriends and not paying attention.”
“Nope. Just slow because I’m handicapped.”
“Sorry.” The man grimaced again, and as soon as he reached the end of the escalator, he took off as if his pants were on fire.
Both Juliette and Vivian snickered. “Serves the jerk right,” Juliette said.
Vivian high-fived my defender. “Right on, dude.”
After I carefully stepped onto solid floor, I turned to the guy behind me. He looked college age, had tousled honey-blond hair, and was wearing a rumpled T-shirt and basketball shorts. He’d definitely just rolled out of bed and found something semi-clean off his bedroom floor before coming to the mall, but somehow it was still endearing. Might have been the striking green eyes or the boyish smile that saved him.
Behind him, Juliette was pulling swoony faces and fanning herself. I’m pretty sure she mouthed the words I want.
Swallowing a laugh, I smiled at my rescuer. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”
He glared in the direction Mr. Jerk had run off. “Yeah, I really did. I can’t stand people like that. Sorry. I hope I didn’t offend you by mentioning your disability, but that guy needed to realize what he’d done.”
“It’s okay. I think you taught him a pretty good lesson.”
Vivian laughed. “Yeah. Did you see his face when he saw you leaning on Candy Cane? Classic.”
“I missed it,” Juliette said. “I was too busy noticing Ella’s hero.” She grinned at the stranger. “So, Mr. Knight in Wrinkled T-Shirt, do you have a name to go with all of your nobility? Or do you prefer to remain anonymous while defending women from inconsiderate shoppers?”
The guy glanced between the three of us, as if we were overwhelming him, but then he laughed and stuck his hand out to Juliette. “I’m Erik.”
After brief introductions, Erik took in Juliette’s and Vivian’s bags and eyed my empty hands with a grin. “Either you’re all done with your Christmas shopping, or you’re the worst procrastinator I’ve ever met.”
I sighed. “I only have one left, but I’m having trouble figuring out what to buy.”
Erik nodded sympathetically. “Shopping for your parents can be tricky.”
I swallowed hard, but it had been long enough now that I was past breaking down into tears when my mother was mentioned. He was wrong, though. My mom had always been the easiest person in the world to shop for. Not like Brian. I shook my head. “Wrong guess.”
“Sister?” he asked hopefully. “Brother? Best friend?”
“Boyfriend,” I admitted.
He winced. “Damn. Strike one.” He looked to Juliette and Vivian with a flirty pout. “Don’t tell me you’re both here shopping for your boyfriends, too?”
I smiled despite myself. He was adorable. And he had both of my best friends gazing at him wistfully. “We’re both single,” Juliette said. “So the real question for you is, do you prefer blondes or redheads?”
It always amazed me how forward she could be. But I guess when you looked like Beverly Hills Barbie, you had a reason to be confident. I used to resent girls like her, but after getting to know Juliette, it was more fun to sit back and watch her work her magic. She’d have a date with the guy by the end of lunch.
Erik’s eyes bounced between the two of them, and his grin grew. “Can I keep my options open for a little while? At least through lunch? My treat?”
“That’s fair,” Juliette replied. “We were just headed to the Piazza Lounge.”