Page 48 of The Games We Play

Twenty-Five - Tess

I lay on thecouch, following the ceiling fan as it goes round and round. Finals are over for the semester. I don’t work tonight, and I haven’t seen X since the party. I feel lost, hollow—utterly alone.

Roxy whines at my feet and I absentmindedly pet her. Have these last four months been a wild hallucination? Surely I didn’t imagine all of it.

But where is he?

Why hasn’t he shown up?

My phone rings and I pick it up off my stomach to see it’s Ryan.

“Hey,” I answer, attempting to sound pleasant.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about our tradition,” Ryan whines, and I sit up, swinging my feet to the floor.

“No?” I say, but it sounds like a question. What day is it? It can’t be that time already.

“Theresa Lynn Wallace,” Ryan playfully scolds, and I roll my eyes. “I will be there in two hours to pick you up.”

At least he knows me well enough to call with ample time beforehand. I smile despite the longing gnawing in my chest. “Okay.”

I shower and get dressed in leggings with thick wool socks and a sweater. A car horn honks in my driveway just as I pull my hair back in a high ponytail. Roxy whines at the door and I give her a treat from the shelf, promising her I’ll be back later.

“There’s my best friend!” Ryan shouts and my cheeks heat with second-hand embarrassment at his antics. I slide into the passenger seat and place my wallet in the cupholder.

“You totally forgot,” Ryan teases.

I scoff. “I totally did not…realize what day it was.” Crossing my arms, I lift my chin high.

“Only you could forget Christmas.” He shakes his head and blasts Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’, and my cheeks get sore from laughing as Ryan screeches out the high notes.

Mr. Collins is always gone during the holidays. It’s a busy time of the year for banks and more often than not, something breaks that he has to go fix. He used to bring us ice skating every year and when he took the new job, Ryan was determined to keep the tradition alive. This makes our second year of just the two of us.

We pull into the parking lot, and Ryan shuts off the car. “Tess,” he says, and he seems nervous. He won’t look at me and keeps tapping away at the steering wheel.

“Ryan,” I say back.

“Don’t freak out,” he says and I turn in my seat, glancing around like someone is going to jump out at me. “But I have someone I want you to meet, and it’sreallyimportant to me that you like her.”

Her?

I look around the car, but don’t see anybody. Ryan gets out of the car and walks around, opens my door and helps me out.

“Did you get a puppy?” I tease.

Ryan shakes his head and laughs. “Remember how I told you I was seeing someone—at the lake house?”

I try to recall the conversation…but we never got to have it because Mr. Collins walked in.

Is he about to introduce me to his girlfriend? “Ryan, I’m not sure I’m someone she’d want to meet. Maybe I should—” We reach the ticket booth and I try to find a way out of this.

Ryan shakes his hand and grabs my hand. “No. You’re my best friend and I want this.” I try to pry my hand free, but he’s oblivious as he waves someone over. My skin heats and I’m looking past Ryan as someone steps up to him and gives him a hug. She smells of too much perfume.

And Ryan still hasn’t let go of my hand.

“Katie,” Ryan says, pulling me to his side. “I want you to meet my best friend, Tess.”

I finally lift my gaze to take in the girl who has Ryan so smitten. She wears glasses and her hair is braided down each side of her head. To my surprise, she is barely wearing any makeup and when she smiles at me, a dimple pops in her left cheek.

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