Page 75 of The Hanukkah Hoax
“Just not someone you could trust to help you sort through your mess, even though you had no problem swooping in and tidying up mine. Without asking me.” Then she looked at him and had to hug herself tighter for the only strength she could rely on. “Why did you say those things? Why did you lie to me?”
“I didn’t lie. I lo—” He called back whatever he was about to say and kicked a neatly packed mound of snow instead. “For fuck’s sake, I didn’t lie.”
“Were those your words? Tell me the truth, Alec. Was it your voice that said those things to Phoebe? Were you the one speaking to her?”
He couldn’t lift his eyes to meet hers. “Aye.”
The dagger of his declaration sank deep, so deep that she had to take a step back to steady herself lest she crumple to the ground and trip over her shredded heart.
The tent’s rear flap was swept aside, and Eden came running over to them. Her chest was heaving, and it was clear from her bewildered expression that she’d been trying to run damage control at the booth and was failing miserably.
Because Marisa, and by extension her business, was a failure, a fake, and now the whole Internet knew it, too.
“Monica’s looking for you. What do you want me to tell her?”
A numbness had begun to take hold, packing Marisa’s veins full of cement. The lights on the Christmas trees surrounding the tent couldn’t even infuse her limbs with the warmth needed to combat the sluggishness.
But they were strong enough to illuminate one thing she was kicking herself for not seeing earlier.
“I’m glad you were able to get your coat back from Phoebe,” Marisa said, gesturing to the familiar woolen peacoat Alec had thrown on, a coat she’d not given another thought to all the time they’d been together the past couple of days.
She’d never thought to ask how it had been returned to him or when.
The fact that he’d kept it from her seemed to hurt far worse than his public treachery.
Marisa lifted her chin and accompanied Eden back into the tent to deal with whatever shit storm had begun swirling around and mucking up everyone’s Christmas Eve.
Alec didn’t call after her and didn’t follow her.
Because what more could he say that he hadn’t already told the world?
Chapter 29
Alec whipped the reading glasses off his face and pressed the pads of his fingers into his eyes. It did little to help alleviate the pressure that had been festering there for the better part of three days, but at least when his eyes were forced shut, he didn’t have to stare in the mirror.
Because holy fuck, what a bleak picture that had become, or so Cal had unhelpfully informed him. Alec couldn’t even remember the last time he’d brushed his teeth properly, let alone run a razor across his cheeks. It was no wonder his brother shook his head in disgust every time he tossed a plate of food in front of Alec’s nose, as if he were doing some great service by keeping Alec alive.
For the record, he wasn’t, at least not with his cooking. Then again, Alec didn’t deserve the comfort of good food, or even good company.
No, he’d torched those options spectacularly.
Truth be told, he couldn’t trust himself with either. Didn’t deserve to. Because trust was one of those earned things only shared with the most important people in one’s life, and no matter what sort of excuses his frantic mind kept coming up with, none of them changed one crucial heart-wrenching fact.
Marisa was right. He had lied to her. Because he trusted himself more to do the right thing and fix his fuck-up with Phoebe, rather than confiding in Marisa and letting her see the flaws of his past, hoping she might accept him anyway.
And look how bloody well that turned out.
Alec picked up his phone again and scrolled through the call history, hope still high in his heart that he’d see her name returning one of his countless calls. When he didn’t, he darkened the screen and tossed the damn thing in the end table drawer. Again.
“Still no word from her?” Cal asked, cracking open a beer and handing him one.
“What do you think?”
“I think three days of silence speaks volumes.” The words were gentle, caring, but they sliced deeply.
“I know.”
“Do you want to hit the gym again?”
