Reputation's Bloom

Chapter 86. I...don't...care

Chapter 86

Lily

Wendy crossed her arms, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she eyed the long line stretching ahead of them.

"I can't believe we're doing this," she muttered, her tone dripping with exasperation. "Standing in line at the mall... to meet Santa." She shot Lily a pointed look. "Do you realize how ridiculous this is?"

Lily, on the other hand, was practically buzzing with excitement, her eyes twinkling like the Christmas lights strung across the mall's ceiling.

"It's not ridiculous! It's festive," she insisted. "It's the only thing in California that actually feels like Christmas."

Wendy let out a dramatic sigh, glancing around at the kids clutching candy canes and parents juggling shopping bags.

"Lily, you're literally going back to New York in a few days. The land of actual snow and freezing temperatures and Christmas markets. This—" she gestured vaguely toward the oversized Santa throne up ahead, "—is not the highlight of your holiday season."

Lily turned to her with a playful pout. "Maybe not, but it's all I've got right now, so liven up a little, Scrooge." She nudged Wendy's arm. "Come on, where's your Christmas spirit?"

Wendy huffed but couldn't fight the small smirk tugging at her lips. "Fine. But if this Santa smells like department store cologne and bad life choices, I'm blaming you."

"If I had know you were going to complain so much, I would have came with Gabriel," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh, right," Wendy smirked. "I forgot about your boytoy."

"He's not my boytoy," Lily gasped. "He's my —"

Wendy waited for Lily to finished. When she saw her hesitate, she arched her brow.

"It delights me to see you struggling to say the word boyfriend," she commented.

"Shut up," Lily turned away.

"You're walking a very dangerous line here, Silvano," Wendy shook her head.

"Blame it on being young and reckless," Lily muttered.

"And stupid, and selfish, and dumb, and an idiot, and —"

"Okay, I get it!" Lily sighed. "I'm a horrible person. I know."

"Not horrible," Wendy nudged her. "Just misguided."

Lily didn't reply. The smile in her face had vanished and her eyes were no longer shimmering with Christmas magic. Wendy felt a ping of guilt creep up her back as she stared at her best friend.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to ruin your mood."

"You didn't," Lily muttered.

"Liar," Wendy smiled as she nudged Lily once more. "Now, smile for me. The sun don't shine when you don't smile, Sunshine."

"Sunshine?" Lily chuckled.

"Blame your brother," Wendy rolled her eyes.

The corner of Lily's mouth curved up as she turned to face Wendy, "How are things with my brother? I noticed you slept over the other night.....and not in the guest bedroom."

"No," Wendy shook her head. "We are not going to talk about this, young lady."

"We are most definitely talking about this," Lily nodded, her grin spreading. "Is it official? Has he asked you out on a date? Did you sleep with him!"