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“I’m so so sorry, Scarlett,” I said.

Her dad had confiscated her phone so I hadn’t gotten a chance to catch up. And my dad actually did make me stay home yesterday. Not because he was mad. But because he didn’t want me to be in the path of Uncle James’ wrath. But Axel had confirmed with me that night that Uncle James hadn’t found the secret lair. Thank goodness. Or else Scarlett never would have been allowed out of the apartment.

She tried to hide her smile. “It’s fine.”

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because that was the best party ever,” she whispered.

I smiled. “Yeah. It was.”

“And we need to talk. I found this.” She pulled a folded up slip of paper out of her pocket and handed it to me.

I unfolded it just enough to see the start of Mr. Halifax’s note he’d left me. I quickly folded it back up and slid it into my pocket.

“Did you guys...”

“Yes.” I forced myself not to squeal. I was happy that Axel hadn’t spilled the beans. I’d wanted to tell her myself. This was a momentous occasion.

“And was it as amazing as the note says?”

“Better than I ever imagined.”

Scarlett smiled. “So it was all worth it. But I’m stealing another piece of candy.” She grabbed another chocolate out of my stocking. “Now tell me everything.”

“It was so perfect.” I sighed. “And he was actually really cute. He kept trying to get me to go out to dinner instead. But then we both just kind of lost control. He fucked me against the wall and on the desk. It was just like how I pictured it would be in my head. No. Better.” I’d been imagining it for so long.

Scarlett nodded. “Maybe we can like wipe down the surfaces though, yeah?”

I laughed. “Yeah, I can do that. I’m going to head down there in a bit and start to clean up.”

“Oh, you’re good. It’s already done.”

I cringed. “Your dad made you clean it all by yourself?”

“No,” Scarlett said. “It was all cleaned up when we woke up the next morning.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I thought you called Mr. Tanner about it or something.”

I shook my head. That would have been a good idea. But I hadn’t thought of it. “So...who did it?”

She stared at the Christmas tree. “Santa?” she said and then laughed.

“I’m going to stick with that theory. And that’s a pretty good gift this year.”

“Definitely. I had no idea how to get rid of those big coffee plants.”

I laughed. And then I sighed and melted into the couch. Now that I knew Scarlett was okay, Christmas felt a little more magical.

“Are you grounded?” Scarlett asked.

I shook my head.

She laughed. “Why is my dad impossible?”

“You can borrow mine for a day if you want. His pranks can be a bit much sometimes. You have no idea how many times I’ve washed my hair with pudding.”