“For her! Obviously!”
My heart careens into my ribs. “No, no—this is a complete misunderstanding?—”
But the gossip spreads faster than wildfire.
I see the PTA president, a woman named Eleanor with a megaphone in hand, glance our way.
And the moment she sees me, she brightens.
“Oh my god,” I whisper. “Melissa. What did we do?”
“Run,” Melissa suggests unhelpfully.
Before we can, Eleanor steps onstage, raises the mic, and beams out at the crowd of families.
And then she says it.
Loud.
Clear.
Crushing my soul in real time.
“Congratulations to our newest couple—Briar Tate and Captain Saxon Cole!”
The world stops.
The crowd erupts.
Kids cheer.
Parents clap.
Someone whistles.
Someone else yells, “About time!”
I stand frozen like an idiot, barely breathing.
And then I hear his voice behind me.
“Briar.”
My stomach plummets.
I turn.
Saxon stands a few feet away, holding a hot cocoa cup he probably regrets touching, jaw tight, eyes burning with something between confusion and dangerous patience.
He looks huge.
And pissed.
And unfairly gorgeous under the festival lights.
“What the hell was that?” he asks, voice low enough only I can hear.
“I didn’t—I wasn’t—this wasn’t my?—”
