“Nope,” he said, loud enough for the whole table to hear. “Not a joke.”
My phone buzzed too—Shani had already texted,GIRL... WHAT IS HAPPENING.
I buried my face in my hands. “We’re going to cause a small prep school apocalypse.”
“You already did,” Tristan said, showing me the newest trending hashtags on Insta and TikTok.
#LeoHoltOffMarket
#ThePrinceHasBeenPlucked
#ScholarshipGirlSnagsTheCrown
#RIPBianca
#GitanillaGlowUp
I groaned. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”
Leo leaned in, brushing his lips just barely against my temple. “Only because you haven’t figured out yet… I’m not letting you go.”
That shouldn’t have made my stomach flip.
But it did.
Then our food came—burgers stacked like leaning towers, fries salted to perfection, milkshakes with chocolate syrup dripped down the glass—and for a second, everything else faded.
I wasn’t the bullied girlfrom Ohio.
I wasn’t the scandal.
I wasn’t the outsider.
I was justJade.Sitting between two boys with bad reputations and better hearts than they’d ever admit.
And one of them?
Was officially mine.
Chapter Eleven
LEO
They saypower doesn’t shift overnight.
They’re wrong.
It shifts in under seven hours, with the right girl, the right kiss, and the wrong kind of fire behind her eyes.
By morning, Royal Oaks Prep was in full meltdown mode. Every hallway was a runway. Every glance, a photo op. And every whisper?
Abouther.
Jade.
Jade-freaking-Bryan.
And if it’s not? I don’t care. Hell, I think I like it more. Mystery has never looked this good in a plaid skirt.
