“Brandon made some comment about you,” I add, jaw tightening. “Something that crossed a line. So I punched him.”
Her eyes flash. “Good.”
I huff out a short laugh. “Yeah, well… Noah didn’t think so. He was already pissed about the situation, and once he figured out that we were actually together…” I pause. “He hit me.”
Her face falls. “I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head. “I deserved it. I broke his trust. I should’ve told him.”
She exhales and leans back a little. “So what now? What are we going to do?”
I blink at her. It’s not just the way she sayswe, like this issomething we’ll face together. It’s the fact that she’s already thinking about how to fix it.
“We need to talk to Hunter,” she continues. “And Melissa. We can explain. Maybe if they hear it from both of us… maybe they’ll understand it wasn’t all a con.”
My stomach clenches at the thought, but I nod. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”
She brightens a little. “I have Melissa’s number. I can call her and set something up. They’re still in town, right?”
“They should be,” I say, already fishing out my phone. “If not, we’ll fly back to Florida. I don’t care where we have to go—we’re doing this right.”
I find Hunter McNeal’s contact and pressCallbefore I can overthink it.
The phone rings once. Twice.
Then he picks up. “Esteban.” His voice is sharp, unreadable.
“Hey,” I say, sitting up straighter. “I know things got messed up earlier. But if you’d give us five minutes—me and Eva—we just want to talk. Explain everything. Not the fake version. The truth.”
There’s a pause. Long enough for my heart to thump twice in my chest. Finally, he says, “We’re at the rental in Honey Springs.”
“Give us fifteen minutes.”
He doesn’t say goodbye. Just hangs up.
I turn to Eva. “He said yes.”
Her eyes light up with determination. “Then let’s go fix this.”
I nod, throw the truck into gear, and peel out of the park. For the first time since everything blew up, I feel like there’s a chance.
A chance to save the deal.
A chance to rebuild the friendship I ruined.
A chance to build something real with the woman I love.
And I’m not letting any of it slip away.
As we drive through Honey Springs, Eva’s hand stays in mine. Her thumb rubs slow, soothing circles on my knuckles, and I keep glancing over at her like I still can’t believe this woman beside me is mine.
“We’ll tell them everything,” I say, breaking the silence between us. “The full truth. What I did, why I did it. No lies. No spin.”
Eva nods. “That’s all we can do.”
We follow the GPS through a winding road tucked into the side of the mountain. The air smells like pine, and when we finally pull into the long gravel driveway, I spot the rental house.
It’s beautiful, one of those modern craftsman builds with big wood beams, a stone façade, and glass walls that reflect the mountain peaks behind it. The late afternoon sun paints the sky in soft golds and for a second, it feels like we’re walking into something sacred.
