And now, the one person I do have was never really mine to begin with.
Fuck.
I need to go.
Just as I’m about to storm out of the bar and take an Uber home, I freeze, doing a double take.
Because the unthinkable happens.
Alex drops to one knee. Pulls out black velvet box.
Right in the middle of the dance floor.
The music cuts off like it was planned. A spotlight shimmies around the room, landing on my worst nightmare. Annie’s hand shoots to her mouth as she stands there, paralyzed, looking just as blindsided as I feel.
Tag watches the scene unfold, his expression shell-shocked. “Holy fuck.”
Words catch in my throat. “Did you…?”
“Not a damn clue.”
My hairline dampens, and my skin crawls. I can’t hear what he’s saying; I don’t want to.
But I hear her.
One word.
A soft, hesitant, “Yes.”
My vision distorts, everything streaking around me in a monochrome blur. Hugging, kissing, people cheering from every corner. Tag and I just stand there while Rock and Zach applaud through congratulatory whistles, oblivious.
The world tilts.
My world crumbles.
And I should’ve fucking seen it coming—seven years. The guy has seven years on me. A life built, memories made, a future within reach.
And me?
I’m just the guy who stole the wrong car.
Chapter 31Chase
Ten seconds later, I’m plowing through the bathroom door with a handful of painkillers chucked at the back of my throat. I cup my palm under the running faucet, gulping greedily from my hand as I tip my head back, savoring the bitter residue left behind. The overhead light flickers and drones, sounding like a hornet caught in my ear.
Fuck me.
I lean back against the pedestal sink and look around.
Graffiti lines the dated mauve walls. Sharpie-drawn love notes and Gen Z slang blur at the edges of my vision. Someone wrote “Maddie is a cunt” and added a smiley face to theU.
I stare at it for a long time as shrapnel scrapes behind my eyes and rocket fire shreds my temples.
She saidyes.
The woman I’ve unintentionally fallen for is now engaged.
I don’t give the meds time to fix my headache and attempt to bolt from the bathroom—
