Of all the ways to get a girl back.
Apparently the Stanford Tree works.
I shove the mascot head back under my arm and step out of the trees once my pulse finally settles.
The party noise swells again the closer I get — bass thumping, people shouting, the fire crackling.
And then I see Kane.
He’s standing near the edge of the crowd, leaning against the fence with that calm expression he wears when he’s thinking too much.
His eyes slide past me.
Then past the stupid tree suit.
Then land on Stella across the yard.
She’s laughing at something Delia says, but the look in her eyes is… different.
Softer.
Like she just stepped out of a secret.
Kane notices it too.
He looks back at me slowly.
Then at the mascot head under my arm.
His mouth tilts.
“You seduced her,” he says flatly.
I blink.
“Wearing the tree.”
I shrug one shoulder.
He studies me another second, then exhales through his nose.
“I didn’t think Stella would be that easy.”
My head snaps up.
“Easy?” I repeat.
He raises his hands slightly.
“You know what I mean.”
“No,” I say sharply. “I don’t.”
My grip tightens around the mascot head.
“Because if she were easy,” I add, voice lowering, “you would’ve gotten somewhere by now.”
The words land harder than I intend.
