“I’m sorry I left.” I drag a hand through my hair. “I just… I couldn’t…”
“About what Candi showed you?—”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“Yes, I do. You deserve my honesty.”
I don’t want it. Not if it means learning that every moment I’ve replayed since meeting her meant something different to Lila. Besides, her plan actually did me some good. Before heading to the festival, I signed a new lease with Jolene. As much as I want to be here with Lila, I want to be here for myself even more.
She’s our mate. Meant to be. We’ll find her again.
I shake my head. “It’s fine. We can call last night what it was.” I force the words past the knot in my throat. “A mistake.”
“Magick.”
We say in unison.
Silence falls between us.
“You mean that?” we ask together.
A startled laugh escapes her, and I can’t help but smile at the wondrous sound.
Lila steps closer. “Last night wasn’t a mistake.”
“I’m pretty sure it was just a box to tick off from the operation manual you created to manipulate me.”
Her smile fades. “I wrote it before I knew you. Yes, I brought you that cake because I wanted your vote. And while every premeditated run-in was contest related, that’s not why I kept doing it.” She looks down at the notebook. “Somewhere along the way, I stopped looking for you because you were a judge and started looking for you because seeing you is the best part of my day.”
We can trust her.
Can we?
“And last night? The cupcakes?” I ask.
“A shameless attempt to lure you into my house.”
My chest tightens.
“But not because I wanted a crown.”
“Why, then?”
Lila’s mouth curves. “Have you seen yourself?”
A laugh breaks through the last of my defenses.
She takes another step. Barely a foot separates us now.
“Max, I have never been so grateful for faceplanting into a cake, bathing in hydration-station water, or nearly falling out of a Ferris wheel.”
My fox bristles at the final memory.
“That one isn’t funny.”
“No,” she says softly. “But you were there. Every ridiculous disaster brought me closer to you.”
Her fingers slide into mine, and I look down at our joined hands.
