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We stood quietly. It should've been uncomfortable. It wasn't. Which was infuriating.

"Do you ever feel stupid?" I asked.

"Sweetheart, I once tried jumping a dirt bike over a creek because my brother bet me twenty bucks I couldn't."

"Did you make it?"

"Nope."

My face scrunched up in a grimace. "How bad?"

"Broke my arm and landed in poison oak."

I winced. "That's unfortunate."

"Had poison oak in places a man should never have poison oak."

A laugh bubbled up inside of me.

"There she is." A tenderness shone through his eyes.

My smile faded. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Be nice to me."

"That's a new one."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

"Just... don't."

He nodded. "Okay."

And then he stayed. No questions. No pressure. Just Damon. Which made pretending I was fine impossible.

I took a large sip of the margarita. "Annie brought new information to light."

His posture changed. "That sounds…ominous."

"Apparently, my entire relationship with Kenny was a practical joke everyone was in on except me."

I’m not sure why I started talking, but once I had, I spilled all the tea. The homecoming dance. The secret relationship. The reunion. Everything.

"The craziest part is that she doesn’t believe I walked in on Kenny and his assistant. She said it wasn’t what I thought and I was paranoid. She believes Kenny over me."

He was silent. Then he said, "Well, they're both assholes."

A smile spread on my face. “Again, is that your professional assessment?"

"Yep."

"Very nuanced."

"I could use bigger words, but I don't think they'd improve the diagnosis." His tone turned serious. "You're not stupid, Mikayla."