Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 33213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
I freeze. My pulse stumbles. The air thickens.
“Saxon…”
His eyes hold mine like he’s holding something back. Something sharp. Something forbidden. Something that tastes like yes. But then someone calls his name from across the lawn and the spell breaks.
He steps back slowly, jaw tight, like it physically costs him to pull away. I exhale shakily as he turns to leave. But before he does, he glances at me again—one last look that drags across my skin and leaves everything smoldering.
“See you around, sunshine,” he murmurs.
And then he disappears into the festival lights leaving me standing there with my heart racing and the spark between us blazing hotter than anything I’m ready for.
Chapter Six
Saxon
I’m halfway through a routine fire inspection at the elementary school—routine only because I keep making excuses to be here—when I hear raised voices down the hall.
One of them is Briar’s.
The other is male.
I know her voice.
I know her laugh.
And I know the quiet panic threading through her tone right now.
I follow the sound before I think it through, boots hitting the linoleum in slow, heavy thuds that echo too loud in my chest.
She’s outside the principal’s office, facing a guy in a button-down that looked expensive once but now just looks greasy. He stands too close. He talks too loud. And he keeps stabbing the air with a clipboard like he’s lecturing her. Her ex.
Her shoulders are tight. Her face is pale. And the second she spots me, something like relief flashes in her eyes.
I don’t stop walking.
The guy doesn’t notice me until I’m two feet behind her.
“For the last time, Briar,” he snaps, “I’m not signing anything until I know Junie has a stable home environment. I’m her father. I have a right to make sure she’s not living with—”
“With what?” she fires back, voice thin. “With me? Her mother?”
“With poor decision-making,” he says coldly.
My jaw flexes so hard it pops.
She breathes in sharply, voice shaking. “You haven’t visited in six months. You don’t call. You don’t check in. You don’t even know what size shoes she wears.”
“That’s not the point,” he says, exasperated. “You’re asking for placement in a special academic program. That requires signatures and stability. You can’t just fly by the seat of your pants, Bri.”
Her shoulders shake once—anger, humiliation, fear, maybe all three.
I step in.
“Problem here?” I ask, voice low enough that even he flinches.
He turns. Looks me up and down like he’s trying to size me up. Poor bastard doesn’t realize I’ve already decided I don’t like him.
“And so we meet again.”
Briar exhales, barely audible.
Her ex scoffs. “This isn’t your business.”
“Pretty sure it is,” I say. “You’re upsetting her.”
His brows rise. “Are you serious?”
I don’t blink. “Very.”
He turns to Briar sharply. “Is this what you want your daughter around? Aggressive men?”
Briar sputters. “He’s not— You’re twisting things—”
The principal opens her office door then, looking frazzled. “Briar? Everything okay?”
And that’s when it happens.
The moment that changes everything.
Briar, red-faced, stressed, pushed to the edge says, “I’m fine. We’re fine. I’m— I’m engaged.”
Her ex freezes.
The principal freezes.
I freeze for half a second.
Then she keeps digging herself deeper, voice cracking, “Everything is stable. Because I’m— we’re— engaged.”
Her ex’s face twists like he’s smelled something rotten. “Engaged? To who?”
Briar’s eyes widen. She looks at me in panic. Like she wants to grab the words and shove them back into her mouth.
And before she can backtrack, before she can ruin the one thing that might protect her, before I even think it through—I say it for her.
“To me.”
Every head snaps toward me.
The hallway goes silent. The fluorescent lights hum too loud. Briar’s mouth falls open, eyes huge, color draining from her face.
Her ex laughs once—harsh and bitter. “You expect me to believe that you two are—”
“Yes,” I cut in. Calm. Controlled. Deadly. “We are.”
The principal’s hand flies to her chest. “Oh my goodness, congratulations!”
The ex looks like he wants to punch something.
Not a great move, considering I’d break him in half.
“We’ll need documentation,” he says tightly. “Proof. If this is some stunt—”
I step closer to him. “Do I look like I play games?”
He goes still.
The principal beams like a Christmas tree. “This is wonderful news. Briar, why didn’t you tell us?”
Briar lets out a strangled, “I— well— it’s—”
I rest my hand lightly on the small of her back in a steadying touch. A claim. A warning to her ex. All of the above.
Her whole body jerks.
I lean just enough she can feel my breath. “Go along with it,” I murmur so only she can hear. “For now.”
She gulps. Nods once.
Her ex glares. “This doesn’t excuse anything. I still want to see Junie.”
“When you actually show up,” she snaps, surprising me. “And when you’re actually sober enough for it to matter.”
He pales. “I’m not— That’s—”
“Enough,” I say, stepping between them. “She’s done talking to you.”
“You don’t get to decide that,” he spits.