Total pages in book: 186
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
“I’m looking for Sanjana Marino?”
Cue every pair of eyes swinging my way.
My face went warm. I cleared my throat and raised my hand, trying not to shrink into my seat. “That’s me.”
The guy smiled and walked over to where I was sitting, careful with the vase. I stood to take it, murmured a quick thanks, and sat back down like it was no big deal.
“Have a good one,” he called over his shoulder, already out the door.
The flowers were stunning. Soft pink lilies nestled between ivory and blue roses, trailing pale greenery. A few students around me whispered and side-eyed, their curiosity practically humming. I ignored them, reaching for the attached card, my heart already kicking into a faster rhythm.
Hope this brightens your day, Sassy.
It would’ve taken some drastic measures for me to hold my smile back.
Kellan leaned over, “Voss?” There was amusement in his voice, like he didn’t even need confirmation.
I nodded, my cheeks still flushed.
The fact that Ashton’s name didn’t come up as a possibility said more than I was ready to unpack. Especially since our texts were far and few since the night before. Was I a horrible person for not caring as much as I probably should’ve?
Miss Prescott chuckled at the interruption. “Ah, young love,” she mused, pushing her glasses up and shaking her head of dark hair.
She wasn’t old enough to be speaking about age. Not to mention, she was effortlessly beautiful, one of the only professors at Crowsfell who could deliver a lecture about cultural morality while looking like she belonged on the cover of Architectural Digest. Half the campus took her class for the view. The rest stayed for her brutal honesty and the fact that she graded like she’d seen the world fall apart and was desperate to make us smarter than whoever had broken it.
As the class settled back into the flow of her lecture, I slid my phone halfway out of my bag and typed a quick message.
These are beautiful, but why?
The reply came before I could even lock the screen.
Rye 🥖❤️
Did they make you smile?
Of course.
Rye 🥖❤️
That’s why.
I bit my lip, the smile in question still tugging stubbornly at my mouth. He always did this, found ways to show up for me without making it a giant spectacle where he stole the spotlight.
I looked at the flowers again, at the card tucked inside, and wondered, not for the first time, how I was supposed to keep pretending that what we had was just friendship. It was getting harder to keep repeating the same lie, especially to myself.
The rest of the class passed in a blur, my focus split between Miss Prescott’s lecture and the vase of flowers. Every time I leaned forward, the scent of lilies and roses drifted up. When the professor finally dismissed us, I pulled up the group chat with the girls to check where we were all meeting, then carefully packed my things and cradled the vase in my arms like it was something sacred. Kellan’s tall form fell into step beside me as we moved through the now-crowded halls, students pouring out of lecture rooms in waves. A few people glanced at the flowers. One girl I didn’t recognize did a double-take.
“Someone’s got a secret admirer,” a passing guy teased with a smirk.
We rounded a corner, and I adjusted the vase in my arms, careful not to crush a petal.
“Why haven’t you and Ryder gotten together yet?” Kellan asked bluntly.
I nearly tripped over my own feet. “What?”
“I’ve been watching you two for over a year now. That man’s down bad for you, Sanj.”
I suppressed a sigh. Ryder and I were so obvious it was almost embarrassing to keep up the charade.
“He has a girlfriend,” I said flatly, my go-to defense that was rapidly losing traction.
The look Kellan shot at me made it clear he wasn’t buying a word of it. I’m sure others wouldn’t either.
Just like I knew, this sweet little gesture wouldn’t stay quiet. At Crowsfell, secrets had expiration dates, and this one came with a time stamp and social proof. If someone hadn’t already snapped a pic or whipped their phone out to record, it was only a matter of time. What was I supposed to say to his girlfriend?
“Sorry, your boyfriend sent me flowers in front of an entire lecture hall. I didn’t mean to make you collateral in our twisted, never-ending game of will-they-won’t-they and my slowly crumbling denial.”
Ashton, too. He’d have an opinion. It didn’t matter that Ryder hadn’t technically done anything wrong. When did feelings ever play by rules or reason? As we rounded the corner into the main lobby, the girls came into view, clustered near the trophy wall, minus Layla. She texted earlier with a vague apology and a request to talk after practice, and I agreed. Roxxi would never use her position as cheer captain against her, but that had nothing to do with her potentially throat-punching the poor girl on sight, and I preferred dealing with one fire at a time.