Page 40 of Stay

“Nice to meet you,” I say on autopilot. “Baked spaghetti.”

“Felicity is an amazing cook,” Sutton says. He glances at the pasta I’ve taken out of the oven and his eyes widen. “We haven’t had this yet, but I can guarantee it’ll be out of this world.”

My cheeks warm with his praise. We still laugh at my disastrous first attempt in his kitchen, but he never fails to tell me how delicious everything is and to let me know how grateful he is for everything I’m doing here.

“Looks like I either came at the worst possible time or that this is my lucky day,” Gwyneth says, laughing. Her eyes meet mine and I jump in to avoid making it more awkward than it already is.

“There’s plenty, and I pulled out an extra plate for you already, just in case.” I point to the plate next to the casserole dish and salad, the garlic bread steaming next to that. It brings me no small comfort to know they’ll have dragon garlic breath when they kiss later. “I’m just heading out, but everything’s ready to go.”

“But you should stay,” Owen says, his hand reaching out to touch my arm.

“Yes, stay,” Sutton adds.

“I really can’t,” I say. I lift my hand over my shoulder. “I’ve got a…thing.”

It’s obvious I’m lying. At least to Gwyneth. She’s looking at me with a mixture ofyeah, rightandyou poor girl, you’ve got it bad, don’t you?

Yes, I freaking do, okay? I didn’t realize just how bad until I saw Gwyneth’s tongue down Sutton’s throat.

And I don’t really care what she thinks, I just want to get out of here.

“Have a great night!” I sound like a chipmunk, each word chirping higher than the last.

Sutton tries to say one more thing, but I pretend to not hear him, opening the door and rushing toward my place.

When I step inside, I’m tempted to crawl under the covers and stay there for the rest of the night, but I don’t. I add a little more eyeliner and powder my nose. After I’ve added lip gloss and a spritz of perfume, I put on my jacket and leave before I can talk myself out of it.

Heritage Lane is the cutest street, lit with white lights and Valentine decor popping out everywhere. Every time I drive into town, more decorations have been added. There are heart garlands along the storefronts and red and pink decorations attached to the lampposts. The Hallmark card holiday is just around the corner and I don’t even want to think about it right now, but the town sure looks festive.

As I drive down the busy street, I’m unsure of where to stop. I don’t really care where it is—I just need a distraction. When I see a car pull out of The Dancing Emu’s parking lot, I decide to try there. If it’s too crowded, I’ll go back to my place, but I’d rather not run into Gwyneth or Sutton again tonight.

I hear my name called and turn abruptly, running into someone as I do.

“I’m so sorry,” I say.

When I look up, there’s a good-looking guy smiling back at me, and I apologize again.

“You can run into me anytime,” he says, giving me an easy smile.

I laugh awkwardly and then glance around, looking for who would’ve said my name.

Wyatt, Marlow, and Dakota are sitting at a table and Marlow waves me over. I exhale in relief, my mood already lifting as I walk toward them.

Marlow stands up and hugs me and Dakota quickly follows, her little arms wrapping around me.

“This is exactly what I needed,” I say, smiling down at her.

“Hard day?” Wyatt asks.

I look at him, his smile and concern giving me a pang of homesickness for my brother.

“It’s just really nice to see you guys,” I say.

Wyatt looks around. “Sutton and Owen aren’t with you?”

“Oh, no…it’s just me.” I’m embarrassed, realizing they must have thought Sutton would be here and that’s why they called me over.

“Even better,” Wyatt says. “We can talk about him while he’s not here.”

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