Page 90 of Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek)

She pinches the bridge of her nose as if she’s fighting the urge to smack me. “Which means my parents are next.”

“One of y’all better start explainin’ right now…” Noah demands. “I told you to spend time with her, not whatever thehell this is…” She waves her arms at our proximity. “You two can’t be together.”

“I knew it…” Gramma Grace mocks. “As soon as they walked in, I saw it.”

“No freakin’ way.” Wilder barks out a laugh. “Y’all didn’t tell her she hates his guts?”

“Of course I did.” Noah whacks him in the arm when he teasingly pokes her. “But my question is how the hell did this happen? How did we go from Ellie having a concussion and forgetting Landen’s existence to Ellie’s now engaged to Landen?”

“I’d like to know as well…” Mrs. Hollis asks, grabs Poppy, and then kisses her cheeks.

“Storytime!” Magnolia grabs a piece of fresh bread from the middle of the table and pops it into her mouth.

“Are we gettin’ a new sister-in-law?” Wilder smirks.

“Dibs on godfather this time!” Waylon shouts.

Oh my God.

I scowl at him.

“What? You called it last time,” Waylon argues. “Now it’s my turn to be someone’s daddy.”

When he waggles his brows, all stares move to Fisher, who’s trying desperately to stay out of the conversation.

“That’s not the same, you idiot. Magnolia waspregnant,” Noah reminds him, and then she nearly snaps her neck to look at Ellie. “Holy shit, are you pregnant?”

“No!” she exclaims. “And we aren’t engaged.”

“But wearetogether,” I confirm, smiling at Ellie, who looks flustered with all the attention on her.

Noah presses a hand to her chest and exhales. “I swear to God, one of y’all better start explainin’. But let’s start with why Harlow and Delilah texted me that you two are gettin’ married.”

“Calm down before you pop a blood vessel…” I taunt, then tighten my grip on Ellie’s waist. “Some douche was harrassin’ her at the store, claiming they met a few weeks ago at one of her races and hit it off. When he got aggressive and persistent, I stepped in and told him I was her fiancé. I only said it to get him to back off.”

“Aggressive how?” Wilder asks.

“Kept gettin’ closer and insistin’ she knew him, then once he started shouting at her, I threatened him with my fist if he didn’t back off. After mentioning my dick-shootin’ skills, he finally walked away.”

Magnolia rolls her eyes with a smile. “You and that story.”

“I’m pretty sure he followed my truck out of the store parking lot and tailed me most of the way here,” I continue.

“Who is it?” Tripp asks. “Someone we know?”

“His name is Gage and he works for my dad,” Ellie explains. “But I don’t remember him and when I tried to explain my injury, he called me a liar.”

“Where did Harlow and Delilah hear it?” I ask Noah.

“They were shoppin’ downtown an hour ago and some man was talkin’ loudly on his phone saying that Ellie and Landen are engaged.”

“Oh my God…he coulda been talkin’ to my dad.” Ellie blows out a frustrated breath.

“Well, safe to say most of the town’s heard it by now,” Noah says, reaching for something in the fridge.

“You should tell your dad anyway,” I tell her. “He needs to fire that lunatic.”

“What if that pisses him off even more?” Ellie asks. “He probably knows where I live.”

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