Page 91 of Fall at Once

“We’ll start the bidding for each bachelor at fifty dollars. First up is Cole Sutter, the Cozy Creek Fire Brigade chief. Let’s have a round of applause for Cole! What a good sport you are. Do we have fifty dollars?”

Immediately, Heather Hadley stood up from her table and raised her hand. “Fifty dollars, right here.” She sent a dirty wink my way and licked her lips.

I looked at the ceiling and tried to find a happy place to go to.

“Sixty dollars.” My eyes snapped to the crowd. Abigail had bid on me.

She was at a table with Riley.

Where were Gigi and Madi? And Kenzie?

Or anyone else I could send rescue signals to with my eyeballs. Someone else had to bid on me. Literally, anyone else would be better than these two.

What the hell was going on?

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Was Abigail interested in me again? I looked at the floor. Maybe if I stared hard enough, it would swallow me up. Getting sucked down to hell would be better than being in this eventroom right now.

“Seventy dollars.” It was Handsy Hadley again.

There was no good option for me here. “What the fuck, Tate,” I seethed at him.

“You’ll be fine.”

“The hell I will.” I grabbed Tate to whisper in his ear. “You’re up last. Sneak off and find Nat. Give her a couple hundred bucks and tell her to bid on me. Or Riley. Or find Kenzie. Or even Quinn. I don’t fucking care. Help me.”

He burst out laughing.

“This is not fucking funny,” I rasped from the corner of my mouth. “This is my literal nightmare. I’m pretty sure I’ve woken up in a cold sweat from something like this at least once.”

“You’re right.” He cupped his hand over his mouth to whisper back, “It’s not funny—at all. I’m sorry. I have no idea how to help you though. Maybe we can get Mom to kick her ass? Too bad we don’t have an older sister.”

I choked on a laugh. “It’s all good. I’ll handle it somehow.” He might not have a solution, but he could always lighten my mood.

“One hundred dollars,” Abigail shouted, glaring at Mrs. Hadley. “Sit down, lady. I’ve got money to spare and zero compunctions about taking you out to the parking lot to work this out old-school style.” She slapped her fist into the palm of her opposite hand for emphasis. “I need Cole, and I’m going to get him. You can bid on someone else. They’re all the same to you, right?”

Riley was sitting at their table. I tried to catch her eye, but she was busy texting on her phone and didn’t notice my desperatebut silent cry for help.

“Two hundred dollars.” Handsy Hadley flipped Abigail the bird and then blew me a kiss.

“Oh god,” I mumbled. Would it be wrong to run out the back door and hide out at home until the fundraiser was over?

“Two hundred and fifty!” Abigail stuck her tongue out. “Watch it, Hadley.”

“Five hundred dollars.” A breathless Madi entered the room, followed by her mother and Gigi.

Chapter 29

Cole

“Oh, thank god.” Relief flooded my veins, and it was twofold.

One, Madi was here, and she was okay. Two, she bid on me, which had to mean she still cared. Maybe I still had a chance with her after all.

Okay, my reasons were threefold. She was stunning tonight. I stared at her without words, my heart beating straight out of my chest. She was gorgeous in a russet-colored dress, with her beautiful chestnut hair flowing in waves over one shoulder. The dress hugged her curvy hips, and the strapless sweetheart neckline revealed just enough of her cleavage to make me lose what was left of my mind.

Nervously, she bit her lip and ran straight to the platform—to me, where Abigail and Riley quickly joined her.

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