Page 199 of Fiery Romance

Tonight, it tastes like dirt on my tongue.

“Where’s Taz?” Grampa leans against the wall. Arms folded. Scowl fixed. “That boy went and made a public spectacle without even asking for our blessing. And now I haven’t heard a peep from him while you’re in bed, sick as a dog. What kind of fiancé is that?”

“Hush,” Gran says.

“Why should I hush, baby? Island is here suffering and that boy is nowhere to be found.”

“Can’t you see that there’s more to the story, honey?”

“More? What more could there be? He asked her to marry him. She said yes. And now he’s disappeared again.”

“What if she didn’t really say yes?” Gran mutters.

My eyes widen. I wrap my fingers around Gran’s wrist to stop her from shoving the spoon into my mouth. “How did you know?”

“Bumblebee,” she sets the bowl aside, “you think I don’t know you? You think I didn’t see the way your eyes followed a certain man at the gala—a man who wasn’t Taz? You think I didn’t notice the way you cringed when Taz got down on one knee. The way you looked around before you said yes? You think I don’t know that you would rather agree to something you don’t want to do than publicly humiliate someone you respect?”

I glance down. “I thought I was hiding it better.”

“Not from me.” Gran lifts the spoon again.

“Wait.” Grampa pushes off the wall and stalks over to us. “So you’re not engaged?”

“No.”

“Didn’t you see she wasn’t wearing his ring?” Gran lifts my hand.

“I thought it was because she can’t braid with the ring on!”

I laugh softly. And then I glance between them. “What are you guys doing here? Didn’t I wave goodbye to you at the airport yesterday?”

“We got as far as London before we realized that we couldn’t leave you behind,” Gran says.

Grampa agrees. “These men don’t know how to take care of a treasure as precious as you, so we’ll do it ourselves.”

My bottom lip wobbles with emotion. “Thank you.”

“Thank us for what? For loving you? Now that’s ridiculous.” Grampa huffs.

“Drink this, bumblebee.” Gran tips a hot citrusy drink at my lips. “Now tell us why you’d let everyone believe that you really said yes to Taz.”

I remain quiet as I think about that last conversation with my ex.

“Here. Take it back.” I offer the ring to him.

“I’m not taking it. It’s yours. We’re getting married. It’s what we planned. It’s what’s meant to be, Island. This ring, the papers, the wedding, it’s just a symbol to prove how connected we already are.”

“I’m sorry, Taz. That connection is gone.”

“No, Island. I love you.”

“But I don’t love you anymore.”

His face crumples with hurt. “Is it because of him?”

“No. Clay helped me realize what I should have known a long time ago. I don’t want to share the person I love. And I don’t want someone who’ll ask me to share either. I deserve someone who’s eager to be with me. Who doesn’t take off when things get hard. I deserve someone who’ll stick around.”

“I’m ready to be that man for you.”

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