Page 105 of Tessa and Nash

And I can’t even blame her, because I have spent my whole life pretending the mess doesn’t scare me.

I rub a hand over my face.

“Okay,” I say slowly. “What do you want me to do right now?”

She whips around. “I want you to take this seriously.”

I stare at her. “I am taking it seriously.”

“No,” she snaps. “You’re doing that thing where you act calm so everyone else has to be calm too. Like your confidence is supposed to make the problem disappear.”

My jaw tightens. “Maybe I’m acting calm because if I stop, I’m going to lose my mind.”

That shuts her up for half a second.

She crosses her arms. “So lose it.”

I blink. “What?”

“Lose it,” she repeats, stepping closer. “Stop trying to be the fun one who shrugs off consequences. Stop trying to pretend this is fine.”

My throat throbs, anger flaring because fear is already in there, and anger is easier to hold.

“You think I’m pretending?” I snap back. “You think I’m not aware we’re trapped in your family’s haunted winter house with a map that might blow up my whole ranch?”

I immediately regret that phrasing because her expression goes colder.

“That came out wrong.”

“Oh, it came out honest,” she bites back. “That’s the difference.”

I step closer too, because apparently we both love making bad decisions in small kitchens.

“You want honesty?” I say. “Fine. Here’s honesty. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Tessa’s brows knit. “What?”

“I don’t,” I repeat, sharper now because it’s spilling out faster than I can stop it. “I’m making it up as I go. I’m trying to build something for my family, and I keep hitting walls because everyone thinks I’m still the kid who jokes his way through life.”

“You—”

“And maybe I am,” I cut in, too fired up now to stop. “Maybe I do smile too much. Maybe I do talk too much. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care.”

Her jaw clenches. “Then stop proving my point.”

“What point?” I snap.

“That you can’t handle pressure without turning it into spectacle,” she throws back.

The words hit hard.

Spectacle.

Fake engagement.

Town gossip.

My stupid mouth in the council meeting.