Page 40 of Tessa and Nash

“Don’t touch anything else.”

I freeze. “I was just⁠—”

“I know what you were just…” she cuts in. “I mean, don’t touch anything else in this house. You’re loud. You creak.”

“I do not creak.”

“You absolutely creak.”

I bite back a smile. Wrong. Moment.

She gets up, wrapping the sheet tighter around herself. “What were you thinking?”

There it is.

The real question.

“I wasn’t,” I admit. “Clearly.”

She exhales hard, pacing once, then stopping directly in front of me. “Do you have any idea how bad this looks?”

“I didn’t exactly bring a marching band,” I mutter.

Her glare could cut glass. “You are engaged.”

The word hits hard.

I straighten despite the hangover. “I did not⁠—”

“You cheated on your fiancée,” she snaps, eyes bright with fury. “With me.”

“I didn’t cheat,” I fire back.

She lets out a short, incredulous laugh. “That is an insane thing to say.”

“Because…” I stop myself, jaw tightening. “Because it’s not like that.”

“Oh?” she challenges. “Then explain it to me, Nash. Slowly. Like I’m five.”

I drag a hand down my face. My head is pounding. My mouth tastes of cheap whiskey. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know exactly what I’m talking about,” she says. “You made a public declaration. You stood in front of the town council and told everyone you were engaged. Then you kissed me. Then you slept with me.” Her voice sharpens. “In my bed.”

The room feels too small.

“You panicked,” she continues. “You panicked, like you always do, and now you’re dragging everyone else into it.”

“That’s not fair.”

She laughs again, but this time there’s no humor in it. “You don’t get to decide what’s fair.”

I stand abruptly, swaying once. She watches me carefully, ready to shove me back onto the bed if I fall.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I say.

“And whose fault is that?” she snaps. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you used me to blow off steam after creating a drama with the entire town.”

“That’s not…” My voice cracks, frustration surging. “You think I planned this?”