Page 43 of Wanna Bet?

"You okay?" Jace asked.

Myah blinked and found him watching her from behind the counter.

"Yeah," she said, forcing a smile. "Why?"

He shrugged. "You got quiet."

"I know. Shocking."

His mouth twitched with amusement, "There she is."

The warmth that spread through her chest at such a simple comment only made everything worse.

While Jace rang up another customer, Myah pulled out her phone to distract herself. Her thumb drifted automatically toward their text conversation, and the moment she opened it, her chest tightened. At the top of the screen, where some joke of a name should have been, was: J <3

Myah stared at it. She couldn't even remember changing it. At some point, he'd stopped being Project Win and became a real person, which obviously felt like shit hearing herself think that.

The realization hit her with startling force. Project Win. That was what she'd originally saved him as after agreeing to the stupid bet with Kaylee. It had been a joke. A bet. Something harmless and ridiculous that she hadn't expected to think about for more than a day or two.

Instead, somewhere along the way, she'd changed it, and now there was a heart sitting beside his name like it belonged there. Like he belonged there.

A knot formed in her throat and her mouth filled with saliva. Was she going to throw up right there in the record store? That would definitely be a way to get Jace to second guess being with her.

For most people, it probably wouldn't have meant much. A nickname in a phone was just a nickname. But Myah knew herself too well.

Attachment had always happened quickly for her.

Feelings arrived without warning and without moderation. There was no gradual incline, no safe middle ground where she could test the depth before diving in. Every connection felt enormous. Every loss felt devastating. Every possibility carried enough weight to crush her.

Years of therapy had taught her how to recognize the patterns, but recognizing them and stopping them were two very different things.

She liked Jace. Not in the playful, harmless way she'd convinced herself she did at the beginning. Not in the way someone liked flirting or attention. She liked him. Enough that seeing another woman flirt with him had hurt. Enough that his texts could improve her mood. Enough that she'd started looking for him in every part of her day.

That should have made her happy. Instead, it filled her with dread, because underneath every laugh, every kiss, and every late-night text message sat a truth she hadn't told him.

The bet. The stupid, selfish, awful bet.

Jace deserved someone who hadn't approached him because of a challenge from a coworker. He deserved someone who hadn't started this whole thing with ulterior motives. Someone honest. Someone uncomplicated. Someone better.

The thought settled heavily in her chest as she watched him help another customer. He smiled politely, listened attentively, and treated the stranger with the same quiet kindness he offered everyone else. Including her.

The guilt had become impossible to ignore. Tomorrow, she would end it. She would tell Kaylee she was done with the bet. Kaylee could win. Myah didn't care anymore. The prize wasn't worth it.

Maybe it never had been. Because somewhere between shared headphones, rainy afternoons, and kisses that left her breathless, Jace had become real to her. And every day she kept this secret felt like another betrayal.

For the first time since this whole thing began, Myah wasn't afraid that Jace would leave. She was afraid of what would happen when he discovered why she'd approached him in the first place.

Chapter Eleven

(1pm) Ellie wellie:

​Game night tonight.

(1:01pm) Ellie wellie:

​Seven.

(1:02pm) Ellie wellie: