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My heart soared as their soft cologne mingled around me. When the hug broke, I set my glass down and reached for my purse.
“Actually, there’s one more thing.”
Beers were drunk slowly as I opened my purse and stared inside.
“So, the town I’m from, Half Ridge… as you know, we’re pretty huge on Valentine's Day because of how the town was founded, and there’s a huge festival and traditions, yadda yadda.” My heart began to pound, and I reached one trembling hand into my purse. “Well, one of those traditions is to… is to gift a gold-tipped rose to someone you might have feelings for. Someone you might want to confess that you like them or you…”
I paused and slowly pulled out three deep pink roses. The trim of each delicate petal was coated in a gold paint that shimmered in the lights.
“Or maybe you want to confess that you’re falling in love with someone. So, you give them the rose, and they come to the festival on Valentine's Day and give you their answer.” Pressing my lips together, I lifted my gaze to the three pairs of eyes watching me. “So, I wanted to give you a rose. All of you.”
My heart pounded like a slow drum, and the crowd around melted away to nothing. All that mattered were the three men in front of me. They were my brother’s best friends and the three people who had given me the time of day since I arrived here. They never cared about who I was or that I wasn’t from the same circle as them. Even finding out who I was hadn’t swayed them.
“I really enjoy spending time with all of you,” I continued, talking even as Lucas’ lips parted. “So, I hope you will accept the rose and uh… and give me your answer next week. Although there’s no festival here but y’know.” The longer I talked, the more my hands shook, so I quickly gave each man a rose.
And each one took it.
“Scarlett,” Lucas began. “This is so cute. I never— do I have to wait until the fourteenth before I give you my answer?”
“Yes,” I smiled, fighting to keep the nerves from my voice.
“A stupid rule,” Sebastian said.
“It’s tradition!” I chuckled breathlessly. “I like you. All of you. No, I’m falling in love with all of you, I’m pretty sure and so next week we— we can have dinner and you can tell me then.”
“Is this why you’re staying?” Danny asked softly, turning the rose over in his hands. “We don’t need roses to tell you how we feel. I hope it’s obvious?—.”
“You’re staying!?” Toby, out of nowhere, burst forward and threw his arms around my shoulders, the slight tinge of alcohol on his breath.
I jumped slightly and laughed, patting his arm. “Yes, yes. For a little while.”
“I’m so happy!” Toby leaned back and squeezed my shoulder, then glanced at his friends and the roses in each of their hands. “You guys are really doing the whole… group thing huh?”
“Is that a problem?” Sebastian asked, and there was a slight brittleness to his tone.
“No! Of course not,” Toby grinned. “Fuck, the way this entire world works, I’m just happy you have all found someone. And you, Scarlett. I’m just glad they’ve persuaded you to stay.”
“Well, it just… it makes sense,” I smiled warmly, my stomach fluttering. Toby didn’t seem to mind the nature of our relationship one bit, which calmed the worry in the back of my mind about breaking that news.
“You know, when I asked you guys to spend time with her and dig up whatever dirt you could, I didn’t expect you all to fall in love. But you know what? It’s perfect! My new sister and my best friends, it’s a perfect match!”
Wait... what?
My heart froze, punching to a complete stop in my chest. Suddenly, Toby’s arm was a deadweight across my shoulders as I processed his words.
“Wait— I’m sorry… you asked them to get dirt on me?”
“Scarlett—,” Lucas began, but his words faded as a roaring rose in my ears.
“You asked them to spend time with me? It wasn’t… it wasn’t because you liked me?”
The bitter sting of tears stabbed behind my eyes, and I lifted my gaze to the three uncomfortable faces before me. Toby, seemingly too tipsy to understand what he let slip, turned away for a moment then he quickly smoothed down his suit.
“It’s time for my speech! I’ll find you all after, okay?”
And with that, Toby was gone, taking the crumbling foundation of my relationship with him.
“Tell me it’s not true,” I whispered. For a moment, Sebastian, Lucas, and Danny all spoke at once, creating nothing but incoherent noise as my heart fractured in my chest. It wasn’t me. They didn’t happen across me like that naturally.
