Page 184 of Tessa and Nash

I hate it.

I hate that voice.

It makes everything feel so... out of control. It makes me question myself in ways I can’t stand.

And yet, I stay where I am, frozen, like I’m scared to move. Because, damn it, I know what it looks like from the outside.

I know how it must feel to see the McCoy brother, me, suddenly engaged to Tessa Long right when the whole damn town is falling apart. The land dispute. The delays. The leverage. I’ve become a pawn in a game I don’t even understand, and it makes me feel small.

I’m losing something that should have been mine.

I hate how small it makes me feel.

I step into the doorway before I can talk myself out of it. “I’m right here, you know.”

I can feel the anger bubbling up from somewhere deep inside, just waiting to spill over. Both of them look up immediately, like I’ve caught them off guard, like they didn’t think I’d hear their bullshit.

Boone recovers first. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Dallas adds.

Boone clears his throat. “We weren’t⁠—”

“You were talking about me,” I snap.

“Yeah.”

Dallas leans back in his chair, studying me. “You want to tell us what’s going on?”

The question hangs in the air.

I could.

I could tell them everything—about the fake engagement, the land records, and how this whole situation spiraled because I thought faking confidence would make people take me seriously.

Instead, I shrug. “Nothing’s going on.”

Boone stares at me. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m a tired liar.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

I hate that line. That voice. The way he talks down to me like he knows better. The anger flares up again, hot and fast.

Dallas folds his arms. “Nash. If something’s wrong, we’d rather hear it from you than from the town.”

My jaw tightens.

“Well,” I say with a thin smile, “good luck with that.”

Boone’s patience snaps. “Damn it, Nash.”

I flinch slightly.

“You’re shutting us out,” he says. “And we can all see this council mess is eating you alive.”

“It’s handled.”