Page 199 of Tessa and Nash

Nash

February 14th

The truth is, I wasn’t trying to flirt.

Standing on that stage under the auction lights, listening to the crowd shout bids and laugh at every ridiculous thing the announcer said, I was mostly trying to keep the night lighthearted. The whole event exists to raise money for the community center. Kids’ programs, repairs to the gym, the kind of small-town projects that matter.

Every year, a handful of us volunteer to get auctioned off because it makes people laugh and opens their wallets.

Usually, I enjoy it.

Tonight I’m mostly trying to keep the mood from turning awkward after everything that’s happened.

The last thing Buckhorn needs is another round of speculation about me and Tessa.

Her name still hits hard as a bruise when I think about it too long.

For the past two days, I’ve replayed the look she gave me in the council chamber. Shock came first, followed by anger, and beneath both of those sat emotion that felt dangerously close to betrayal.

Maybe she had every reason to feel that way.

I told the truth, but I did it in front of half the town, which means I exposed her along with myself.

That outcome had never been the plan.

The whole point had been to free her from the story I created. Instead, I made the situation worse.

The auctioneer shouts another number, and the crowd cheers.

Nell Lawson stands near the front row with her hand raised high, looking extremely pleased with herself.

“Two hundred dollars!” the auctioneer announces. “Do I hear two fifty?”

Nell shakes her head, laughing.

The auctioneer slams his hand on the podium. “Sold!”

Applause ripples through the room while I step down from the stage.

Nell beams up at me.

“Hope you like long trail rides,” she says.

“I do,” I reply. “Hope you like questionable campfire cooking.”

She laughs and heads toward the volunteers collecting payments.

People clap my shoulder as I move through the crowd.

“Good show, Nash.”

“Nice recovery after that council circus.”

“You’re raising good money tonight.”

I nod, smile, and toss out a few jokes.

From the outside, it probably seems everything has returned to normal.