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Snickering, she drops the subject and flops against the seat. “Where are you taking me that Huck and Taylor couldn't come with, anyway?”

“You'll see soon.”

Her delicate brow furrows slightly, like she can already sense something in the air—something big.

After another few minutes of winding uphill, I spot the hidden turnout I scouted weeks ago: A wide viewing area with a crumbling guardrail overlooking the entire mountain. Pulling in, I kill the engine, and silence blankets us immediately.

Salem stares out the window with a soft smile. “Okay… This is actually really beautiful.”

My heart hammers against my ribcage. “Come on. You gotta see it from out there.”

She grabs her camera before we step out, snow crunching under each footfall. Wind bites at our faces, turning Salem’s cheeks pink. She lifts the camera to snap photos of the evergreens covered in layers of white.

I'm so nervous that I could puke. She's told me a hundred times that marriage isn't in the stars for her, but we're good together. It may not be how I wanted this to go, and yeah, Dad is forcing my hand, but I'll take care of her. She's become my best friend, the only person I want to spend all my time with. The next step should be marriage, right?

Taking a deep breath, I pull the box from my pocket and drop to one knee. Salem’s asking me a question I can’t hear, but when she looks back to find me on the ground, the words die on her lips.

“Logan—”

“I know this is kind of unexpected,” I rush out, “and I know we've talked about this before, but… Salem, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on, inside and out. You're strong and wild, basically everything I'm not, but I think we complete each other. If you say yes to being my wife, I'll spend our whole lives continuing to show you how much you mean to me.”

I open the box and show her the ring I spent the last month picking out. Her hands cover her mouth, eyes dark and shiny, but she doesn’t cry.

She doesn’t smile, either.

The wind howls around us, sending shivers down my spine. The silence stretches on.

“Well, say something,” I plead, snowflakes thick on my lashes.

Salem takes a shaky breath before swallowing hard… and then takes a step back. “I can’t.”

The world tilts beneath me as I lower the ring to grab onto the guardrail for support.

“I love you, Logan, I do. But… not enough for this. Not enough to tie myself to you like that. I'm sorry.”

She broke up with me on the drive back to the cabin. I hadn't even fought it because, honestly, what was the point? She'd told me how she felt.

Yet, I still held onto the hope that maybe we could slip back into our old relationship someday because I was scared of being alone, of being left to my own devices with no excuse to keep the truth at bay.

But it found me anyway.

“Oh, boo hoo,” Devon mocks, snapping me out of my thoughts with a giant swig of whiskey. “Your parents lied to you and your girlfriend left you. Cry me a fucking river.”

“Fuck you, man.”

He sneers cruelly. “You did. Remember? I had you screaming my name while you came all over yourself like a slut.”

I launch off the floor and take his shirt in my fists before slamming him back against the bunk. “So what's your excuse, huh? What made you such a dickweed, Dev? Did Grandma and Grandpa not hug you enough?”

“Wouldn't you like to know?” he mutters, forcing me to straddle his lap.

“Yeah, actually, I would. What the fuck did they do to you? Why were you never around growing up?”

One large hand curls around my throat while the other palms my thigh. “You know what I wanna know instead? Are you still attracted to me, little bro?”

I freeze, the stiff ridge of his cock grinding into my ass. Our faces are inches apart, so close that I can see every stitch on his cheek. “I hate when you call me that.”

Devon's low laugh raises goosebumps on my skin. “Fine. I'll stop. But only if you answer the question.”