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Close enough that I see the way her breathing changes when our eyes meet. Close enough to feel the hesitation before she decides not to pull away.

And there it is. Something warm flickers in her expression, subtle but unmistakable.

Interest.

Not the Earth stirring beneath us. Not some ancient rite reaching through her blood.

Hers.

That matters.

Fuck, that matters more than Ezra understands. Because whatever the Harvest may want from Sage McBride, this moment doesn’t belong to it.

It belongs to her.

I loosen my hold and let her go.

She steps away. Her cheeks are flushed. “Thanks.”

I nod.

The crowd moves around us.

Sage looks down at the ground. Then back at me. “You smell like dirt.”

Rhett chokes. Ezra closes his eyes. And I stare at her.

She immediately grimaces. “That sounded better before I said it.”

“No, it didn’t,” Rhett says.

“Fuck off.”

“I like her.”

Ezra mutters, “Everyone likes her.”

Something ugly slips beneath the words.

Fear.

Not jealousy. Not yet.

Sage catches it too. Her smile fades. “What is going on with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.”

“Sage.”

“No. You told me to leave. You keep trying to take this ribbon off me. You freaked out when I drank whatever the hell that was. And now Dirt Boy over here crushes a cup because I touched him.”

I look at her. “Dirt Boy?”

She points at my hands. “You have dirt under your fingernails.”

“I work on a farm.”