Page 156 of Riding the Sugar High

“Uh...”

“Primrose?” I insist. With the fight, then the hospital, then the video going viral, we haven’t discussed this in days. Did something happen?

“I, um...I won’t take the job.”

What? “Didn’t they like the strawberry candy?”

“No, they did. They loved it.” With a sigh, she plays with the hairs on my arms. “But they wanted me to use white sugar and gelatine. To cut down costs, I guess.”

So her candy wouldn’t be vegan—it wouldn’t be suitable for many people, actually. It’d be a store-bought candy like all others. “Oh.” I rest a hand on her chest and pepper kisses on her ear. “I’m sorry, Barbie.”

“That’s okay.” She swallows hard, eyes meeting mine. “At least I can stay. If...um, if you want me to.”

If Iwanther to? I would commit crimes to keep her here. I would buy a TV. Get Wi-Fi. I’d sleep on a bed made of goddamn scrunchies if it meant she’d share it. “You shouldn’t get an apartment. I already know you’re a horrible roommate. Reason number one why I wouldn’t date you.”

“But youaredating me.”

“Right. That’s what I’m saying.” When she narrows her eyes at me, I tilt her head back a little more. “Primrose, are you sure? Life at the farm isn’t exactly your idea of a good time, and?—”

“I love the farm,” she scolds. “I don’t love the no-internet part.”

“But what about your dream? Your candy?”

“It’s okay. I have social media, and I have you.” She smiles dreamily and closes her eyes. That’s more than enough—more than I ever dared to dream of, actually.”

I kiss her forehead, but the happiness I wish I were feeling isn’t there. She’s willing to stay here with me, at the farm. It’s more thanIever dared to dream of, but it also feels...wrong. She’s giving up on her dream, and she shouldn’t. I won’t let her.

Even if it means she’ll leave me behind.

believe in me

Primrose

Though I’m getting weirdly usedto riding behind Logan for someone who’s only done it a handful of times, riding along the farm’s property line is new, and with the total darkness, a different experience altogether. Even more intimate, with the nothingness surrounding us.

My arms tighten around him, checking. Making sure this is real and I’m not dreaming.

He wants me to stay. In fact, he doesn’t want me to get an apartment—he wants me to stay at the farm with him.

He wantsme.

After I came out of the shower half an hour ago, he looked over at me from the couch and, with the softest eyes, told me to get ready because he was taking me out.

Where to? No idea, but to be honest, who cares? I want to be wherever he is. Which, from the look of it, is where nothing else is.

He comes to a stop, and once the bike lights turn off, I pull my visor up. I still can’t make out a single thing around us. “I think we’ll need the flashlight.”

“We’re fine.”

“Youdoknow I tend to fall even when visibility is ten out of ten, right?”

“Here,” he says as he laughs, then helps me off the bike by my hips. “We wouldn’t want you to fall.”

Oh, I’ve fallen already. Fallen for him in a way I didn’t think was possible.

“Hand?”

I find his fingers, and once they’re tangled with mine, he gently nudges me forward. “So, can I know where we’re going?”