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Turning away from the window, I took in the mahogany, ivory and gold accented decorations, feeling as if I’d stepped into a Black winter wonderland.

Candlelit centerpieces. Champagne roses everywhere. And multiple food vendors from around town set up on the perimeter of the room, letting guests choose between fast casual options between dances and drinks. There was a hot chocolate station I had my sights on before the end of the night…

This was their ten-year anniversary. A decade. That was the kind of longevity I wrote about in my books. The kind of longevity my parents and grandparents had but I never got my hopes up for. I tried to imagine being with someone for that long andtwosomeones popped into my head.

I was just about to go looking for one of them when golden-blonde curls bounced in my line of sight. A second later, Goldyn’s face was all I could see as she grinned up at me.

“Dance with me?” She held out her hand, waiting for me to take it.

I set my empty champagne flute down and locked arms with her while she led us to the dance floor. “I didn’t know you would be here.”

“Lottie works for Rome and I’m his plus one. Oh, and Sincere did the dessert cart. It was meant for me to be here,” she sang gleefully, pulling me into the small crowd of dancing guests.

“Always be my Baby” bled into “Return of the Mack” and before I knew it, I lost myself in the DJ’s mix. In front of me, Goldyn bunched up the material of her dress and danced with me like we were the only two people in the room.

Our usual six-inch height difference was almost nonexistent tonight because of the sky-high heels she had on her feet. She danced in them like they were flats, not missing a beat. My face hurt from smiling by the fourth song.

When “Heard It All Before” came on, her arms were locked around my torso and we mouthed the lyrics to each other like lovers scorned.

“You look so happy,” Goldyn whispered in my ear when a quieter Joe song came on. Her arms had migrated from my waist to hang loosely around my shoulders. “Does that mean writing is going good?”

Writing was goinggreat. I spent my days writing at my desk by the fire in my cabin and all my nights loving on the two men I never expected. Bliss Peak had given me the exact refuge I was seeking, and the thought of leaving when I typed “The End” made my stomach sink.

“Come on, let’s get more champagne,” Goldyn prompted before my thoughts sent me spiraling.

I took one sip of my champagne before a hand landed on my shoulder and Goldyn’s face fell as she looked behind me.

“True, there’s something I need to talk to you about outside, dear.”

The champagne tasted bitter on my tongue when I turned to match the face with the voice I knew after one interaction. I tamped down the snarl that wanted to curl on my lips and gave her a tight smile. What the hell did Noah’s mother want to talk to me about?

Don’t make a scene.

Don’t make a scene.

Don’t make a fucking scene, True.

I coached myself over and over when all I wanted to do was tell the woman in front of me we had nothing to talk about. Instead, I yanked away from her touch and walked out to the front of the venue, away from the music and toward the hall where valet and coat check were stationed, waiting for guests to end their night.

Keeping five feet between us, I turned to look at Mischa Hunt with a raised brow. “What do you want to talk about?”

Instead of answering, she inclined her head to the right and my eyes landed on two men in suits. Noah and Michael.

“Why did you?—”

“Just listen, dear. I think there’s something you might want to hear.”

“This is why you so loyal to this boy? Because y’all laid up?” Michael scoffed and my spine stiffened. “Let me ask you something, does True know?”

Did I know what? And why had his mom called me out here to eavesdrop?

I hated him saying my name. I hated the disgust in his voice when he looked at his son. I hated everything about this man.

“I’m not cheating on True, and now ain’t the time for me to explain my fucking love life to you. You’re here for Lottie and Cal, go support them.” Noah’s voice was tight, leaving no room for argument. But of course, his father had to toe the line. I’d just met him today, yet his actions were so easy to predict.

“You watch how the hell you talk to me, Noah.” He lifted a finger that Noah just looked at. When he realized he wasn’t intimidating his son, Michael tried to hit a different nerve. “You could have been so much. I never met another grown man as complacent as you. My folks wouldn’t let me show my face around town if the only thing I did was work for another man’s dream. Now you dating him? Shit, I hope you are if you were kissing him like that in public. And you want me to believe your girlfriend is okay with that?”

“I don’t give a fuck what you believe,Michael.”