Page 167 of Love Arranged

Trevor’s eyes go wide, giving himself away, and the debate rules go out the window as the entire gymnasium breaks out into a roar of outrage.

Mrs. Singer does her best to get everyone under control. It takes a few minutes, but she calms everyone down by promising to give Trevor one minute to explain himself. I want to object but doing so would make me look like I’m intimidated, so I agree with the format change.

For someone who appeared nervous only two minutes ago, Trevor has a certain swagger to him that raises an alarm in my head.

And when he looks over at me and smiles like he won the debate, I freeze.

“What Lorenzo said is true—” He holds his hand up to quiet the whispers. “But what he failed to mention is that Iwould never make a decision like that without putting it to a vote.”

I can see where he is going with this, and I don’t like it.

“We did contact an architect to draw up some plans and a few construction companies to get quotes. I won’t pretend that isn’t the case, but we only did it so that we could give the town as much information as possible for you to make a well-informed decision.”

I knew he’d go down swinging, but I didn’t expect him to punch back this hard.

“I understand this might come as a shock to everyone, but we Ludlows look out for our own, which can’t be said about Lorenzo. He walked away from his family business when it got a little too hard for him.” Trevor pauses, and I watch as his words and his victorious smile sink in.

Trevor faces the crowd. “Does that sound like a person who’s loyal to you? Like someone who will fight when things get hard?”

For someone who was confident he could pull out a win tonight, I feel like the complete opposite right now, and the crushed look on Lily’s face confirms it.

45

LILY

Willow suggested we both check on Lorenzo, but I decided it’s best if I go in alone, so I say goodbye to my mom and sister before heading to the classroom I visited before.

I have no idea what to say to Lorenzo when I find him. His back is turned to the door and his head is hung forward, as if the weight of tonight’s debate is crushing him.

It physically pains me to see him so dejected. I got a glimpse of it onstage, although he is always quick to shield his emotions, but now he has no audience to impress.

The full force of his disappointment hits me like a punch to the stomach.

My heels click against the floor, the fast beat matching the pace of my heart, as I walk up to the desk he is leaning against. I go to pull him into a hug, but he turns away from me.

Deep in my gut, I feel that the night is going to go from bad to worse.

“I want to be alone,” he says gruffly.

“Doesn’t mean you should be.”

His reply is nothing but a drawn-out sigh.

“It’ll be okay.” I try to keep my tone upbeat despite the sense of dread growing inside me. I’m always the positive one. Thelooks for a silver lining in everythingtype of person, even when the sky is falling.

I can’t be anxious about tonight. No. That won’t do either of us any good, so I refuse to give my fears power over my actions.

“We will regroup and figure out the best strategy moving forward,” I say.

“There is no other strategy,” he lashes out, the corded muscle in his neck straining. “We’re fucked.”

“It was a bad night, yes. But we still have two months to?—”

He laughs, but in a haunted kind of way. “Lavender Lane was the only card I had up my sleeve, and he called my bluff. He fucking called it, and I have no other hand to play.”

I take a deep breath, in through my nose, out through my mouth, hoping the few seconds buy me patience. “I mean, the idea to let the town vote on the restoration was a surprise?—”

“A surprise?” He slides his hands through his hair and tugs on the roots. “It was the best fucking idea that asshole has ever had, and trust me when I say it kills me to admit that.”