Page 48 of Rivals

Sam had been avoiding Marshall the past couple of days, ignoring his calls and sending vague replies to his messages. But she knew she couldn’t dodge this conversation any longer.

When Marshall finally texted that he’d arrived, Sam made her way to the front of Louise’s cottage. He broke into a smile at the sight of her.

“Sorry I got delayed. This party looks amazing.” Marshall stepped forward to hug her, then clearly sensed her mood, his arms falling listlessly to his sides.

“Sam—is everything okay?”

A narrow path wound between the guest cottages and out onto the sand. Sam nodded toward it. “Walk with me?”

They kicked off their shoes and headed along the beach, staying near the edge of the surf. If this were a different night, Sam would have danced in and out of the waves, laughing when the water reached her bare knees. There was nothing playful about the conversation they were about to have.

“I feel like you’re upset with me. Whatever I did wrong, I’m sorry,” Marshall said hesitantly.

“Why would you care?” Sam’s voice came out sharp. “We don’t do emotions, right? We’re just hooking up, messing around—”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re not serious about me. We haven’tdiscussed the future.Right?”

They had drawn to a halt. Sam crossed her arms, staring accusatorily at Marshall, who winced.

“You heard us at dinner last week.”

“I didn’t mean to, but I walked past and realized you were all talking about me.” She shook her head and started walking again. “Look, we never really defined what this is. If we’re just physical—if that’s all you feel—then it’s fine.”

It wasn’t fine, but Sam was determined to hang on to a shred of pride.

Marshall caught her wrist, pulling her to a stop. “I’m sorry. But if you overheard that conversation, then you must have realized how adamantly my family wanted me to say that.”

She sighed. “Why does your grandfather hate me?”

“It’s not about who you are, but what you are. You’re the princess, which makes things…complicated.”

“If it’s complicated, then let’s figure it out. Together.”

“It’s a lot bigger than you and me,” Marshall said heavily. “Look, I really didn’t mean for you to hear all that—”

“But you should never have said it in the first place! Youshould havefoughtfor us, because that’s what you do when youlovesomeone!”

Now she’d done it. She’d spoken the words she had both longed and feared to say.

Well, she couldn’t unsay them.

Marshall met her gaze and swallowed. “I love you, too, Sam. Surely you know that.”

Nothing followed his words but silence, underscored by the gentle sounds of night: a bird trilling, the low rumble of conversation from inside, waves crashing against the shore. Sam’s heart swelled.

Marshall loved her. Everything would be all right.

Except…if they’d just saidI love you,why wasn’t he smiling? He was staring at her with such a stricken expression.

“My grandfather never expected us to get serious,” Marshall said softly. “And if I’m being honest,Inever expected us to get serious. Not at the beginning.”

It was part of the reason their original fake-dating scheme had worked so well, because they were both notorious for their inability to commit. The press had loved it.

“That’s not the point,” she reminded him. “We’re serious now. We love each other!”

“Which means we should probably face the fact that we can’t really have a future.”