Page 117 of Say Yes to the Nemesis

“You’re insane.”

“About you? Completely.”

The words send a thrill through me that I try to ignore. I bend down to pick up my phone, grateful for the excuse to break eye contact. When I straighten up, Ryan is watching me with an expression I can’t read.

“What happens now?” I ask.

“I don’t know.”

“That’s not helpful.”

“I’ve never… Christ, I’ve never done anything like this before. Never fallen for someone like you.”

I snort despite myself. “When you put it like that, it does sound pretty stupid.”

“The stupidest.”

But he’s smiling when he says it, and I can’t help smiling back. Even in this tiny storage closet with cleaning supplies and chaos outside, he makes everything feel lighter.

“We really should go back,” I say.

“I know.”

This time he actually steps away, giving me room to breathe. I smooth down my dress and try to finger comb my hair into something that doesn’t scream “I was just making out in a closet.”

“How do I look?” I ask.

His eyes rake over me slowly, lingering on my mouth. “Like I want to kiss you again.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“You look beautiful. You always look beautiful.”

The simple honesty in his voice makes my heart skip. I duck my head, suddenly shy.

“You go first,” I say. “I’ll wait a few minutes.”

He nods and moves toward the door, then stops. “Wren?”

“Yeah?”

“This isn’t over.”

thirty-two

RYAN

I can’t sleep.

It’s been three hours since the power came back on, two since Elena finally called it a night and sent everyone to their rooms, and one since I heard the last giggling conversation die down in the hallway. The house is finally quiet, but my brain won’t shut up.

Every time I close my eyes, I’m back in that storage closet with Wren pressed against the shelves, her breath hitching when I touched her. The way she looked at me when I said this wasn’t over. Like she wanted to believe me but was too scared to try.

What if I made it worse? What if she regrets it already? What if Jay finds out and I have to explain why I’ve been in love with his sister since before he even realized she was hot?

We’ve crossed too many lines. There’s no walking this back. Not when every glance feels like a question neither of us wants to answer.

I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling. The emergency lighting left weird shadows that are still burned into my retinas. Or maybe that’s just the image of Wren’s face in the glow of her phone, her lips parted and eyes wide with want.