Page 107 of Stuck with my Boss Daddies

In a panic, I switched tactics, carving fast, adding detail. The wind picked up, rustling banners, shaking leaves loose from the trees. A few vendors started tying things down, just in case.

Hattie Cooper, along with the other judges, made her rounds.

Samuel turned his pumpkin around. Silence. Then my mom, trying to be kind: “That’s… abstract, dear.”

He sighed. “Just say it. It looks like a disaster.”

Frank, always blunt, nodded. “Yeah.”

Kai’s wolf got impressed murmurs. Sadie’s… well, it still looked like a gremlin.

“It’s a Halloween goblin,” she said quickly. “Totally intentional.”

Then they got to mine.

Hattie gasped. “Adam! Is that… Medford’s town square?”

I smirked. “Sure is.”

Not perfect, but all the details were there: the clock tower, the fountain, the bakery’s storefront.

Sadie groaned. “That is so unfair. How did you even have time to do that?”

I leaned in. “You should’ve planned better.”

She huffed, but there was laughter in her eyes. “This is a travesty.”

The judges deliberated, and finally, Marlene stood up. “The winner is… Adam!”

I threw my arms up in victory while Sadie flopped against the table. “Rigged. It’s rigged.”

Kai chuckled. “You can demand a recount if you want.”

She sat up, narrowing her eyes at me. “Fine. You win. But I demand a rematch next year.”

I grinned. “Looking forward to it.”

Sadie leaned in. “Don’t think this means you’ve won anything else, Reid.”

I tilted my head. “Oh yeah?”

She smirked. “Yeah. Because when it comes to actual competition, I don’t lose.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Sadie

The festival wasin full swing, despite the wind, and for the first time in a long while, I found myself genuinely having fun.

I wasn’t worrying about the whispers behind my back, the stolen glances from town busybodies who probably had a lot to say about me and my… situation.

Instead, I let myself get swept up in the warmth of it all.

The sound of laughter and music, the crisp bite of autumn against my skin. Medford might have had its fair share of drama, but damn if it didn’t know how to put on a festival.

Truth be told, being back at one reminded me of all the fun I’d had as a teenager.

Sure, life in Medford had been hard for me. I’d been drowning in grief at the time. But it had also given me some of the best memories of my life.

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