Page 48 of The Love Dare
He threads their fingers together, then pushes off the ice, bringing her with him as they approach the group. Countless sets of female eyes drop to their joined hands. Brows rise. Nostrils flare. The part of Winnie who hates being the center of anyone’s attention wants to shake him off. The rest of her wants to climb him like a tree. When the boys swarm him, she lets the angel on her shoulder win that fight and forces him to let go. The charity deserves his full attention.
While he’s distracted by the kids, the women are divided into two groups of five and handed sticks. Since she was last out of the locker room, Winnie is the odd woman out. At least, that’s the excuse the producers use, though Winnie suspects it hasmore to do with keeping her away from Tyler than anything else. She’s relegated to cheerleader and told to pick a team as the boys are also divided between the two sides. More out of loyalty than anything else, she picks Charlotte and Cynthia’s team. Harper had a mini-date the day before and is back at the house waiting, but she can at least support two of her friends.
It’s the wrong move.
Winnie watches helplessly from the sidelines as all her chances of talking to Tyler slip away. He’s up in the stands with the producers. Every time the other team scores, she finds his gaze across the arena. With each passing minute, his glower deepens. But there’s nothing either of them can do. When the buzzer sounds, signaling her utter defeat, he jumps to his feet, eyes on her. Nina grips his arm and mutters something. Winnie would give up her entire trust fund to know what the producer says, because whatever it is, Tyler clenches his jaw and relents. Two minutes later, she’s pushed off the ice with the rest of the losers, loaded up on the bus, and sent unceremoniously packing.
The entire way home Charlotte and Cynthia chatter on about how amazing she skates, how hot the two of them looked together, how into her Tyler seemed, but it rings hollow.
Always, he said, the pad of his thumb a torch against her skin as an electric shiver raced down her back.
Never, she hears.
Winnie spends the next twenty-four hours hyping herself up for yet another puzzle ceremony. She needs answers. She can’t go on like this. The back-and-forth is driving her crazier than the secrets ever did. He won’t cancel this cocktail party—they can’t do that two times in a row. It’s bad for TV. So the second he walks through that door, she’s going to corner him and demand to know exactly how he feels. She doesn’t care if it looks desperate to the rest of the world. She is desperate! And he needs to make a choice, once and for all.
She knows he wants her, on some level at least. But does he want her enough? Enough to risk his friendship with her brother? Enough to risk his relationship with her father? Enough to put her first?
Because if he doesn’t, she’s done.
She won’t wait anymore.
She won’t come second.
She can’t.
Winnie is so distracted, so in her head, she can hardly focus on actually getting dressed. She shoos her friends out the door when they’re all ready, telling them she’ll be right behind them, then tries her best to focus. With a final glance in the mirror at her hip-hugging ebony gown, she straightens her shoulders and takes a deep, steadying breath.
It’s time.
She makes her way down the hall. Music and conversation filter up from the party below. Winnie freezes on the stairs as one hushed voice suddenly stands out from the rest.
“He told me he doesn’t even like her like that.” It’s Victoria. Winnie presses her back to the wall, making herself as small as possible as the whispers grow louder. “Apparently, she’s his best friend’s little sister or something. He doesn’t want to hurt her, so he can’t tell her to leave, but he’s not into her at all, which is why he didn’t even invite her on a date last week. The producers probably forced him into it yesterday. I mean, did you see her? Running from him like a scared little puppy dog? Making him chase her around like that? It was a bit pathetic, if I’m being honest. I feel kind of bad for her.”
“Well, I heard the producers had to beg him to let her stay, you know, for the drama. They want to milk her storyline for all it’s worth.”
“Really?” a third voice chimes in with a snide laugh.
“I heard that, too!” Victoria eagerly adds. “I got some of the story out of Ranjit. Tyler wanted to send her right home, but they told him about some new job she’s starting, I guess she’s an artist or something, and they said it would be good press for her business, so he gave in. She’s probably gone tonight though. I mean, any more would just be cruel.”
The voices fade.
He wouldn’t, Winnie tells herself as her pulse races.He wouldn’t…
But then she thinks of that look he shared with Nina. The sight of the producer whispering something in his ear. Tyler’s own words from yesterday creep back. Not the flirting, but the desperate plea.I’ll explain. I promise I’ll explain.
If her life has taught her anything, it’s that things too good to be true usually are. She’s been tricked more times than she can count by her own foolish hope. Her instincts are shit. Time and time again, she’s learned she can’t trust her own judgment. There’s a piece of her missing—that part everyone else relies on for self-preservation. Hers is gone. Or maybe broken. Whatever it is, she never sees situations as they really are, just what theycouldbe—and maybe this situation is the same. Why the hell wouldn’t it be? She needs to open her eyes.
If Tyler loved her, he would say it.I. Love. You.Three simple words.
Quick. Easy. No explanation required.
I’m such an idiot.
She should have seen this coming. Sam, too. When they came up with this plan, they got so caught up in the idea of his rejection being a firmno, a final answer she’s been wanting for so long, they forgot to consider that hisyeswould be anything but. He’s so good. He’s so kind. Of course he would keep her here—not to string her along, but to let her down easy. Out of pity. Out of protection. Out of respect for her family.
Winnie drops her head back and closes her eyes. She cradles her hands against her chest as if she can keep the pieces from shattering. But it doesn’t. And they do. She races back up to her room before anyone finds her and closes the door. It’s time to get out of this stupid dress, and away from this stupid house, and off this stupid show.
It’s time to go home.
