Page 39 of Dump Tackle My Heart
“So, you’ll help?”
I nod.
“Excellent! Let’s give a real Rovers RUFF for my gal Dani, and we’ll be back in a few to show you what we’ve got cookin’!”
I roll my eyes, and we both laugh, the sound echoing through the small, pine-scented cabin like a memory being made in real-time.
As I press stop on the clip, he doesn’t move away.
He just looks at me.
And for a second, I forget the camera.
The timeline.
The millions of strangers scrolling past our weekend on their phones.
It’s just us.
“Thanksgiving with you,” he says, voice quiet, “is the best damn holiday I’ve ever had.”
I force a smile.
“Well, you’ve only had two.”
His grin softens.
“Still. I’ll remember this one.”
And that’s when it hits me.
We’re going home tomorrow.
Back to Consequence, North Carolina.
A town named like a cosmic joke.
Because how can Inotfeel consequences after this?
How do I go back to life as usual after I’ve seen this side of him?
And worse, how do I go back knowing he might never let me see it again?
CHAPTER 12-TANK
Thanksgiving with Daniis nothing like last year’s impersonal soiree with the boss man.
The table looks like something out of a Hallmark movie.
Candles flickering.
Plates stacked high with food we actually cooked together.
Soft music is playing from Dani’s phone on the windowsill.
Pumpkin pie is cooling by the window like we’re living in a fairytale.
And her—sitting across from me, cheeks flushed, eyes soft, fork dancing in her fingers like she’s trying to pretend she’s not watching me.
