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I frown, hating the sound of that. I didn’t even know her then, but I wish I had, so I could have knocked Jordan the fuck out for saying shit like that to her. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” I say.

She nods. “I try to remember that. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it means a lot to me that you stood up for me. You and Ares and Tate. My parents never want to talk about me having OCD, and I usually try to just… ignore it as best I can. But you guys never make me feel like I have to.”

We’re not in private, and Ares has made it pretty clear that we can’t be all over Brynn in public or it’ll turn into a mess. But I have to touch her. I put my hand on her arm, hoping the tent flaps will hide anything people would get pissy about. “You’re perfect just the way you are,” I tell her. “I don’t want anyone, not even you, making you feel bad about yourself.”

Her face changes, something vulnerable and open passing through her eyes. She scans my face, and I don’t know what she’s looking for, but I let her look. Then Brynn leans in and kisses me, just a small, secret thing.

I barely have time to kiss her back before she’s pulling away. Everything in me riots against that. I want more. More kisses, more time with her close to me. I want to pull her into my lap and wrap my arms around her. I can barely think straight when she touches me.

But then someone calls her name from outside the tent, and she sighs, stepping back. “I have to get back out there,” she says. There’s nothing else to do but follow her out.

36

BRYNN

Luckily, the rest of the festival passes without any more incidents. It’s nice to have an excuse to hang around the guys, even though we have to keep a certain amount of distance between us. Ares and I are extra careful to not even look at each other too much, since that would be a whole thing. My parents will have something to say about me being too close to his friends, and they haven’t even done anything.

It’s a better first day back than I would have expected, overall. There’s some awkwardness that comes with being a ‘star’ and coming back to a small town. Even before I left, there was the fact that my family is famous in Hope Falls to contend with, but now that people know my name outside of that, it’s even worse. It feels a little bit like being a fish in a bowl, and I catch people staring at me all the time.

At one point someone walks by the booth and says “She’s one of those Carters?” out loud before being shushed by their group.

So that’s fun.

But the day winds down, and I’m able to escape from everyone’s attention. I have plans to go see Marnie, so I head over to her place as soon as I’m free from festival related duties.

We’ve kept in touch a bit over the years, mostly through texts and sending memes back and forth on social media, but it’s not as much as I would have liked. Marnie always invited me to come back and see her, to spend time with her even if I didn’t want to see my own family, but it was just too much to think about coming back. Just being here is a reminder of all the things that went down with me and Ares, so it was easier to just stay away.

I’m lucky that Marnie didn’t take it personally and didn’t cut me off for not being here for her.

She hasn’t really changed a bit either.

She opens the door when I ring the bell, standing there with her usual grin on her face. Her hair is still the same soft cloud of dark curls, and even though she’s older than the last time I saw her in person, her warm brown skin is still glowing. She looks comfortable and familiar in the best way.

“You know, I was beginning to think you coming back here wasn’t meant to happen,” she says, one hand on her hip, the other arm holding on to her tiny son. The baby watches me warily, and I can’t help but smile at the picture the two of them make.

“That makes two of us,” I say. “Hi, Marnie.”

“Get in here,” she says, stepping back from the door. “It’s cold as hell outside.”

“Should you be cursing in front of your kid?”

She rolls her eyes. “He’s going to pick it up from me or Jackson eventually anyway. And he can barely hold his own head up right now. I’m not worried about it.” She hoists the baby up, angling him toward me. “Say hello to your Aunt Brynn, Isaac.”

Isaac just looks at me solemnly, his eyes large and dark just like his mother’s, but I smile, reaching out to brush a finger over his tiny little hand. “Hi, Isaac. It’s very nice to meet you. You have your mother’s eyes.”

He blinks at me sleepily, and Marnie laughs. “He’s due for a nap in a bit. Jackson, could you?” she calls.

Her husband, who I remember being in high school with us, comes in, greets me, and then whisks their son away so we can talk.

Marnie goes into the kitchen to mix up cups of hot cocoa the way her mom used to when we were kids. Massive mugs piled high with marshmallows and whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. I take charge of mine and follow her into the living room to sit with her on the couch.

“Is it weird being back here?” Marnie asks.

I blow on my cup before I take a cautious sip. “Not weird exactly. It’s… I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like everything’s different and then other times it feels like nothing at all has changed. It’s been hard to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing now that I’m here.”

“Probably harder with your family being so gung ho about the rivalry and all, right?”

“Yeah. All I hear when I’m with them is how this festival is ours to win and how we can’t let the Thorntons come back from their scandal so easily. As if you can ‘win’ a festival. It’s ridiculous.”