-Blake West:
I stood there staring like a complete fool.
The door wasn't even fully open yet, but the second I saw that small white flower poking through the gap, I knew. Instantly. And before I could even stop myself, my lips twitched into a smile. Not just any smile—a stupid, soft, helpless kind of smile that you give when your heart starts doing all the thinking for you.
Because only one person in this entire house would stand awkwardly outside my room, using a flower as an apology.
And sure enough, as the door creaked open the rest of the way, there he was. Zade Collins.
He looked like guilt itself had taken human form and walked straight into my room. His shoulders slumped, his eyes wide, his expression tense and almost… nervous? He held the flower like it was some magical solution to everything he'd messed up.
"Best friend?" he said softly. His voice cracked at the end, just enough to make me feel that horrible, traitorous flutter in my chest.
