Chapter 1: The Magnolia Ballroom

The cicadas were screaming outside, but inside the Magnolia Ballroom, the air was heavy with lilies and the syrupy buzz of polite gossip. I was stashed at the bridesmaids’ table, pretending I belonged. All around me, the perfume of expensive flowers mixed with the soft clink of champagne glasses and the low hum of Southern small talk.

During the wedding games, Marcus lost. His punishment? Carry all the bridesmaids downstairs on his back. He smiled as he carried everyone—except me. My heart skipped, then dropped, like I’d missed a step on the stairs.

Among us, a sweet-looking bridesmaid suddenly asked him, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

He glanced at me. “No.”

I felt my stomach lurch, like someone had yanked the rug out from under me.

The girl, bold and cheerful, pressed on: “Then can I ask you out?”

He flashed a polite, almost bored smile. “Yeah, why not?”

In that moment, everything felt utterly meaningless. My hands went numb around my champagne flute, the crystal cold and slick, like I might drop it. The music, the laughter, the sparkle of the chandelier overhead—it all just faded into the background, replaced by this hollow ache in my chest.