Alleged Husband (Wounded Heroes #3)

Prologue

Alleged Husband

Wounded Heroes

Jessica

I let up on the gas pedal of my mom’s Cadillac when I noticed the neon sign in Beaumont Bakery’s window announcing, “Hot cinnamon rolls!”

Baked goods weren’t going to help me fit into my jeans again, but they might make me feel better—at least temporarily.

Plus, I wasn’t in a hurry to get home and listen to my mother smugly tell me, “I told you so.” I didn’t have the energy for that yet.

Maybe after a gooey, frosted cinnamon roll, I’d summon the strength.

I circled the block and found a parking spot close to the red brick entrance and pulled in between the white lines.

Before getting out, I double-checked I still had a five-dollar bill tucked in my wallet. Guilt niggled at me; I didn’t need a cinnamon roll, and I shouldn’t be spending my money on such a frivolous treat. Then Chancellor Vought’s words from our meeting echoed in my head, and I opened the car door.

Yeah, I was going to eat my feelings.

Hopefully the sugar would help when I went home and listened to a repeat of the chancellor’s lecture from my parents. And I’d suck it up, nod in agreement, and say I understood, even though I knew the school’s ruling was bullshit.

But, I didn’t have any other choice.