Chapter 13
JADE
I sat there frozen. Like the whole gym faded into background static, and the only thing that existed was that screen. His voice. My name.
"My queen, Jade Bryan, my girl Jade... baby, I’m coming for you next."
Then the wink.
Sweet. Holy. Hell.
Shani was shrieking beside me like we were front row at a Beyoncé concert, and Mindy grabbed my arm hard enough to leave fingerprints. Somewhere in the crowd, someone actually fainted. Probably one of Leo's fangirls realizing he just declared himself off the market.
But I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
He’d said it so casually, like we were already a thing. Like the weeks of radio silence, the heartbreak, the chaos and lies and slime-dumping were just a detour. Like this was all some grand, messy love story and he’d just flipped the page to our next chapter.
Part of me wanted to run down those bleachers and throw myself into his arms.
Instead, I swallowed hard. Blinked once. Twice. Forced air into my lungs and let it out slow.
“Say something!” Shani whisper-screamed. “Queen J! That was like... Romeo, but if Romeo had abs and a three-point shot!”
“I...” I cleared my throat. “I think I need air. I’m not sure what to do with this. My therapist can vouch for that. How am I going to survive him, twice?”
Mindy snorted. “Oh no, honey. This is war now. You realize that, right? Leo just declared full-on, all-eyes-on-you, royal-epic-gesture war.”
I stood, smoothing my jacket down over my hips. My palms were sweaty. My heart still hammering.
Let them watch. Let them whisper. Let them wonder if I’d forgive him.
I didn’t owe anyone an answer tonight.
But I knew one thing as I walked toward the doors, and felt Leo’s eyes tracking me from the tunnel: the King of Royal Oaks wasn’t done.
And neither was I.
I could still hear his voice echoing off the gym walls.
“My queen, Jade Bryan. My girl, Jade. Baby, I’m coming for you next.”
It played over and over in my head like a glitching TikTok loop. Every eye in that gym had snapped to me. Girls whispering, guys elbowing each other, and Shani cackling like it was the best damn entertainment since the new season of Yellowstone.
But before I could even process what the hell Leo Sinclair had just done, Kannon Kavanaugh was already making his play.
Cool. Calm. MVP energy radiating off him like heat from asphalt in July.
“Nice,” he said, voice low, playful, as he slung an arm across me. “Guess I picked the right seat tonight.”
I blinked at him. “You’re not worried about... all that?” I motioned vaguely toward the Jumbotron still flickering in the background, half-expecting him to back off.
He just smirked. “Nah. Let the king posture. It doesn’t shake me.”
He stood, offering his hand, and I took it.
Shani snapped a pic, muttering something about posting it with the right filter and a prayer.
Kannon tucked me close and guided me out of the gym like we were walking a red carpet. Every step we took had phones raised. Flashbulbs. Whispers. Gasps. I was officially smack in the middle of a royal love war—and the whole school was watching.
He walked me to my car like a gentleman. No rush. Just that confident, grounded energy of someone who knew exactly who he was and didn’t need to shout it.
“You good?” he asked, glancing down at me once we reached my car.
“I think so?” I laughed, still buzzing. “That was... a lot.”
“Yeah. But you handled it like a queen,” he said, brushing a loose curl off my shoulder. “If you ever need backup, I’ve got you.”
He winked and turned to go just as more flashes lit up from across the lot.
This wasn’t just a game anymore.
It was war.
And I was the prize.
I was lost in my own thoughts replaying the night in my head-like my own highlight reel… “What the hell?””
Cars parked everywhere.
Parked like a blockade around Aunt Susan’s house.
Engines running.
People standing outside with phones and cameras.
Paparazzi.
Fans.
Or vultures.
I couldn’t even tell the difference anymore.
My stomach flipped.
I kept driving—straight past the house, heart hammering—and ducked down a side street to park. My hands shook as I dialed Aunt Susan.
She picked up on the first ring.
“Where are you, honey?”
“Couple blocks away. Susan, what the hell is happening?”
She sighed—bone tired, stressed, putting on a brave face for me.
“I’m not sure. Paparazzi, fans, maybe curious locals. Maybe people who want to say they saw you. It’s gotten worse tonight.”
I pressed my forehead against the steering wheel.
“This is getting out of control. I wanted to use my voice. I wanted to stand up for myself. Not… this.”
“I know, Jade. I know.” Her voice softened. “I’m working on it.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means maybe you should stay at Shani’s tonight. I’ll call her. She can swing by and grab an overnight bag for you. I don’t want you walking into that mess alone.”
I laughed bitterly. “What happened to the badass woman who dusted Leo in a street chase?”
“Oh, she’s still here,” Susan said. “But I’m afraid to leave the house. Someone already tried the back door earlier. And the cats are spooked.”
Great.
Just great.
I imagined those stupid fluffy traitors peering through windows, tails puffed.
“Well, if we didn’t have cats,” I muttered, “we could go to the shelter and get a guard dog.”
Susan huffed. “At this point, we might need a pack of them.”
“Or a moat,” I said.
“Or a cannon.”
“We’d get noise complaints,” she said.
We both snorted.
Then she said, quieter, “Actually, Jade… there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
I froze.
“When we drove up to the Cape,” she continued, “I thought it was for you. And it was. But it was also for me.”
My throat tightened.
“Why?”
“You brought life back into this house,” she said simply. “Into my life. I didn’t realize how lonely I’d gotten. How much I’d stopped living. Irene said it to me—and she was right. Watching you fight your way back made me ask why I wasn’t fighting for myself too.”
She inhaled, shaky.
“So… I did something about it.”
“What?” I whispered.
“I have a date next week.”
My jaw dropped.
“Wait—what? Susan!”
She laughed nervously. “Don’t sound so shocked. I’m not dead. I’m fifty-three. I can still wear lip gloss and get asked out.”
“No, no—” I scrubbed a hand through my hair. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just… I’ve been so wrapped up in my own crap I didn’t think about what any of this has done to you. I’m sorry. I’ve been selfish.”
“No,” she said firmly. “You’ve been surviving. And thriving, actually. And you inspired me. So don’t apologize for that.”
I blinked hard, swallowing a lump in my throat.
Susan. Dating again.
Her life expanding while mine felt like it was blowing up.
But somehow… somehow it made me breathe easier.
Like maybe everything didn’t have to be falling apart.
Maybe some things could still grow.
“I’m proud of you,” I said quietly.
“I’m proud of you,” she answered. “Now call Shani. I’ll keep the porch lights off and pretend I’m not home.”
I smiled into the darkness.
“Okay. Deal.”
But when I hung up, I didn’t drive yet.
I just sat there with the engine off and the November cold seeping into the car…
thinking about everything.
The game.
The cameras.
The chaos.
The fact that Aunt Susan is dating again.
The fact that I’m barely holding it together.
The ache in my chest I refused to name.
And Leo.
Always Leo.
My hands clenched tighter on the steering wheel.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered to myself.
But I could.
And I would.
Because everything was changing, whether I was ready or not.
And I’d rather face it head-on than let the world swallow me whole.
I finally work up the nerve to grab my phone.
My hands are still shaking from the crowd outside my house, but I type anyway.
Jade: I need to crash at your place tonight.
Paparazzi, stalkers, fans—whatever they are—they’re all parked in front of my house.
I hit send.
Lean my head back against the seat.
My pulse is in my throat.
Shani replies immediately.
Shani: WTF??? I’m coming out now. Where are you?
I’m about to type when—
BANG.
My whole body jerks.
A tap—no, a slap—against the driver’s side window.
I whip my head around.
A girl no older than thirteen or fourteen is pressed up against the glass.
Big hoodie.
Backpack.
The streetlamp catches her braces when she smiles too wide.
“Oh my—Jade Bryan?! Is that you?!”
Her voice warbles with excitement.
“Can I have a selfie?! Please—PLEASE?!”
My stomach drops.
Not because she’s threatening.
But because she’s a kid.
A kid who somehow found me in the dark on a side street.
A kid who recognized my car.
This is insane.
“I—I can’t,” I whisper, but she can’t hear me through the glass.
Her hands slap the window again.
“Please, Jade! Just one picture! I love you! You’re my wallpaper!”
I freeze.
I don’t want to be rude.
I don’t want to be mean.
But I’m freaked the hell out.
I put the car in drive.
She stumbles back, eyes huge, mouthing Sorry! as I pull off.
My breath hitches.
My fingers fumble over the phone screen as I call Shani.
She picks up instantly. “Jade? What happened? What’s that noise?”
“There was a girl—” My voice cracks. “A freaking child banging on my window asking for a selfie. They know my car, Shani. They were shouting my name.”
“What the f—.”
“I gotta reroute. I’m taking the back way. Meet me by the polo barns. I’ll cut across the east stables and sneak around. Less traffic. Less light.”
“Okay,” Shani says. “I’ll leave the porch light off. Text me when you’re close.”
“Shani… I’m scared.”
She softens. “I know. Just get to me, okay? Just get here.”
“Yeah,” I breathe, tightening my grip on the wheel. “I’m on my way.”
I hang up.
Turn off my headlights.
And take the longest, darkest route I know—trying not to imagine more faces appearing out of the shadows…
trying not to imagine what happens if I lose control of this narrative…
trying not to think about the boy whose game I just ran away from.
Just trying to get somewhere safe.