The treehouse stood between two gardens, close enough that either mother could call from a back door when dinner was ready. Its doorway had never been straight. Merrick Varden had insisted it was the tree leaning, not their measuring, and the crooked shelf inside still held the evidence. That was where he had kissed 你 before university. Eighteen, all broad shoulders and nervous laughter, his thick black fringe falling over the pale scar through his left eyebrow, he had said, "I feel the same. I thought that was obvious."
Later came the request to wait. Just until he found his footing on campus. Just until there was less attention on the freshman starting quarterback. Three years later, neither mother knew. On campus, 你 was still his childhood friend: the person with a water bottle at practice, a towel after drills, ice when he pretended an injury did not hurt. The person his teammates laughed at for caring so obviously. Merrick would tell them to ease up, smiling as though everyone was in on the joke, and his name would light up 你’s phone afterward. "You know I love you."
Then Sedona Pryce arrived. She could steal his towel and get a grin for it. Tell him his footwork looked terrible and make him laugh while he rubbed the back of his neck. When she brought him water, she called it a cheer captain’s responsibility; when his teammates said they looked like a married couple, he put an arm around her shoulders. There was always another message later. Another explanation small enough to fit on a screen.
Tonight, the Kestrels had won the game that kept their championship hopes alive, and Torin Beck’s rental was packed shoulder to shoulder. Music rattled the kitchen cabinets. Somebody had draped a team flag over a lampshade. Merrick stood near the living-room couch in a dark green shirt, his hair still slightly damp from his postgame shower. Two hours into the party, Torin climbed onto the bottom stair with a bowl under one arm and two smartwatches dangling from his fingers. "All right. Matchmaking. Names in the bowl. Two people, two watches. If you both set the pulse alarms off, you kiss, and you’re out of the bowl. If you don’t, names go back in."
Ansel Duarte glanced up from the armchair. "That’s your entire scientific process?" Torin shook the watches at him. "My scientific process is shut up and find me a pen." The first rounds dissolved into laughter, exaggerated eye contact, and a kiss between two students who had been flirting beside the speakers all evening. Torin folded names back into the bowl whenever a pair failed his test. Then he read 你’s name. And Merrick’s.
Merrick’s crooked smile appeared before he stepped into the space the others cleared. For a moment, his eyes settled on 你 with the same familiar ease they had in the treehouse. The watches were fastened. 你’s began beeping almost immediately. Merrick’s stayed quiet. Torin gave a delighted shout. "Oh, come on. We could’ve told you that without the watches." Someone near the couch laughed into a plastic cup. "Three years on the sidelines with his water bottle. That’s commitment." Torin gestured between the two watches. "See? Told you it was a crush. Told you he wasn’t interested."
Merrick glanced down at his wrist. Then he looked toward his teammates, that crooked smile still in place. "Come on, guys. Leave my childhood friend alone." Childhood friend. 你 unfastened the watch and stepped back, trying to hide the tears already falling. Torin took it without noticing; he was busy announcing that both names went back into the bowl.
A phone vibrated. Merrick stood a few feet away, one hand tucked around his own phone. On 你’s screen, his message appeared. "Don’t listen to them. You know I love you. I’ll see you after the party in the treehouse." He caught 你’s eye briefly, as though that settled it. The game continued.
In the kitchen, Ione Mercer was arguing with someone about which half-empty bottles belonged in the recycling. Ansel shifted forward in his chair as Torin shook the bowl again, spilling a folded slip onto his shoe. "Merrick. You’re up again." Merrick gave an easy laugh. "Apparently the bowl’s obsessed with me." Torin unfolded the second name. His grin widened. "Sedona."
The room reacted before she did. "There it is." "Finally." "Just date already!" Sedona rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as she set her cup on the mantel. Her copper curls brushed her shoulders when she turned toward Merrick. "Try not to make this embarrassing, Varden." Merrick rubbed the back of his neck. "You’ve already got Torin announcing it. Bit late."
The same tell. The same small break in the confidence that carried him through interviews, packed stadiums, and almost every room he entered. Torin handed over the watches. Sedona’s sounded first. Merrick’s answered almost immediately. The cheering swelled. Ansel let out a low whistle. Sedona glanced at Merrick’s wrist, then up at his face, and the teasing expression on hers softened into something expectant.
Merrick looked past her. Toward 你. His phone was still in his hand. His thumb moved across the screen. Another vibration. "This means nothing." He locked his phone and slipped it into his pocket. There was room to laugh it off. Room to say no. Nobody was holding him there. Instead, Merrick stepped closer to Sedona.
His hand settled at her waist. Hers rose to his shoulder, fingers gathering the green fabric of his shirt, and he bent his head and kissed her. It lasted beyond the first burst of cheering. He drew her closer. Tilted his head. Kissed her again before there was enough distance between them to call the first one finished. Sedona’s hand slid to the back of his neck, and he stayed there with her, kissing her with an open hunger he had never shown 你. Torin whooped beside the stairs. When Merrick finally lifted his head, his hand remained at Sedona’s waist.
On 你’s phone, the last message was still lit. "This means nothing."
Location: Torin’s rental — living room | Day: 1 | Time: Night
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