"Tristan, it's been a while."

Tristan gave a slight nod, then turned his face away.

But I knew him too well. On the surface he looked unbothered, but every muscle in his body was taut.

He was nervous. He cared.

A few rounds of drinks in, someone started stirring things up.

"Tristan, Tessa, you two were the golden couple back in college. How'd you ever break up?"

"Seriously, it's been eight years and you're both still single. If that's not fate, what is?"

"You've come full circle. Just get back together already!"

Tessa smiled but said nothing, turning to look at Tristan.

Tristan picked up his glass and took a sip. He didn't look at Tessa. He didn't look at anyone.

His gaze drifted, just barely, toward the far end of the room.

Where I sat, in the corner.

Then someone suggested a game of Truth or Dare.

After a few rounds, the bottle landed on Tessa.

"Tessa, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Her eyes locked on Tristan as she answered without a shred of hesitation.

"Ohhh," the crowd drawled, all loaded implication, and the question came fast on its heels.

"Do you still have feelings for Tristan?"

The room went silent.

Tessa paused for two seconds, then smiled, resting her chin on her hand, holding Tristan's gaze.

"Of course I do. I always have."

The room erupted.

"Get together! Get together!"

"Kiss! Kiss!"

Tristan just sat with his head bowed, no reaction at all.

Then it was his turn.

"Tristan, truth or dare?"

He set his glass down. "Dare."

"Kiss one of the girls here!"

His eyes found mine, soft and warm.

I straightened in my seat, certain this was the moment he'd finally come clean, that he'd at least give some kind of sign.

Even if it was just enough to stop me from reading into things the wrong way.

But the next second, his gaze slid past me and landed on Tessa.

"I pick Tessa."

I froze. Every part of me locked in place as I watched Tristan walk over to her, lean down, and press his mouth to hers.

It wasn't a peck.

It was deep, rough, consuming.

More like a kiss laced with spite than anything resembling tenderness.

The whole room screamed.

When it was over, Tessa's eyes were rimmed with red. She threw herself into his arms.

"I knew it. I knew you hadn't forgotten me. You still have feelings for me."

I stayed hidden in the crowd, swallowing down the bitterness clawing its way up my throat, and watched her.

Tristan didn't push her away.

His hand went to her waist, steadying her, as if the only thing on his mind was making sure her trembling legs didn't give out.

Beside them, my brother Myron slammed the table, grinning ear to ear.

"No way! You two are serious?"

"Tristan, you sly dog. Eight years of staying single and it was all for Tessa. Saving yourself like a monk!"

I looked at my brother, brows pinched together.

The bitterness in my chest sank deeper.

Once Tessa was steady on her feet, Tristan let go of her, casual as anything, like nothing had happened.

"It's just a game."

Tessa tilted her face up to his. "But I meant every second of it."

The room went quiet for a beat.

That was when I stood up.

Every pair of eyes swung toward me.

"Doreen, what's up? You wanna say something?"

Tristan slowly lifted his gaze to mine.

Something flickered across his face. He looked down, grabbed his phone, and typed a message to me, fast.

Dee, about what just happened. Don't be mad.

No one kisses the woman they actually love in front of a crowd like that.

I don't love Tessa. That kiss was just to get back at her…

Don't say anything you shouldn't.

I almost laughed. A bitter, hollow sound caught in my throat. After everything, the only thing he was afraid of was that I'd lose my temper and blow the secret wide open.

Seeing me standing there picking up my coat, my brother turned to look at me.

"Dee, where are you going?"

"Just the restroom."

Tristan visibly relaxed.

My brother didn't notice a thing. He just waved me off.

"Always stalling at the worst time. Hurry back, we're cutting the cake soon."

The room's attention had already drifted back to Tristan and Tessa, the golden couple. I smiled and slipped out the door.

The moment I locked myself inside the restroom, I couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears spilled down my face.

By the time I'd pulled myself together and made it back to the private room:

"Doreen, how does it take you that long in the bathroom?"

"We were starting to think you fell in."

Myron teased me with a grin and pushed a plate toward me.

"Eat up. Strawberry cake, your favorite. I saved you a piece."

I looked at the slice of cake, and my eyes stung all over again.

Strawberries and cream, arranged in a delicate little pattern.

Every year on my birthday, Tristan would order strawberry cake from the same bakery and deliver it himself to the foot of my building.

Then, when my brother wasn't around, he'd steal a kiss on my forehead.

He used to say, "Once we go public, I'm ordering you the biggest strawberry cake in the whole city."

But today wasn't my birthday.

It was Tristan's.

This cake had been ordered for him.

"Thanks, Myron." I took the plate and settled back into my corner seat.

The girl next to me leaned over, buzzing with gossip.

"Doreen, you missed it. After you left, Tristan and Tessa drank like three more toasts together, arms linked and everything. The way they were looking at each other? Gave me actual chills."

"You think they're really getting back together?"

I bit into the cake. The strawberry was sour.

"Maybe."

"Weren't you always saying you had a crush on Tristan? How are you not jealous right now?"

I froze for a second, unsure how to answer that.

Eight years ago.

Everyone thought I was just a puppy trailing after Tristan wherever he went.

Even though he'd agreed to date me only two months into my pursuit.

But the relationship had stayed hidden from the very start. No one ever knew.

That one comment steered the whole conversation toward me.

Someone spoke up. "Doreen, you're twenty-seven this year, right? That's not exactly young. How come you still don't have a boyfriend?"

"I mean, your brother's gorgeous. You've got the same genes. There's no way you're short on guys lining up."

"Just don't end up like Tristan over here, perfectly good mouth on him and still single as they come, haha..."

Every pair of eyes in the room landed on me.

Including Tessa's. She watched me with a look that was just a little too thoughtful.

I shook my head with a smile. "I'm not single."

Tristan's head snapped up. His brow furrowed, and he shot me a look.

A warning.

Telling me not to say anything stupid.

On my way to the restroom earlier, I had already told my parents yes. I'd agreed to the marriage.

They'd been setting me up on arranged dates for weeks now.

That was why I'd been pressing Tristan so hard lately.

I'd wanted to bring our relationship into the open, but every answer I got was impatient.

"Just wait a little longer. The timing isn't right."

But I didn't want to wait anymore.

If waiting to the very end still wouldn't give me what I wanted, then it didn't matter who I married.

"Oh? You're not single?"

Someone glanced curiously at my brother, then back at me.

"Little Doreen, you're the youngest one here. Don't go pulling our legs now."

"I bet she's bluffing. If she really had a boyfriend, why not bring him along so we can check him out?"

I spoke up again. "I'm really not joking. I'm getting engaged next month."

Tristan froze. He said he'd assumed I was just making excuses.

My brother chimed in with a grin.

"None of you knew? My little sister moves fast. And with a face like hers, what man wouldn't be wrapped around her finger?"

Tristan stood there, stunned, draining one glass after another.

He cut in abruptly.

"Stop making things up. Your sister's still single. Saying stuff like that will only hurt her reputation."

Then he dragged Myron back to keep drinking.

I sat in the corner, bored, flipping through songs on my phone.

A while later, Tristan suddenly left for the restroom. My phone buzzed. A text from him.

"Come out for a second."

I hesitated, then went.

The moment I reached the hallway outside the restroom, someone grabbed my arm hard and pulled me into a corner.

Tristan's eyes were rimmed red, fixed on me.

"Engaged? You really know how to get under my skin."

"This is just because I didn't kiss you earlier, isn't it? You don't have to be this jealous."

He reached up and gently smoothed my hair, the corner of his mouth lifting as he leaned in to kiss me.

Looking at the face I'd loved for eight years, all I could see was the image of him kissing Tessa, replaying over and over behind my eyes.

My stomach turned violently.

I stiffened and turned my head away.

"I'm not. I don't have the right to be jealous."

Eight years underground. That was what we'd been.

Nobody besides the two of us knew we were together.

Not even Myron, his closest friend, my own brother. Tristan had never once told him.

Every time we met felt like an affair.

I was sick of it. I'd tried again and again to go public.

What girl doesn't want her boyfriend to claim her in front of the whole world?

But every hope fell through, and all that accumulated was disappointment.

"Doreen!"

The smile drained from Tristan's face. "Are you avoiding me?"

"You've had too much to drink."

Just then, Tessa's voice carried over from nearby.

"Where's Tristan? I just saw him right here."

The instant he heard her voice, Tristan let go of my hand.

"Go back inside first."

Tessa had drunk too much. She was outside retching, crying out Tristan's name between heaves.

He glanced over, expression flat, and turned to walk away.

"Tristan, please don't leave me..."

Her sobbing voice stopped him in his tracks.

He exhaled softly. In the end, he caved. He stayed by her side, patting her back now and then.

"Let it out."

"You'll feel better once it's all up."

Then something seemed to occur to him. He scooped Tessa up and set her down on a nearby seat. "Wait here for me."

He jogged off and came back with a bottle in his hand.

"Here. Your favorite. Strawberry."

Tessa blinked, then broke into a teary smile.

"Eight years, and you still remember that I love strawberry."

So the one who loved strawberry had always been Tessa.

That was why he always bought strawberry cake.

Even the scented sachets tucked inside his closet were strawberry.

My eyes burned. I tore my gaze away and walked fast back toward the private room.

The party dragged on until one in the morning.

Tessa was slumped across the table, drunk, her fingers still clutching the hem of Tristan's jacket.

He didn't shake her off. Instead, he slipped his coat from his shoulders and draped it over hers.

And I, his actual girlfriend, sat in the corner watching him take care of another woman.