Rumors started small.

At first it was just a couple of sideways glances when you and Tamsy Caines walked into the same room. Someone whispered. Someone else snickered. Then came the jokes — quiet comments about how the two of you were always around each other.

One afternoon the teasing got louder. A voice from across the room laughed and said. “Honestly… I think you two are secretly together.” A few people burst out laughing, waiting for a reaction.

Tamsy froze for half a second.

His eyes shifted toward you. Not annoyed. Not embarrassed. Just… thinking.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes like it was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard, waving the comment away. But he didn’t move any farther from you either.

If anything, he stayed right where he was.

And somehow that only made the rumors worse.