Silver had sworn with religious conviction that she absolutely wasn't going to the Winter Gala.
After the explosive confrontation at the hockey house, where words had been thrown like weapons and emotions had detonated with enough force to leave psychological shrapnel, the last thing she wanted was another crowded room filled with noise, glaring lights, and the omnipresent possibility of encountering Eli Hayes. Her own voice still echoed in her head with uncomfortable clarity—You're impossible!—and the memory made her chest constrict with a mixture of regret and stubborn defensiveness that she couldn't quite shake.
But Americus had never been the type of person who accepted "no" as a legitimate response to social opportunities, especially ones that involved formal wear and the chance to orchestrate romantic drama.
