She Got 41 Tries, I Got Zero Seconds. So I Gave Myself a One-Way Ticket Out Chapter 06

She Got 41 Tries, I Got Zero Seconds. So I Gave Myself a One-Way Ticket Out Chapter 06

Auden froze. “What?”

Blythe looked down at him. “You’re just going to put the ring on me? No proposal?”

Auden’s patience thinned. “I’ll say that to Tam when the time comes.”

“If you’re going to rehearse, do it properly.”

Seeing the reluctance on his face, Blythe smiled faintly and pushed harder. “Honestly? I don’t think you love

Tamsin at all. Even your rehearsal is half-assed.”

Auden paused.

In the end, he gave in. “Tam, I love you. Marry me.”

Blythe kept her arms folded. After a beat, she said, “Shouldn’t it be Bly?”

“What?”

Auden looked at her, confused.

“You’re saying another woman’s name right in front of me,” Blythe said. “I can’t get into it. I can’t commit

to the scene.”

Auden was almost out of patience.

It was a rehearsal. Blythe was only a stand-in. What did she need to get into? What did she need to commit

to?

But he did not say it.

He did not want Blythe accusing him of not loving Tamsin or treating the proposal like a joke again.

So he compromised.

“Bly,” he said, holding up the ring. “I love you. Marry me.”

Blythe extended her ring finger, a smile curving her lips. “I will.”

After the rehearsal ended, Blythe wanted to drag Auden out to the coast to surf.

In the past, as long as Blythe asked, Auden would have said yes.

But now, being around her made him uncomfortable.

Worse, it made him feel like he was standing too close to something dangerous.

“No,” he said. “I’m going to check on Tamsin.”

“I go with you,” Blythe said. “I can help you calm her down. She always listens to me.”

Blythe seemed determined to stay glued to him, but Auden did not want that.

This time, he refused her without hesitation.

When he walked through the door, he was carrying a drink from the same TikTok-famous tea bar as yesterday. The line had been long again.

Tamsin had mentioned that place to him so many times, but he had never had much patience for waiting. Yesterday, he had finally stood in that line, only to bring her a drink with mango in it.

Even Auden found that hard to understand.

Had the heat gotten to his head?

So today, he had gone back on purpose. He had waited again and confirmed with the staff several times that there could not be even a trace of mango in the drink.

Letting her cool off was one thing.

But when he could not stand it anymore, he still had to coax her.

He pushed the door open and called softly, “Tam, look what I brought you.”

No one answered:

Auden figured she was still sulking.

“Still mad?”

He carried the drink inside and looked toward the living room couch first.

No one.

Maybe she was asleep. Tamsin had a habit of getting sleepy whenever she was angry.

He pushed open the bedroom door lightly.

The bed was empty.

Something in Auden’s chest went hollow.

His steps quickened before he even realized it. The guest room was empty. The bathroom was empty. He even checked the storage closet.

Nothing.

He stood there, a faint panic rising in him.

After a moment, he suddenly laughed.

What was wrong with him today?

Had Tamsin’s dramatic breakup line actually scared him, or had Blythe gotten into his head?

Today was Tamsin’s father’s birthday. She had gone to her parents’ house for the birthday dinner.

Of course she was not home.

She was probably still with them.

At that thought, guilt flickered through him.

It was her father’s birthday. No matter what, he should have gone.

Fine. He would buy a proper gift, go over, apologize, and bring Tamsin home.

Auden bought an expensive bottle of whiskey and a gift box, then drove to the Greers’ house.

He sat with Tamsin’s parents and made polite conversation for a long time, but Tamsin never appeared.

Finally, he could not hold back anymore.

“Where’s Tam?”