Her breath caught, a tiny sound. She pressed her face into my chest, and I felt her smile against me.
And as the night stretched on, with her against me, there was no doubt left. I knew—no matter what waited with Elise, with her dad, with the shadow games between the companies—this was it. She wasn’t just my present. She was where it all ended—and began.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
MILA
Iwoke in my room to the scent of paint and lavender, sketchbooks stacked, canvases leaning against the wall—but the air felt different. It carried traces of him. The memory of his hands, his mouth, his weight braced above me. Mom didn’t know I’d slipped out last night or crept back in. I’d spent most of the night on the arena roof with Luke, the stars laid out like a ceiling over us, and let myself be his.
Being in his arms, being with him—it was everything. Safe. Wanted. Desired. Loved. Every touch a tether that steadied me and set me free at the same time. And sex with him… there weren’t words. It left me hungry in a way I hadn’t known before Luke—every time different, better, as though we were relearning each other from the inside out.
I padded barefoot through the house, the floor cool against my soles. A hoodie hung over the back of a chair, the familiar gray cotton worn soft. Luke’s. I pulled it on, the sleeves too long, the weight of it an armor I didn’t want to take off.
Coffee in hand, I stepped out into the backyard. The sky was that hazy pre-sunrise blue, morning clinging to the edges. I sat on the old bench swing, phone in my lap, and scrolled.
His messages waited. From last night.
Made it home safe. Still thinking about you. Can’t stop.
My chest ached in the best way.
Friday blurred by in pieces. Classes slid one into the next. Elise kept her corner, her minions flanking her, but she didn’t make a move. Logan stayed quiet too. Too quiet. It didn’t feel like victory, more like the pause before another round.
Art with Avery was the only part of the day that felt truly mine. Charcoal dust smeared across my hands, graphite catching under my nails. Avery leaned over her paper, hair slipping loose from its braid, and shot me a grin when the teacher wasn’t looking. We didn’t need words to share the relief—that here, at least, we could breathe.
By the final bell, I wasn’t ready to go home. Avery wasn’t either. So we ended up atthe Grill Shack, the burger place near the highway with cracked red booths and a jukebox in the corner that cycled through old rock tracks on repeat.The place was packed—families, a few kids from our school, a couple of old guys at the counter nursing coffee—but somehow, we snagged a booth in the back.
The vinyl seat squeaked as I slid in. I set down the red plastic basket, grease already blotching the paper liner beneath the fries. Avery didn’t wait—she swiped one before I even unwrapped my burger.
The question I’d been circling pushed to the surface. I toyed with the corner of the paper then glanced at Avery. “What about Tori?”
Avery’s fry froze halfway to her mouth. “What about her?”
“Is she serious about Theo?”
Her expression turned thoughtful, the grin fading. “Hard to say. It’s clear she has feelings with the way she looks at him. But I think she’s afraid of Elise.”
“Do you think she’ll ditch Elise? Possibly to our side?” Elise still had tricks up her sleeve, and I bet Tori knew more than she was letting on. If she broke ties, would she give those potential plans up?
Avery shrugged, finally chewing the fry. “If she thought she’d survive it? Maybe.”
Maybe. The word stuck like grit lodged in my throat. Maybe was dangerous. Maybe could be betrayal. But for now, maybe was all we had.
I pushed the fry basket back toward her, a small smile tugging at my mouth. “Then we’ll take maybe. Until we can make it more.”
Avery nodded, and the hum of the diner rose around us again, the world moving on. But beneath the chatter and the grease and the flicker of the neon sign in the window, I felt it—the ground shifting. We were in the calm before the storm. And somewhere out there, Elise was waiting for her chance to make it break. To somehow claim Luke for herself and take down as many of us—me, Avery, possibly my mom—when she did.
By the time the fries were mostly gone, Avery leaned in, voice lower than the buzz around us. “Okay, so I have to tell you something.”
My brows rose. “That’s never not ominous.”
Avery rolled her eyes, but her cheeks flushed pink. “I snuck out.”
I smirked. “With Jax.” And it must’ve been the theme of the night.
“Shut up.” She bit into a fry, chewing as though it bought her time. “We just… walked along the shore. Talked. He was weird about me sneaking out, but not in a bad way. He just wanted to make sure I was safe. He said he’s going to talk to Chase this weekend. After the game.”
My stomach flipped. “That’s going to go well.”
