My chest burned. She hadn’t played her usual games with Mila this time. She’d crossed a line. She’d dug into my life, stolen my words, twisted them into a blade, and shoved it straight between Mila and me.
The rules that had shielded her just shifted. She’d crossed a line.
But Elise could wait. Mila couldn’t.
I snapped my head toward Jax, who’d been watching me as if I was about to combust. “Do what I just did. Now. Then make Chase and Theo do it too. All of you check your phones.”
Alarm flickered through his usual flat calm. “Spyware?”
“Yeah.” I was already pushing to my feet.
The teacher paused mid-sentence as my chair scraped back.
“Where are you going?” Jax asked.
“To find Mila. Tell Coach I’m skipping. Personal reasons.”
No one stopped me.
I hurried through the halls and into my car. The first place I went was Mila’s house, but it was empty. The arena was a no. She wouldn’t put herself anywhere near practice today. The roof was ours, but she’d know that was where I’d go first.
That left one place since the boardwalk studio was gone. The only one that still gave her peace when everything else was overwhelming—the beach.
It didn’t take long for me to drive along the coast and pull into the lot. It was where I found her car, locked and empty. Relief hit first, followed by the hollow twist of knowing she hadn’t gone far. I scanned the sand until I saw her.
About half a mile down the beach. Arms looped around her knees. Eyes fixed on the horizon while the waves broke heavy along the shore and rolled back.
I spotted her before she saw me—eyes fixed on the horizon as if daring the water to take her.
I crossed the sand, wind flattening my shirt against me, salt sharp in the back of my throat. Each step sank deeper than I wanted, but I kept going until I reached her.
She didn’t look up when I sat, lowering myself into the same pose. Close enough that our shoulders brushed, not enough to trap her.
“I hit the wrong icon,” I said finally. “That’s how the conversation was recorded in the first place.” The words cameout harder than I meant, the wind dragging them out to sea. “I won’t pretend the conversation didn’t happen.”
Her voice came out thin. “I listened.”
“I know.”
“Then maybe the smartest move is distance.” She didn’t look at me, just at the water, like every wave was waiting to prove her right.
My jaw locked. “You heard one sentence without the rest of the fight.”Maybe you’re right. I knew how that sounded.
“The rest sounded a lot like you letting him push you to save yourself.”
“I don’t need his permission to protect you.” My control snapped, harsher than I intended. I lowered my voice. “I was playing angles out loud. You got thirty seconds of a thirty-minute argument, and what you did hear was tampered with, taken way out of context.”
“And he won.”
“He didn’t.” I forced myself to stop short of touching her. “If he had, I wouldn’t be here.”
Her laugh was brittle. “Your family wants you far away from me.”
“That’s never happening.”
“You sure?” Her head turned then, eyes burning. “You sure when Lorne starts moving chess pieces?”
“Lorne can make moves,” I ground out. “Not against you.” Heat flared through me, ugly and bright. “What the hell did Elise feed you?”
