Luke straightened slowly.
What a fucking idiot.
He started jogging again, faster now, anger rising—not at her, not at the town.
At himself.
By the time the school came into view, his chest hurt.
The lot was nearly empty now, teachers long gone. His cruiser waited where he’d left it.
Luke stopped beside it but didn’t unlock the door.
He wanted her with him.
Not behind closed doors.
Not in shadows.
With him.
At the grocery store. At the fall festival. On Main Street with her hand in his and nowhere else to be.
He wanted people to see her and know she was his—and more, that he was hers. Because he was hers. Even now, even when she wouldn’t look him in the eye. She owned him. Body and soul.
And he’d realized too late.
The thought hollowed him out.
She didn’t want him anymore. She’d made that clear. She’d closed the door with calm finality and not a single backward glance.
Luke exhaled hard.
He unlocked the car and climbed in, hands gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary.
He didn’t deserve another chance.
But if he got one, he’d do it right.
As he pulled away from the curb, one thought stayed with him—relentless, merciless, clarifying:
He wouldn’t hide her again.
Not for anything.
Luke was barely backto the station before Linda waved him down from the front desk.
“Luke! Hold on a second, honey.”
He stopped automatically, still half-wound tight. “Yeah?”
She smiled—the bright, approving kind that made him feel twelve years old again. “You’re needed in the community room. Just for a minute.”
His stomach tightened. “For what?”
“Oh, nothing bad,” she said quickly. “Town council’s in there. Chief too.”
That didn’t help.
