He kept talking. I wasn't listening.
Because across the room, Alex's expression had changed.
It wasn't subtle. Not to me. Might have been invisible to anyone else—just a flicker, a micro-adjustment in his posture. But I'd spent too many hours studying from afar to not see it.
His whole body went still. Like the air had been knocked out of him. The color drained from his face—that careful Harrington composure cracking. Raw hurt. Betrayal. The specific kind of pain that comes from being blindsided by someone you trusted.
We'd had sex. Twice. And I'd just announced I was bringing my girlfriend to the mixer in a room full of people, without ever telling him Emily and I were back together.
After that night in his dorm. After hooking up. I'd gone back to Emily without saying a word to him. Let him find out by overhearing it in a crowded room like it was nothing. Likehewas nothing.
Alex turned to Derek. Said something I couldn't hear, mouth moving but eyes distant—that glazed look people get when they're holding themselves together through pure force of will.
My chest felt like it was being crushed from the inside.
Fuck. What did I do?
Hale was still talking. Sunday schedule. Launch times. Which boats they'd be using. The words floated past me without sticking. My brain was across the room, watching Alex pretend to listen while everything about his body language screamed that he wanted to disappear.
I did that to him.
Not by accident. Not by circumstance. By cowardice. By choosing the easy path over the honest one every single time, until the dishonesty stacked high enough to collapse on someone else.
"Any other questions?" Eldridge asked.
Hands went up. Parking. Filming. Start times. I didn't hear the answers.
"All right. That's everything. Sign-up sheet for Saturday volunteers is still going around. Meeting's done. Get out of here."
The room got loud. People moving, talking, heading for the door. Riverside clustered near the exit. Kingswell mirroring on their side.
Alex was already walking toward the door with Derek. Not looking back. Not glancing in my direction. Just gone.
Like I didn't exist.
"Come on, let's go," Tyler said, already halfway out.
I walked toward the exit. The crowd bottlenecked at the door, both teams trying to leave at once. Through the bodies, I caught a glimpse of Alex outside—already down the sidewalk, walking away from the venue with that controlled stride he had. Not fast. Not slow. Just... leaving.
Getting away from me.
Tyler and some guys were making plans. "You coming, Moore? We're getting wings."
"Nah. Got some reading to do."
"Your loss."
They headed off down the street. Voices fading.
Another lie. I didn't have reading. I just needed to not be around people.
I started walking in the opposite direction. Hands shoved in my pockets.
My phone buzzed.
Emily
How was the meeting? Still on for next Saturday?
