“Ophelia.” Ryan’s fingers brushed my arm. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
Matty’s gaze cut to where Ryan touched me. His jaw flexed once before his eyes lifted back to mine.
“Come here,” Matty said, his voice sliding through the air, making every nerve in my body react before my brain could catch up.
Ryan blinked, glancing between us. “Wait—youknowhim?” He gave a confused laugh. “I thought you didn’t.”
My throat felt tight. “I don’t,” I said quickly, turning back to Ryan like that made it true. “We’ve just…seen each other around campus.”
He didn’t look convinced. His gaze kept flicking toward Matty, uneasy. “He’s staring at you.”
“No, he’s not,” I murmured, forcing a shaky laugh. “Ignore him. Tell me more about that business class you mentioned.”
Ryan tried, talking about the group project again, but the words barely landed. His eyes kept darting toward the fire’s edge—toward Matty, who hadn’t moved, who just stood there watching me like he was waiting for me to admit something.
Then Matty said my name. “Ophelia.”
The way he spoke it was nothing like when Ryan had.
Ryan’s version had been soft, uncertain, testing whether I’d look at him.
Matty’s was a command disguised as my name, rough around the edges, strong enough to crawl under my skin and take root.
Heat shot through me so fast I forgot how to breathe. Every part of me went still, caught between the fire’s warmth and the dizzy rush of hearing him say my name again.
I forced a smile that felt like it might crack my face. “Hey, um,” I said to Ryan, already standing, gripping my cup too tightly. “Do you want to dance?”
He blinked in surprise, but nodded, letting me tug him back through the door and into the noise.
I didn’t look back, but I could feel Matty’s gaze on me, crawling over my skin…impossible to shake.
The living room was packed, lights flashing red and blue from a cheap LED strip across the ceiling. Bodies swayed and collided, laughter spilling into shouts. I pulled Ryan toward the middle of the crowd, letting the crush of people swallow us whole.
He grinned, his hands settling tentatively on my hips like he was waiting for me to flinch. I didn’t. I nodded once, and we started to move.
It should have felt freeing, the bass thudding through the floor and noise drowning out thought. But the harder I tried to lose myself in it, the more I could feelhim.
Matty.
Somewhere behind me. Maybe by the wall. Maybe closer. My heartbeat stuttered to match the rhythm of the bass, uneven and frantic.
Ryan leaned close, shouting over the music, “Relax!”
Relax.
As if that were possible.
I forced a nod, rolling my hips just enough to sell it. The crowd whooped, clapping to the beat, a blur of lights and sound and heat. One of the cheerleaders shoved another drink into my hand. I took a sip and barely tasted it.
Every nerve in my body told me he was still watching.
I tried not to look, but my eyes found him anyway.
Across the room, near the doorway, Matty stood with his arms crossed, shadows from the pulsing lights cutting across his face. He wasn’t smiling.
Jace and Parker were beside him, their girlfriends laughing at something I couldn’t hear, but Matty didn’t join in. He didn’t even pretend to be part of the conversation. People stopped to talk, clapping him on the back, trying to draw him in, but he barely looked their way.
