Becca shook her head, jaw tight.
“No. Tonight isn’t about him.”
But her heart had already started pounding.
Back to the bar.
Another drink.
This wasn’t like her. Becca never lost control.
But tonight…
Feeling less meant hurting less.
Or so she told herself.
“Bathroom,” she lied to the girls after a while.
Instead, she slipped out the back balcony door, cool air hitting her face.
She needed space. Silence. A breath that didn’t taste like music and memories.
She reached for a cigarette—
And froze.
Because shewasn’t alone.
Izzy stood there.
Already watching her.
Leaning against the brick wall near the railing, cigarette between his fingers, town lights behind him. Like he’d been there a while. Like he knew she’d come out.
Becca stopped mid-step.
For a second, the music from inside felt miles away. Just bass thudding through walls like a second heartbeat.
His eyes moved over her — not bold, not smug.
Guilty.
She didn’t look away.
Didn’t rush.
Didn’t crumble.
She walked to the other side of the balcony, putting space between them, pulling a cigarette from her clutch with steady fingers. The lighter flicked once. Flame. Inhale.
Only then did she speak.
Calm. Even.
“Funny…” she exhaled smoke into the cold air, eyes finally cutting toward him, sharp and unreadable.
“I step out for air… and I run into the reason I can’t breathe.”
