She had her chance.
She walked away.
Whatever happened between them was summer, preseason, rumors, heat.
I’m the one here now.
Then I see Kane.
He’s behind her.
Close.
Too close to be random.
And whatever little comfort I’d built in my own chest starts to tilt.
Stella doesn’t move at first.
She just stands there looking at us.
At me.
At my hand on Tristan’s arm.
At the picture we make under the library lights like something already established.
Then something in her face changes.
Not dramatically.
Cleanly.
Like a door closes and another one opens.
And she starts toward us.
My pulse goes cold.
Not because I’m afraid of her.
Because I know exactly what this is.
This is a girl making a decision.
Tristan feels her coming before she reaches the table.
I know because I feel it happen in him.
He looks up.
Sees her.
And every line of his body snaps tighter.
Good, some vicious little part of me thinks.
Feel it.
