Page 32 of Keep Me Close

Sloane tears off a piece of muffin. “Watching those two circle each other is almost better than the murder podcasts I’m addicted to.”

I laugh, surprised by how easy it comes. “Almost?”

“Well, I do love a good murder plot,” she says with a smirk. “I figure that one of these days, they’re either going to do us all a favor and get it on or Evelyn will finally take out Hugh, and I’m dying to know how she’ll do it. I can certainly give her a few pointers if she needs them.”

Kia nearly spits out her tea.

Rina’s shoulders shake. “Girl, you really need to get out more. You’re actually starting to scare me.”

Sloane grins before shrugging. “Am I wrong?”

“No, you’re not,” Rina admits. “The eye contact alone is enough to make me hot and bothered.”

“Not to mention, weirdly invested,” Lilah adds.

Kia nods. “Extremely invested.”

I glance between them with amusement. “So everyone just knows about this?”

“Knows?” Rina echoes. “Please. Half the fun of those events is pretending not to watch them while absolutely watching them.”

That pulls another chuckle from me.

Callie smiles. “You’ll be fine on Saturday. Just stick close to us if you need a break from the testosterone overload.”

“Or from Knox,” Rina adds blandly.

Heat creeps into my cheeks. “Pretty sure I can handle Knox.”

Sloane pins me with a look over the rim of her coffee cup. “It’s adorable that you think so.”

Lilah snorts and reaches for another blueberry muffin. “She’s impossible before caffeine. Don’t take it personally.”

“I’m just saying,” Sloane adds. “Men like him always look more lethal in a tux.”

Rina’s lips twitch. “That’s one hundred percent true.”

I shake my head, laughing again, grateful for how easily they’ve made space for me.

On the drive back to the building, the skyline stretches across the horizon.

In LA, I have everything. Or at least the version of everything people think I want. The show. Exposure. A platform. The polished illusion of a high-profile life.

Here, I have coffee at a bakery with women who seem to mean it when they tell me I look beautiful. And a man who’s turning out to be different from the one I thought he was.

I came to Chicago to hide.

What I didn’t expect was to feel like I belonged.

12

Knox

I shift in the elevator, impatient to arrive at the penthouse and⁠—

We’ll just leave it at that.

Even though I’d fully intended to head straight home after practice, Coach and a few of the trainers pulled me into a meeting that dragged on forever.