Page 73 of Spotlight Hearts

He nods easily. “I’ll be here.”

“Cool.”

I weave through the crowd, pushing past bodies and flashing lights until the music dulls slightly in the hallway leading to the restrooms. The quiet hits harder than the bass did.

I lean against the wall for a second, pressing my palms over my eyes. God. I thought getting out would help. Thought enough alcohol and strangers might finally push Kai out of my head.

Instead, everything keeps circling back to him.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. For a split second, hope sparks before I can stop it. Maybe—I pull the phone out.

Not Kai.

Just another notification. Another clip. Another video from the villa. I stare at the thumbnail before I can stop myself.

It’s the same angle as the others. Grainy, filmed from across the beach. You can’t see everything, but you can see enough.

The comments are already exploding beneath it. I squeeze my eyes shut and don’t read any of them. What does it matter what strangers on the internet say about us? It’s over. If it ever started. I shove my phone back into my pocket.

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.

I push off the wall and head back toward the music. I throw myself into the crowd harder this time, letting the noise and bodies close in around me.

Laughing.

Flirting.

Drinking.

Pretending.

Because if Kai thinks he’s the only one who knows how to build walls—he’s about to learn I can do it, too. Another drink appears in my hand. I don’t remember ordering it.

Tattoo Guy is back beside me, his arm slung casually over my shoulders like we’ve known each other longer than twenty minutes.

“You still alive?” he asks with a grin.

“Barely,” I say, knocking back half the glass.

He laughs and pulls me toward the exit. “Come on. It’s too loud in here to talk.”

Talk. Right. That’s definitely what he has in mind. Normally, I’d hesitate. Tonight, I don’t.

“Lead the way,” I say.

The night air hits me as we stumble out of the club doors.

And immediately—flashes. Cameras. Voices shouting my name.

“Luca!”

“Is that you?”

“Luca, are you and Kai still together?”

“Who’s the new guy?”

Shit.