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At a knock, he rushed to the door, throwing it open.
“Whoa. Hey, man.” Aiden stood in the doorway. He furrowed his brow. “You alright?”
Lukas cleared his throat. “Yeah, why?”
“I dunno… your eyes are red. Did something happen?”
“No. It’s fine.”
Aiden tried to look in the room, but Lukas stepped forward into the hall, closing the door. He couldn’t tell Aiden what he suspected until he knew for sure. He had to figure out how to stop her without help.
“You ready for dinner? Blaire and Riley just left my place for the cafeteria.”
“Yeah…”
“Seriously, man. Are you sure you’re alright?”
Lukas ran a hand through his hair as they walked down the corridor. “I don’t know. Just leave it. I can’t talk about it. Not right now.”
“You know I’ll listen if you need me…”
“I know,” he said quietly. His friend would be there for him. But he wasn’t quite sure what anyone could do for him right now. This rift between him and Blaire was something he needed to fix.
They didn’t say another word until they were in the cafeteria. Blaire was already at their table with Riley and Seth. Aiden took his usual seat across from Blaire, and Lukas settled in next to her. She wouldn’t even look at him, just stared at her barely eaten plate of shrimp scampi. No way would she put off eating one of her favorite foods. Another sign something was wrong.
She had started opening up more with him—talking to him and even joking around—but now she wouldn’t even make eye contact. It was all the confirmation he needed that she was planning something she didn’t want to share.
Lukas swallowed hard and tightened his fists on his lap. It took every ounce of his willpower not to confront her in front of everyone.
“Do you want to go to Haven next weekend?” Riley asked, as she took a bite of her rice pilaf. Her casual tone belied an ulterior motive and gave him another clue.
Lukas glanced between the two girls. Riley didn’t know about the packed duffel if she was asking about next weekend. Blaire never hid anything from Riley. What was going on?
Blaire snapped her gaze up from her plate. “Oh. Um… I don’t know, maybe?”
Riley’s brows pinched together. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” Blaire protested too loudly.
Everyone stared at her.
“You both are acting weird tonight,” Aiden said with a frown.
Seth laughed. “As opposed to when? They always act weird.”
Riley sniped at him. “Well, aren’t you sweet?” She rolled her eyes.
Blaire glanced at Lukas, and when their eyes met, she looked away. “I’m fine,” she murmured, pushing the shrimp around on her plate.
That was a lie. Lukas could feel her tension and pain. It killed him not to soothe her discomfort.
Riley frowned. “Well, just let me know about going to Haven…” She gave Aiden a look and he shook his head at her.
“Where’s Mera and Kai?” Blaire asked Aiden, changing the subject.
“They had a meeting with one of the professors about next year’s coursework.”
An awkward silence fell over the table again.
