“Yeah, okay. Well, let’s head out then.”

“We probably shouldn’t walk out together,” she suggested, throwing her bags over her shoulder.

“Okay, then I’ll follow you. Make sure you get to your car okay.”

He followed close behind her as she walked down the hallway. Each step carried her farther from where she wanted to be. She had to fight every instinct to turn around and throw herself into Luke’s arms, tell him that she didn’t care about the rules. He was where she wanted to be. But instead she kept walking, trying to ignore the ache creeping back into her chest.

Everything looks different in the light of day. Embry saw the truth in that statement … if different meant worse. As the sun streamed in through her sheer curtains, she pulled the covers over her head and groaned. She’d left school last night and thrown herself in bed, trying as hard as she could to not think about what had happened in Luke’s office. Unfortunately, her brain had other plans and she’d tossed and turned all night.

She was mortified that she’d revealed her feelings to Luke, and he’d brushed her off. It was nobody’s fault but her own. How could she expect Luke to take her seriously when she’d been pushing him away for the better part of a month? She’d let him in, and as soon as he got too close, she pushed him away again.

Dragging herself out of bed, Embry made her way to the coffee maker and started a pot. She had no business thinking about love when her brain was barely awake. A mistake. Although the words made her wince, her gut told her he hadn’t meant them. The pain and desire in his soulful blue eyes had betrayed him. But it didn’t change the fact that they were stuck in the same holding pattern. The only way to stop the cycle was to avoid each other, but neither one of them seemed able to do that.

Embry took her coffee out to the balcony and called Morgan.

“Hey chicky! I was just gonna call you,” said her best friend.

“You’re way too enthusiastic for this early in the morning.”

“Early? It’s eleven o’clock. Rough night?”

“You could say that,” Embry responded. The fall breeze scattered leaves across the grass and left Embry chilled. She tucked herself into the lounge chair and pulled a blanket around herself, trying not to think about the warm arms she wished were wrapped around her instead. “I saw Luke last night.”

“You mean after he showed up at the bar with Trampy McBimbo?”

“Yeah. I lied. I was with him when you called.”

Morgan let out a fake gasp. “You don’t say!”

“You knew?”

“I had my suspicions,” Morgan admitted. “You’re a shit liar.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if there’s much I’m not shit at anymore.” Embry decided to come clean. She told Morgan about everything that had been going on for the past month. The flirting. The kisses. Jack. She felt especially guilty about keeping Morgan in the dark about her ex’s harassing phone calls.

“Are you kidding me?” Morgan’s voice lost its earlier playfulness. “How could you not tell me this was going on? Did you at least tell Luke?”

Embry let out a long sigh. “No. I don’t want him to know about Jack. He shouldn’t have to deal with my drama.”

“I seriously have my doubts about your intelligence sometimes,” Morgan said.

Embry winced. “That hurt.” She hadn’t expected such a strong reaction. She was used to Morgan’s light-hearted demeanor.

“This isn’t a joke, Bree. I can’t believe Jack’s been harassing you, and you haven’t told a single person! What if he knows where you live?”

“He doesn’t,” she said, becoming defensive.

“How do you know? Have you even talked to your mom about it yet?”

“No.” Embry dropped her head in shame. As much as she wanted to argue, she knew Morgan was right. She wasn’t making smart decisions when it came to dealing with Jack.

“Embry, I know running to Florida worked for you last time, but you can’t run again. You have to handle this. You need to come clean to your parents. Your mother would be mortified knowing she gave that abusive fuck your phone number.”

Embry worried at a frayed edge of her blanket. “I just don’t want to make them feel bad. She’ll blame herself; you know how my mom is.”

“Stop thinking about everyone else and worry about yourself for once. I’m telling Brett, and when you get yourself sorted out with Luke, I suggest you let him know what’s going on as well.”

“But he—”

“Won’t think you’re weak,” Morgan interjected. “You’re one of the bravest people I know. You were sixteen when you met Jack. He was all you knew. You were strong for getting out when you did. He charmed the pants off of everyone he met while putting you through hell. You did what you had to do to survive.”

Embry sometimes forgot how deep Morgan was. She gave nothing away with her cheery facade. But at times like that, Embry remembered why she put up with Morgan’s crazy antics. Her best friend was fierce. And she was right. Embry wasn’t a scared teenager anymore. She needed to handle it. She would handle it. “You’re right, you’re right. I’ll call my parents.”

“Good.” And with that, Morgan went right back to her bubbly self. “So what are we going to do about this Luke situation? Maybe I was wrong about getting under Luke. Maybe you need to get over Luke and under someone else. Brendan?”

“No!” Embry clasped her hand over her mouth and heard Morgan giggling. “No. I mean, he was nice, other than nearly high-fiving me to death, but I think I need to sort things out with Luke. Whatever this is between us, it isn’t just going to go away.”

“How about you do your sorting tomorrow?” Morgan suggested, sounding way too innocent.

Embry was certain if she had been sitting in front of her best friend, she would’ve seen a devilish glint in Morgan’s eyes. “Are you scheming?”

“Well, there’s this party tonight …”

“Famous words,” Embry mumbled.

“No, really, it’ll be amazing. It’s at Scandal, you know, the one we went to for the social. It’s not a school event, but a few girls in my class were talking about it. It’s a masquerade ball. We can pick up some sexy Venetian masks, maybe new dresses, and go all out. We’ve busted our asses these past few months, so let’s go let loose!”

Embry wasn’t sure she was up for another night out. “I thought that’s what last night was for.”

“It was supposed to be,” Morgan admitted. “But it didn’t go too well, did it?”

“No,” Embry agreed, “it didn’t. But it’s not even Halloween yet. Why the party?”

“Halloween is this week. You need to get out more, girl!”

“Yeah, there’s this thing called law school that’s been in the way,” Embry deadpanned.

“Well for tonight, I say we have a school-free, Luke-free, stress-free night. Get your mind off of things and just have fun.”

Hearing his name caused a small tug at Embry’s heart. A Luke-free night was just what she needed.

Embry sat in the back of a cab, squished between Brett and Jeremy. Morgan sat up front giving the cabbie an earful. The girl could literally talk to anyone.

“How did I get stuck back here with you two?” Embry grumbled as she tried to adjust her long legs around the hump in the floor.

“Hey,” scolded Jeremy. “Any girl would be lucky to be stuck between us. It’s like a sexy sandwich.”

Embry rolled her eyes at her friend. “This would be an Embry sandwich because I’m in the middle.”

“Dude”—Brett leaned past Embry to get Jeremy’s attention—”did you just call me sexy?”

Embry watched Jeremy, waiting for his answer.

“Yep.”

She looked back to Brett.

“Okay cool, just making sure.”

“You guys are weird,” Embry said.

“No,” Jeremy corrected, “we’re sexy.”

“That we are,” agreed Brett, reaching across Embry for a fist bump from Jeremy.