Morgan widened her eyes at Embry.

“Morgan, this is Luke. Luke, my best friend Morgan.” Embry said, waving her hand back and forth between them.

Luke offered his hand. “Nice to meet you, Morgan.”

“You too, Luke.” Morgan placed her hand in his for a light shake. “I just stopped in to check on you,” Morgan said to Embry.

“Oh, we’re good,” Embry said.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Morgan chuckled. “I’m just gonna make a pit stop and head back upstairs. I’ll see you up there.”

Morgan walked away, and Embry turned back to Luke. They started talking at the same time.

“I should—”

“I’ll let you—”

They laughed.

“You first,” Luke said.

“I was just going to say I should probably head up there.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to keep you from your first law school social. They can get pretty wild,” he teased.

“Oh, I bet.” Embry laughed. “Well, thanks for the drink …” Embry was distracted by her phone vibrating in her clutch. She pulled it out and found a text from Morgan.

Holy hallway hottie! He is gorgeous! Find me on the dance floor when you come up for air! ;)

Before she knew what he was doing, Luke grabbed Embry’s phone.

“What the—” She watched him play with the keypad for a minute before putting the phone back in her hand.

He brushed her long blond waves over her shoulder and cupped her neck. “Now you have my number. And I have yours.” He leaned in and whispered, “I’ll be seeing you, beautiful.” He brushed his lips against her cheek.

Embry’s knees nearly gave out. She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “See you,” she said, as she got up to head out of the lounge. She gave Luke one last look on her way up the stairs and was rewarded with a sexy wink.

Embry and Morgan flung themselves into Embry’s apartment and collapsed onto the couch.

“I am beat!” Morgan said a little too loudly.

“You tore up that dance floor!” Embry yelled back, her ears ringing from the loud club music.

“You know I got moves.” Morgan shimmied in place.

Embry kicked off her heels and rubbed her sore feet. She dropped her clutch, and her phone bounced out. She picked it up and saw she had a new text. Opening the message, she smiled at Luke’s name.

Hi beautiful. Hope you had a good time tonight and made it home okay.

She sighed and fell back against the seat, clutching her phone to her chest.

“Hey, why do you look all dreamy and weird all of a sudden?” Morgan questioned.

“I don’t look weird,” Embry said defensively.

“Why are you hugging your phone?”

Embry shook her head and held out her phone. “Luke texted me.”

Morgan read the text and tossed the phone back into Embry’s lap. “I think I love him already. Now spill! I need details!”

Embry hadn’t told Morgan about her drink with Luke yet. When she had joined the party upstairs, Morgan shoved a glass of champagne in her hand and dragged her out onto the dance floor. They met and mingled with some people from their sections and danced the night away. It was a blast.

Embry proceeded to tell Morgan everything about her drink with Luke up until the point that Morgan had interrupted them.

“It looked like you were getting pretty cozy,” Morgan teased.

“Yeah, until someone couldn’t help her nosy tendencies and ruined our moment!”

Morgan held up her hands . “Hey, I was just checking on my best friend.”

“Yeah right. You just wanted a closer look at Luke.”

“Can you blame me?”

“Nope. Right before you walked in, he totally caught me staring shamelessly at him and called me out on it. I couldn’t even speak. His eyes got all smoldery, and he leaned in and told me I was beautiful. But I swear, Morgan, it’s probably a good thing you interrupted when you did or I might have mauled his face.”

“That’s my girl! Whatever’s happening between you two, I like it. So are you gonna text him back?”

“No. I don’t know. Maybe. Probably.”

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

“I want to.” Embry sighed. “It’s just … I’m supposed to be doing this for me, focusing on law school, my future. I don’t want to lose myself in a relationship again. I’m scared of how he makes me feel. I don’t even know him.”

“Look, I know Jack did a number on you, but not every guy is like him. Luke is the first guy you’ve met in five years who has you genuinely interested, so why not give it a chance? See where it goes.”

“Yeah … I guess.” Embry yawned. “Maybe I’ll sleep on it.”

Morgan got up and headed for the guest room. “Yeah, sleep is good. I’m going to pass out. Love you, Bree Bear,” she said, using Embry’s childhood nickname.

Embry smiled. “Love you, M.”

Embry walked into her bathroom to get ready for bed. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. As she stood looking in the mirror, she replayed her time with Luke. She lifted her fingers to her cheek and remembered the soft feel of his lips on her skin.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Embry went into her closet to change. Stripping off the too-sexy dress, she pulled on a pair of boxers and a tank and climbed into bed with her phone. She read Luke’s text a few times and decided not to text him back just yet. She tossed her phone on the nightstand and rolled over.

Embry thought about what Morgan had said. Embry’s relationship with Jack had once been so perfect, and then they completely fell apart. He was charming, popular, handsome, and sweet; everything she had ever wanted. They were high school sweethearts who started dating at sixteen. Everyone thought they were the one couple who would stand the test of time, but no one knew the real Jack.

After a year together, he changed, letting parts of his real personality show through. It started with little fits of jealousy. Jack wasn’t happy about the amount of male friends Embry had, even though they all had girlfriends. Anything that took her attention away from him caused a problem. Jack’s jealousy morphed into possessiveness, and he dealt with his insecurities by putting her down—making her feel worthless and ugly.

People at school adored Jack. Even Embry’s parents loved him. They referred to him as their future son-in-law, and he played the part well. He was the loving boyfriend who worshipped the ground Embry walked on … until she said or did something he didn’t like. Behind closed doors, Jack’s ugliness escalated. The emotional abuse he put Embry through wore her down. He had a way of manipulating her into believing it was all her fault, and if she would just behave the way he expected, he wouldn’t have to get so angry. He lifted her up so high when he wanted to, but when he put her down, she never felt so low. She lived and breathed by his moods.

By the last semester of their senior year, Embry knew that in order to save herself and her sanity, she had to get out of the relationship. She never would’ve escaped him if it hadn’t been for Morgan.

After a particularly bad fight with Jack, Embry broke down and told her best friend everything: how much she loved Jack, how he blamed her for the hurt he caused, how hard she tried to make him happy, all the awful things he said and did to her. She was at her wits’ end. He would never change, never leave her in peace.

Morgan helped Embry apply to a few schools out of state and away from Jack. She made a point of always being around Embry, claiming that they’d soon be at different schools, so Jack didn’t have much time alone with her. Graduation came and went, and Embry had the opportunity to start school early, taking summer session classes at the university. She packed up without warning and moved over a thousand miles away.