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She was a shark, and I was swimming in open waters, just trying to stay afloat.
As I hauled myself off the floor and smoothed down my uniform, I had a sinking feeling there was much more to Brittany’s threat than I realized.
* * *
For the rest of the evening, Brittany ignored me. She didn’t once look in my direction, but it didn’t appease my nerves any.
I was still shaking when I finally reached The Oriental Garden. Everything had closed up for the night.
Tomorrow was Thanksgiving.
Even Mr. Chen and his family were closing the takeout for a couple of days, but it wasn’t being alone on Thanksgiving that was bothering me.
It was Brittany’s warning.
Her words lingered with me the whole ride back from Powell.
Growing up, Daddy was a huge football fan, and he always used to say that the best form of defense was to attack.
Brittany had attacked me, which got me thinking.
What was she trying to defend?
As I rounded the corner to the stairwell, I had my answer.
My whole world contracted until there was nothing except for Blake sitting on the bottom step with his head in his hands, the first snow of winter falling around him.
Earlier, Brittany.
Now, Blake.
It was going to be a long night.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Penny
Blake looked up,and our eyes locked. The emotion staring back at me left me breathless.
Needing to ground myself, I wrapped my arms around myself and said, “What are you doing here?”
He rose from the step and took a step toward me. I stuck out my hand and sucked in a sharp breath.
His presence was already affecting me.
A single look and I was already crumbling.
“Everything is so fucked up.” His voice sounded so defeated.
The snow fell harder, the white flakes covering everything with their innocence. Funny, really, that we were surrounded by something so beautiful when our history was the opposite.
It was tragic and ugly and filled with what-ifs and could-have-beens.
Our tainted story didn’t deserve snow; it deserved a storm. The kind that left a trail of devastation in its wake.
I closed my eyes and counted to three.
When I opened them again, Blake was watching me. “Why did you do that?” he asked.
