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I should move, should march after him, demand he see me for who I am. But my feet betray me, rooted to the spot, as if they too have absorbed the chill from the tiles beneath them.
The air in the kitchen hums with the echo of his words. Desperate…joke… They bounce off the walls, invisible specters haunting me. I close my eyes, try to steady my breathing. I’m not desperate. I’m not.
The scent of coffee still lingers, mixing with the acute sting of rejection that fills the room.
14
BRIELLE
I stride across the college campus, my boots clicking against the pavement, heart pounding as Levi’s words float through my mind. I’m still rattled, a week later.
“Hey, Brielle!” Sierra’s voice slices through the fog in my brain. She jogs toward me, her blonde hair a bright light against the gray of the buildings.
“Sierra.” My greeting comes out steadier than I feel. I try to mirror her energy, but my pulse hasn’t settled. It’s not just Levi; it’s the tangle of Conrad’s slow smirks and Grayson’s intense stares that make me feel like I’m forever on the edge of something reckless.
Let them go. They don’t matter to me anymore.
“Girl, you look like you need some serious fun.” Sierra loops her arm through mine, steering me away from my path. “And I have just the thing.”
I raise an eyebrow, skeptical. “What kind of thing?”
“Only the hottest party this side of campus.” She grins, excitement bubbling off her like champagne fizz. “It’s at my sorority tonight. I’m kind of the one throwing it. This whole being a good influence thing is kind of overrated anyways.”
“Party?” I echo.
“Yep, and don’t give me that I’m not a party girl speech.”
“Parties really aren’t my scene.”
“Come on, Brie,” Sierra urges. “It’s just people, music, maybe a little trouble. You could use some new friends.”
“I’m pretty happy with the ones I have, actually.”
“I’m sorry if I made you feel like you had a choice. You don’t.” Sierra scribbles on a scrap of paper. “Here.”
“Sierra…”
“Take it.” She presses the paper into my palm. “Don’t make me come find you, Brielle Rose. You better show up.”
My fingers close around the note, crumpling the edges. “I’ll think about it,” I say.
“Thinking’s overrated,” Sierra calls over her shoulder as she walks away. “Feeling—now that’s where it’s at, and I have a feeling that you’re going to be at this party. Otherwise I’ll find you and drag you there myself.”
One more look, and she’s disappearing down the sidewalk with a grin on her face.
I shove the invitation deep into my pocket and move in the direction of my first class, debating whether or not I want to go.
A door opens, so quietly that I hardly even register it. Then, hands clasp around my arm and yank me sideways.
The world tilts as I tumble into darkness. A closet, close walls pressing in on me.
Oh no. I’ve read about things like this—I never thought it would happen to me.
“Let go!” My voice echoes in the closet.
“Shh, Brielle, it’s just me.” Grayson’s voice, low and rough, washes over me.
Recognition douses the flames of fear. It’s him. Grayson. A man who shouldn’t send my heart skittering like a bird trapped against a window.
