That wasn’t the problem.
The danger was worse. Sneakier. A threat I hadn’t prepared for.
He made my pulse sprint. He made my thoughts trip over themselves. He made me forget to be angry even while I was furious. He made me… feel something I did not want to name.
And that was unacceptable.
If I wasn’t careful, he’d get into my head the same way he’d gotten into my room. Quietly, confidently, like it was already his.
No. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I needed to fight back.
But how do you fight someone who gets under your skin just by breathing in your direction?
I pressed my palms to my forehead. “Find his weakness,” I muttered. “There has to be something.”
But I had nothing. No leverage. No insight. No map of the battlefield to strategize on. It was like trying to fight smoke.
I inhaled slowly, forcing my brain to turn over possibilities. Who would know something? Who could tell me what I was really up against?
Then it hit me.
Therewassomeone.
Someone who definitely knew more than they were saying.
My phone was on the nightstand. I snatched it up before I could talk myself out of it, the screen glowing softly in the dark.
The unwelcome number sat at the top of my messages, taunting me.
My thumbs hovered.
Then I typed the only question that mattered.
How much trouble am I in?
I stared at the text, heart still pounding erratically from Riley’s proximity, his voice echoing in every corner of my mind.
Before I lost my nerve, I hit send.
The message whooshed away, leaving a blue bubble and a pit in my stomach. I set the phone down but kept my fingers curled around it, gripping it like a lifeline.
Riley’s scent was still in the air. His heat still lingered in the mattress.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I wasn’t falling for him. I wasn’t.
But as sleep finally dragged me under, phone clutched against my chest, I knew one thing with absolute certainty.
I needed answers.
And I needed them before it was too late.
CHAPTER TWELVE
LUNA
