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“I’m not an accountant, Ethan,” Logan yelled from the other side of the room. “Deal with your own finances.”

“I know, but I don’t even want to look at my bank account. This trip ended up costing more than I thought.”

Something stilled in me, but I didn’t know why.

Wait!

“I’m not naming names, but the ladies might’ve had something to do with it,” Logan muttered. Norah tossed a grape at him.

“Don’t punish me for facts. I saw the credit card bill,” he laughed, and Norah stuck out her tongue at him.

“Yeah, but isn’t your company covering for some of this?” I asked, carefully crafting my words. “Luke mentioned something like that might be possible or...”

Please don’t say it. Please, please don’t say it.

“No,” he said, and I froze. “Definitely not.”

“Yeah, we wish,” Alex said, his chuckle creating a painful, clean cut into my flesh. “Even this year, when it’s sort of work-related.” My heart started beating faster. A dull, cold weight dropped in my stomach.

“But they do make sure we all get vacation at the same time, so that’s something.”

He lied to me.

I tried to piece together an excuse. Maybe he misunderstood. Maybe something changed. Maybe I’d heard him wrong. Reasons that made sense. But deep down, I knew better.

This felt different. Intentional.

And not just a lie you tell to soften something, not a slip or a moment of hesitation. It was a choice to make things easier.

A strange anger bubbled inside me.

What else had he bent into shape to make things easier?

I forced a tight smile, one that barely reached my lips, and excused myself. My feet moved mechanically toward my room, every step felt like a betrayal of my own instinct.

You should’ve known better.

I didn’t do lies wrapped in good intentions. Not from him. Not if that’s how it all started.

Luke really thought he could treat me like some naïve little girl, as if I should be flattered simply because he’d decided I was worth his attention. That he chose me for the trip.

Was that what people thought of me?

Don’t get angry. Swallow a lie. Keep playing along.

Choose to be kind.

If he believed for a second that I wasn’t capable of anger, of frustration, of standing up for myself, he was gravely mistaken. And I was more than ready to prove it.

37

Luke

I tried folding my clothes as efficiently as possible, but my carry-on refused to cooperate. I hadn’t bought anything. How was it possible that nothing fit anymore?

My stuff was scattered around the room, a reflection of the whirlwind week behind us. In contrast, Hazel’s cute yellow suitcase and passport were neatly placed by the door. A few bathroom items and my shirt she’d slept in were still in the bedroom. Maybe I should just give it to her. Would that be weird?

I heard steps in the hallway. A determined pace. I didn’t have to look to know it was her.