“Yeah.”
“To the party?”
“Yeah.”
He looked at me properly now.
“You hate parties.”
“I don’t hate them.”
“You absolutely hate them.”
I didn’t answer.
Because he was right.
I just didn’t want to stay in the room.
Not tonight.
Not with the way things had been sitting between me and Rowan without moving forward or backward.
That was worse than argument.
It was awareness.
Constant.
Jace threw a shirt at me. “Don’t look like you’re going to a funeral.”
“I’m not.”
“You look like you’re going to see someone you don’t want to see.”
That hit closer than it should’ve.
I didn’t respond.
I left anyway.
ROWAN
The rooftop was louder than expected.
Not just music.
People.
Movement.
Energy that didn’t belong to any one thing.
It felt like the city had been poured into one space and told to behave.
It wasn’t behaving.
Serena immediately disappeared into the crowd.
