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“Max?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t go out tonight. Just in case, okay?”

“Where would I go?” I laugh. “It’s like you said. I’ve got a target on my back. I’m staying right here, so don’t worry.”

Some of the tension leaves her shoulders. “Good.”

Then she’s gone, closing the bedroom door behind her.

I turn back to my laptop and crack my knuckles, choosing to pretend my real life isn’t a raging fucking dumpster fire.

Besides, who has time to worry about murder suspects or the possibility that my former English teacher might want me dead, when I have fictional people with fictional problems demanding my attention?

At least their lives are still under my control.

“Okay,” I mutter, setting my fingers on the keyboard. “Let’s do this.”

Hours later, I’m rubbing my stiff neck, silently chastising myself for not taking even five minutes to get up and stretch. My shoulders are tight, my lower back is starting to ache, and I already know I’m going to pay for spending half the day hunched over my laptop come morning.

Still, when I look at my almost-finished manuscript, every sore muscle suddenly seems worth it.

Never in all my years of writing have I written a piece of fiction this fast. Sure, I’ve had a short story or two pour out of me in a matter of days, but never an entire book. This story feels like it’s writing itself and I’m just the conduit bringing it to life.

If my muse keeps this up, I might actually type The End before this fucking reunion is done and over with.

Like always, I send the latest batch of chapters to Lauren and Cathie. It’s not until I notice the clock on the bottom corner of the screen that I realize it’s almost midnight.

A frown creases my brow.

After Milo left in the middle of the night, we never made plans to see each other today. At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it. Now, after going an entire day without hearing from him, I can’t stop wondering if maybe last night meant something entirely different to him than it did to me.

Maybe everything we said, everything we did, was the closure he needed. One last night to put the past to rest before we both went back to our separate lives.

I hate how much that thought hurts.

Or maybe I’m overthinking this.

Maybe Milo is sitting at our spot by the lake right now, wondering the exact same thing about me.

Guess there’s only one way to find out.

I grab my jacket and gloves and leave.

Less than twenty minutes later, I park near a secluded stretch of Alder Lake, praying I haven’t completely lost my mind. But when I reach the pier and find it empty, my heart sinks a little further.

No Milo.

I lower myself onto the dock and stare across the lake, watching moonlight shimmer over the dark water while disappointment settles heavily in my chest.

Then something flickers through the trees at the edge of my vision.

Light.

Right. Tonight’s reunion event is a bonfire in the woods behind the old mill. Nothing and no one could ever convince me to set foot near that place again.

Unless… Milo’s there.