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“Brooke?” Liam’s voice rang from the hall.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I backed away from Alex, checking myself in the mirror one more goddamn time as I called out, “Be right out!”
Alex’s eyebrows raised as if to say,you’re leaving?As if there was time to finish this insane conversation that we’d started?
I cocked my head, silently replying,of course, I’m fucking leaving,and shot him the sternest look I could muster to make sure he moved.
He slid to the side, giving me enough room to escape.
“Hey, babe, sorry,” I said to Liam, tucking my arm into his and leading him back toward the party. “I snuck a call to Sabrina. She asked me to check in.”
I was evil. I was a truly horrible person for lying to him—well, half lying, anyway—but how the hell could I explain that Alex walked in on me and decided to hang out for a while?
“Are you okay?” Liam asked. “I know it’s a lot.”
I mustered a smile.You have no idea.
CHAPTER6
Alex
NOW
I’d been staringat the ceiling of Leah’s room in the Grey Mansion for at least two hours. The party had finally wrapped up at around midnight, and we’d all gone to bed shortly after, but I was far too restless to sleep.
Leah’s room had barely changed since she was a teenager. The walls were muted lilac. In the center of the space sat a four-post bed—its white wooden frame host to the softest sheets and more pink throw pillows than one person could ever need. On the walls were a series of trophies and ribbons that Leah had accumulated over the years for various academic and athletic pursuits, including debate club, mathletes, and equestrianism. Whatever space remained hosted shelves upon shelves of books. She loved to read.
I rolled onto my side for what must have been the fourth time since I’d laid down, trying to settle my mind.
I thought I’d done well during the party—engaged with everyone I met, showed Leah that I could keep up with her—and I should have been exhausted and fallen asleep the second my head hit the pillow, but I couldn’t get Brooke out of my head.
I kept telling myself that the coincidental run-in in the bathroom didn’t mean anything; except, if I was being entirely honest, I had seen Brooke walk in that direction and not come back, so I guess part of me hoped I’d run into her.
When I’d first walked into the bathroom and shut the door, all I knew was that I needed her to stay—just for a minute. We needed to talk. There was so much I needed to say to her. I hadn’t expected to see her upset and hadn’t meant to make it worse, and I was still processing it all.
I was still processing it to such an extent that, despite what Brooke and I had agreed earlier, I still hadn’t told Leah the whole truth about our connection.
I flopped onto my back again.Christ.At this rate, I would never sleep.
“Babe?” Leah said, her voice coated in drowsiness. “Are you okay?”
No.“Yeah. Just having trouble falling asleep—new place and all.”
That wasn’t a total lie. Ididhave trouble falling asleep in new places. Anytime I traveled, the first night in the hotel was always the trickiest.
I sat up. “I’m going to get some air. Go back to sleep.” I leaned over, kissing her forehead before tiptoeing out of the room. I was so eager to get out of there that I didn’t even bother to put a shirt on, and I hoped I wouldn’t run into anyone in only my pajama pants.
I threw on some running shoes and slipped out the back door. It was early June, and the kind of humidity that signaled an early summer warmed the air. I’d noticed a garden when we’d first arrived, and something told me it was a good place to think, so I headed down the stone steps and along the long, winding pathway.
It was pitch black, save for the moon and a dusting of stars providing enough light to see, and as I got further away from the house, it felt like I was in a painting or something, all quiet and serene and—
“Alex.”
The sound of my name made me jump half a mile. When my heart stopped thumping out of my chest, I saw Brooke sitting on a small bench beside some rose bushes.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked.
