She snorted. “Since when do you need to ask permission?”
“Fair.” I smirked. There was more to her confession than she was saying. She’d fallen for Jax a long time ago. What I thought she meant was that she was so far gone for him that if something happened, she was scared that he’d break her. “Are you worried about what happens after this summer?”
She rolled her lips in briefly, hesitating. “Yeah.” Her voice was small.
I didn’t like that. “You don’t have anything to worry about. Jax is all in.”
Avery shrugged, averting her eyes before meeting mine again. “I hope so.”
“You know that wherever you end up, or wherever he does, you’ll be together.”
“Are you saying that because you know that about you and Luke too?”
It was my turn to shrug. Butterflies took flight in my stomach, and I couldn’t help the small tug at the corners of my lips. “We’ll all end up at the same place. You know this. Stop worrying.” I squeezed her hand. “We’re probably going to room together at Michigan, Aves. The guys are all going there. It’s a done deal. Stop stressing.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and she flashed a smile that finally reached her eyes. “Tori’s been different lately.” Avery took a sip of her drink.
“I’ve noticed.”
“She asked if I wanted to go into the city Saturday. To shop.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s progress.”
Avery hesitated. “You think she’s truly done aligning herself with Elise?”
“I think she was unhappy with Elise for a while. She stayed because Theo hadn’t given her a reason to leave.”
My phone vibrated against the table. It was a number I didn’t recognize and one I shouldn’t have opened. The message was short:He won’t choose you once he sees what you cost him.
The noise of the café receded without disappearing. The steam from my cup continued to rise. Someone laughed near the counter. My pulse slowed instead of spiking.
Divide.
Instill doubt.
Plant fear where it didn’t belong.
I wasn’t afraid Luke wouldn’t choose me. I was afraid of what he would do if he saw this, if I handed him proof that someone was circling.
He didn’t hesitate when it came to me. He stepped forward—every time. And every step forward cost something.
Michigan.
Distance from his father.
The careful line he walked between legacy and freedom.
If I showed him this, he wouldn’t weigh consequences. He would go hunting. And I wouldn’t be the reason he lost something he had worked his entire life to build.
My thumb hovered for a fraction of a second. Then I deleted the message.
Avery’s gaze flicked to my face. “Everything okay?”
“Spam,” I answered, slipping my phone into my bag.