"I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW WHY Zoe's here." Jace's fingers uncurled from my wrist, sensing that I no longer wanted to cut and run. "And I didn't know she was coming tonight, either."

        I let that sink in. "Even so, I still can't get over the fact that she's here, again," I said with a nervous, whispery laugh. "Like the first time wasn't hard enough."

        "What?" Jace's gaze remained latched onto mine, his brows threading together. "What are you talking about?"

        The next breath hitched in my throat.

        Holy hell. We were finally doing this.

        "Why do you think I left so quickly that night?" I choked out. Raw emotion ripped through my chest as I recalled the humiliation I'd felt. The hurt. "Zoe showed up at your house. I saw her upstairs, waiting for you. You'd only just broken up, so I figured that you were, I don't know, getting back together. And there I was, totally railroading you in the bathroom, telling you stuff I never..." Exhaling loudly, I hung my head. "Look, I really don't want to hash things out. Not now. I just want you to know that I didn't contact you because I was under the impression you two were an item again, and by the time I found out that you weren't, it would've been too—"

        "Awkward?" Jace interjected, and his eyes blazed. "I would've preferred that if it meant we could have avoided this. I assumed you were dodging me because of something I said—or I guess, didn't say—before you ran out." There was a pause, a controlled exhale. "Fuck, we haven't spoken for a year, and you're telling me it was because you happened to see Zoe at my house that night? It was a party, Hayley. I didn't invite her. I didn't even know she was there until after you'd left."

        The knots spun tighter in my stomach, and the realization that I had been the one to royally screw this up came crumbling down around me. "You didn't? But I thought—"

        "I know what you must've thought, but after you left, I asked her to leave and then I crashed in my room. I was out cold until the next morning," he said, meeting my stare. "Nothing happened."

        "I'm such an idiot," I murmured. 

        He let out a sigh that was almost a growl. "I just wish you would've talked to me. We used to be friends, Hayley. You shouldn't have felt the need to pull your little disappearing act."

        Jace's accusation stung, but what really bugged me was the double standard. He was a hypocrite of the highest order. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you try to contact me once this past year?" I snapped. "I must have been unconscious for that exchange."

        Oh God. My mouth had no filter when I was tipsy enough to feel confident and sure. It gave me the safety net to say things I would never have the courage to voice normally.

        Jace pursed his full lips and said nothing. He knew I'd caught him there. I figured if he couldn't take it, he shouldn't dish it out.

        I went on, "We were never close until that summer, Jace, and let's face it, you were never a big sharer. I tried to be there for you on multiple occasions, but you were so determined to shut me out. You kept me in the dark about Zoe. I still don't even know why you broke up with—"

        "Are you serious?" Jace had the nerve to shout. "I would've thought it was pretty damn obvious."

        It wasn't even midnight yet and my temples ached. My brain whirred in overdrive, trying hopelessly to untangle what he was saying.

        I could see the vulnerability in Jace's expression, the emotion coming to the surface and then retreating. I suspected that whatever he was feeling, he was trying to contain it behind multiple layers of reinforced steel, and whether that was for my protection or his, I wasn't so sure.

         But if he was hinting at what I thought, to even consider the possibility that he returned my feelings yet behaved in the way that he did, that fed my anger. 

        "Why do you sleep around, then?"

        The words spilled out before I could stop them. Fuck. What had I done?

        At that, Jace's mouth compressed and a muscle twitched in his neck.

        Immediately, I wanted to apologize. Even though it was a question I often wondered, I really needed to drop a little of this uncurbed attitude. But it was too late to take it back, and as the reality of what I'd said digested, it lodged like a heavy stone in my stomach.

        "Just because I spend time with other girls doesn't mean that I fuck them," he said in a monotone, "but it's real nice to know that's what you think of me."

        A pang of guilt shot through me. Apparently every single time I had a drink I became an utter blabbermouth. Duly noted. I was going to stay painstakingly sober from now on, particularly where Jace was concerned.

        "You're right, that was a low blow," I agreed, swallowing the lump that had swelled in my throat. "Besides, your life is your business."

        "Damn straight," he bit out, the blue in his eyes turning ice cold. "You've been absent from my life until all of five minutes ago, yet, here you are, making judgments that you're in no position to make."

        For a moment, I couldn't even speak for the shock. "I'm not—"

        That was when Piper stumbled over.

        Startled, my head jolted up, and I noticed that a couple of people had stopped in the hallway to listen in on my heated exchange with Jace. We'd been gaining an audience.

        Piper glanced between both of us, pale. "Y'all are making me nervous. What's going on?" she asked with genuine concern. She was obviously trying to attempt damage control. As much as I appreciated the gesture, I think we were past that.

        Jace's nostrils flared as he inhaled a ragged breath. "Just drop it, Piper," he said through gritted teeth.

        She reeled back, like she'd been slapped.

        Shit. Clearly my conversation with Jace hadn't just hit a nerve, he was now on an all-out warpath.

        "This is a party," she told him coolly. It sounded like she was practiced when it came to handling situations like these. "You need to dial it back."

        Piper went to drape her arm around him, but he sidestepped her. "Whatever, I'm done here." Jace leveled me a long look, one that confused the hell out of me and nearly brought me to my knees. 

        And then he was gone.

        "Oh my God," Piper gasped. "Are you okay?"

        "Not really," I said, my voice coming out in a slight croak.

        She nodded, sympathy pouring into her eyes. "We can leave. Do you want me to ask someone for a ride back to campus?"

        "Yes, please." A muffled sob leaked from deep inside me. "Come grab me when it's time to go? I'm just going outside for some air."

        I gestured down the corridor at the fly-screen door at the end of the hall, pleased to see that there was a clear route. Since my argument with Jace had ended, everyone had regrouped back in the living room. I was grateful not to be the center of attention anymore.

        "Sure," Piper answered, her features still etched with worry. On second thought, she looked just as spooked as I felt. Maybe she'd never seen Jace explode like that either. "I'll meet you out there in a minute."

        Now outside, a cool breeze washed over me. Slowly, I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth, trying to calm down a little. 

        In an attempt to ease the anxiety I felt crawling through my gut, my hand shot up and fastened over the locket that hung around my neck. Tom had given me this necklace for my sixteenth birthday—not long before he'd died—and it was my most prized possession. Engraved on the back of the pendant, written in a small, cursive script was, 'there's no better friend than a sister.'  

        The tips of my fingers traced his words—a custom for calming me down.

        Although the uneasy feeling ebbed away, my head still hurt from thinking so hard. I was busy trying to process what had just happened. One minute, Jace and I had been talking, and the next, he had detonated. 

        Yes, I might have implied that he was a man-whore. Yes, I had stirred things up. Yes, his reaction had been perfectly reasonable. But, in my defense, yesterday morning—the first time I'd seen him all year—there had been a half-naked girl in his bed. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't forget that.

        The fly-screen door creaked open a few minutes later, and I heard the long grass swaying, the soft footsteps behind me.

        My eyes were still cast up at the cloudless night sky, captivated by the blanket of scintillating stars. How could something so beautiful be suspended above such a horrendous house party? 

        Coming here hadn't been a complete waste of time, though. I'd learned two things tonight: college parties were majorly overrated and I really should trust my instincts more often.

        "You want the rest?" I held out my beer, under the impression that it was Piper, that she'd found someone we could hitch a ride with. Fleetingly, I hoped that maybe it was Jace. Maybe he had come back to bury the hatchet. Damn foolish on my part. I highly doubted I'd be hearing from him anytime soon. The odds of me dropping the class we shared looked more and more likely every passing second.

        The next thing I knew, I felt a muscular arm snake around my waist, pressing me against a hard, lean body. The stench of beer lingered on his breath, his clothes, and I instantly knew it wasn't Jace—he hadn't been drinking tonight.

        "No," a familiar voice grunted in my ear. "But I wouldn't mind it if you didn't run away from me this time. Didn't your parents teach you a little southern etiquette?"

        Spurred by utter shock, the bottle I was holding fell to the ground, landing with a quiet thud among the grass. My throat constricted, and my insides churned. I tried to shrug myself out of the firm embrace, but he only pulled me tighter against him, as if to demonstrate his dominance.

        Ugh. He reeked of alcohol and cigarettes and the only reason I didn't peg a finger over my nose was because he'd already managed to pin my arms to my sides.

        "Let me go," I spat, trying to free myself from his tight grip, "or I'll scream so fucking loudly."

        He dug his fingernails into my flesh, squeezing hard enough that blood bloomed, and then he yanked me around to face him. The dark hoodie hung down over his eyes, but I didn't need to see them in order to recognize who he was.

        It was Levi.

        His mouth twisted into the same threatening sneer it had earlier.

        I knew I'd only just managed to narrowly dodge him before, and we'd been in a house full of people. Out here, we were alone, and I was totally defenseless.

        Levi was in his element, and he knew it.

        "I'd like to see you try." He chuckled menacingly. "No one will hear you."

        A nauseating feeling coiled in my belly, and I knew he was right. My cries of help would be swallowed up by the blaring music, by the howls of drunken people. I'd walked too far away from the house. Fuck. I should've just stayed put.

        "This doesn't sound like your first rodeo," I returned. My false bravado was wearing thin, but I was determined to at least act like he wasn't scaring the crap out of me. I refused to give him the satisfaction.

        But, more than anything, I was stalling him. Because even though I still retained my quick-wit, it was like my body had frozen under the pressure.

        "I've been waiting to get you alone all night," Levi snarled, the grin slipping from his face. "I didn't think that guy was ever going to let you out of his sights."

        At the mention of Jace, adrenaline pulsed through my veins.

        I remembered that his truck was parked nearby—that is if he hadn't bailed on Piper and me already. It was a chance I was willing to take. Hell, my only chance. There was no way I could go back inside. It'd be the most obvious option, and grabbing me again would merely be a reflex for Levi if I tried to get past him.

        If I could just get my body to goddamn move, I might be able to make a run for it. Even though heading in the opposite direction wasn't ideal, I realized it might be my only shot at not leaving in a body bag tonight.

        My brain must have finally registered that thought, because the next thing I knew, I'd propelled my head back into Levi's chin with a surprising force. It collided with a sickening crunch, and I hoped I'd at least knocked out a few of his teeth. He deserved far worse.

        Levi hadn't anticipated that I'd be the type of girl to put up a fight—boy, was he wrong—so, upon impact, he released me in open surprise. He doubled over, clutching the side of his face.

        "You fucking bitch." He hissed a sharp breath. "You're going to pay for that."

        The second it dawned on me that I was free from his grasp, I spun on my heel and sprinted across the front lawn.

        Despite the fact that my legs felt like they'd turned to jelly, I somehow managed to reach Jace's truck. Joy exploded in my chest, because even though I'd said some horrible things, even though he'd stormed off, he still hadn't left me here. 

        Hastily, I fumbled around in the dark for the door handle on the passenger side, half anticipating that Levi would sneak up and grab me again. With trembling hands, I located the lever, and I had to tug it a few times before it finally opened.

        Thank God Jace always forgot to lock his older-model Chevy.

        Climbing into the truck, I slammed the door shut behind me, promptly locking it and stretching over to lock the driver's side, too, for safe measure. 

        When I caught sight of my panic-stricken face in the rear-view mirror, it sliced through my resolve like a shard of glass. Reality and sadness came crashing back in. Not only was I miles away from home, but there was also a good chance Jace may never speak to me again. Oh, and a psycho had tried to attack me. Talk about a rough night.

        There was no stopping the tears as they eked out, coming from a place inside me that I hadn't known existed until now. I'd never cried like this, not even when Tom had died. 

        I didn't know how long I just lay there, curled up on the worn bench seat as hot tears blurred my vision, but I imagined it had only been an interminable amount of minutes as the party had moved outside and the music hadn't let up.

        My whole body went stock-still when I heard the unexpected, loud knock at the opposite window. Terror pounded a wild rhythm through me, and I held my breath, hoping I was obscured by the shadows in Jace's truck.

        The prospect that Levi was peering inside at me, wanting to finish what he started, extracted a low whimper from my mouth.