I ache to reach for her, to touch her cheek to stop the sadness from taking over that space around her eyes, when she takes a sharp step back, lengthening the distance between us.

“Graham. Hi,” she says nervously.

Just a guy is here.

“Hey, I was looking for you,” he says, his eyes making a dominant glance in my direction. I laugh and roll mine.

“We were just checking out the free food,” she says, squinting her eyes closed and shaking her head when he looks away. She does this move sometimes when she’s uncomfortable—like she’s a genie trying to wish the situation away.

“Were you?” he chuckles. This smug ass wipe thinks I’m intimidated by him.

“Yeah,” I answer, surprising Emma, her eyes widening fast, caution lights firing behind them. I’m going to ignore that sign. “It’s nice…you know…to be able to just take what you want?”

The moment that passes between Emma’s friend and me is short, but it’s filled with threats and lots and lots of fuck yous.

“Emma?” He’s talking to her, but looking at me. I hate this just some guy. “There’s this dinner my mom’s hosting, her chief of staff and a bunch of other surgeon-types are going to be there. She’s fairly insistent that I go, but it won’t be any fun on my own. I thought maybe you’d like to join me?”

This guy is so fucking arrogant. He’s flaunting his credentials like a peacock. No way Emma falls for this.

“I’d love to,” she answers, slicing through the middle of my thoughts, cutting off my immediate assumption that just some guy is in fact nobody. She’s just made him somebody.

“Great,” he grins, pushing his hands in his pockets and pivoting on the heels of his shoes in my direction, just to make sure I get a glimpse at his triumphant smile. All I notice are his shoes, though. Shoes that are so irritatingly preppy—all I can visualize is the way they would look underneath the pressure of my Chucks, scuff marks left behind in the shapes of honeycombs.

“Great,” Emma finally says in return, her great far less enthused. I stare at her. I’m a little baffled over the fact that this is all happening in front of me, especially after the things we’ve talked about, the progress we made…thought we made.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll come by…around eight,” he says, backing away slowly. I notice he never leans in to kiss her cheek. He’s not cocky enough to do that. That’s probably a good thing, because my hand is flexed at my side, and I think if he did, I’d punch his fucking face in. Then I’d step on his shoes.

I keep my stare on Emma, and when she turns from watching Captain Douchebag saunter away, she meets my gaze, then immediately drops her focus to the ground.

“Just some guy, huh?” I laugh.

“His name’s Graham, Andrew,” she sighs. “And it’s not a thing with us, it’s just…it’s complicated to explain,” she shrugs, glancing around me. She can’t even make eye contact with me now.

“The dude’s named after a cracker, Emma. Seriously?” I look beyond her where I can still see him walking down the main path where he’s met up with two other guys that look just like him. He isn’t small. In fact, we’re probably roughly the same size. He’s just covered in so much…douchebaggery…it makes him look smaller. His pants are pink. What the fuck? “I thought we were past this…or that you wanted…shit, I don’t know…what I wanted? I thought we…”

“Lindsey’s here,” she cuts me off. The expression on her face is blank at first then it’s instantly replaced by the fakest of smiles. I can tell her expression is a lie, though—her eyes give her away. They’re full of regret and wishes. “Whatever you were about to say…don’t. Lindsey is here, walking toward us. She’s my best friend, Andrew. You started this, and I don’t think I can lose Lindsey because of it. She’s been through so much with me, and I can’t—”

“Hey, I’ve been looking for you,” Lindsey says from behind me. She slides her arm around me, her fingers running over my stomach and chest as she hugs me from behind. Emma turns away, but not before the look of pain flashes over her face. I shut my eyes and breathe deeply.

“Hi, yeah…sorry. I’ve been crazy busy with practice and classes.” Lie, lie, lie. I’ve been ignoring you, not dealing with the beast I created, running away from my consequences, while I pine after the love of my past and drown in the truth.