Chapter 3

A week after graduation, Megan organized a bonfire at Hawthorne Lake. She knew I would say no if she texted, so she pulled into my driveway and leaned on the horn until I came outside.

"We've got diplomas and about six weeks before everyone scatters across the country," she said through the open window. "You're not spending tonight alphabetizing your bookshelf. Get in."

The party was held at a cedar cabin beside the lake. There was a grill on the patio, footballs and folding chairs scattered across the lawn, and half our class roasting marshmallows around a firepit. This was the version of senior year St. Clair students understood, with no Moretti guards at the gate and no adults lowering their voices over family business.

Nico's Escalade occupied the closest spot to the porch. Celeste sat beside him near the fire with his black bomber jacket draped over her shoulders.

Nico saw me the moment I crossed the lawn. His gaze followed me to the drink cooler, then shifted away when I noticed. He leaned closer to Celeste and said something that made her laugh. Once, I would have spent the rest of the night wondering whether the gesture meant anything. Now I saw it for what it was: Nico checking whether I was still watching.

I didn't go over. I grabbed a can of lemon soda and went looking for Megan behind the cabin. When I reached the half-open screen door, someone inside said my name.

"You ditched Ivy at prom in front of everyone. Aren't you worried she'll dump you?"

The room answered with low laughter before Nico spoke. "She won't."

"That's a lot of confidence, man."

"I've known Ivy for eleven years. I know how high she raises her eyebrows when she's mad." A cup clicked against the table. "She's waiting for me to apologize first."

Someone else asked, "Then why are you still running around with Celeste?"

Nico paused, and when he answered, he sounded almost bored by the question. "I care about Ivy. That doesn't mean she gets to decide who I see. The more she tries to make rules for me, the less I'm going to play along. Once she figures out the cold shoulder won't get her what she wants, she'll get over it."

"She's not exactly giving you the cold shoulder. She hasn't said anything."

"Then she's trying a new angle." He laughed under his breath. "She'll still be at Columbia in September. I already ordered the lamp for her desk."

I stood outside that door until the last trace of doubt in me went still.

Nico did care about me. He remembered that I liked desks by the window, bought the safest apartment he could find, and sent a driver when I stayed out late. In his mind, those things paid for every hurt he caused. The moment I drew a boundary, I became unreasonable, jealous, and controlling.

He didn't love all of me. He loved the version of Ivy who fit neatly inside the life he'd built.

Megan spotted me from across the yard and waved. At the same moment, someone pushed open the screen door. Every person in the room turned to look at me.

Nico froze before shifting over on the couch to make room. "So you finally decided to show up."

He reached for my hand the way he always did, already assuming I would let him pull me close. I moved past his fingers and sat beside Megan instead.

Ten minutes later, someone brought up college. People named schools in California, Texas, and New York. When it was Nico's turn, he rolled the ice in his glass and said, "Columbia. Ivy too."

There was no question in his voice. My future was simply another item on his schedule.

Celeste smiled. "I'll be in New York as well. The Moretti Foundation got me into an off-campus program, and Nico said he'd help me find a place."

The conversation died for half a beat. Megan shot me a worried look, but I only opened my soda.

Nico seemed to take my silence as surrender. When the party broke up, he followed me to the parking area and opened the Escalade's back door.

"You've made your point, Ivy. Celeste being in New York won't affect us. If you stop going after her, I'll forget you've been acting like this for the last few weeks."

"You don't have to."

His brow furrowed. "What else do you want from me?"

"Nothing."

The answer angered him more than any argument could have. He slammed the door and called across the lot, "Celeste, you're with me. We're going to the Harbor Club."

Megan came up beside me, keys clenched in her hand. "Do you want me to say something? Because I have several options, and none of them are polite."

"No. He wants a scene." I watched Celeste hurry toward the Escalade. "I'm done giving him one."

Before climbing behind the wheel, he looked at me as if he expected me to stop him. I buckled myself into Megan's passenger seat instead. "Let's go."

In the side mirror, the black Escalade followed us all the way to the highway split. Then it swung hard toward the north docks, carrying Nico in the opposite direction from me.