Chapter 51

Luke had never felt worse.

He tossed and turned on his dorm bed, the numbness of his chest only increasing in intensity. He wasn’t sure if he was breathing properly. He wasn’t sure if he was breathing at all. Everything was strange—the way the air felt in the room, the way it touched his skin, the way his feet tingled, and the way the pit of his stomach rumbled—but not in hunger.

Ruby didn’t remember anything he had said. Of course, she wouldn’t. He had expected that—that being partly the reason he decided to confess in the first place. But it still hurt him, knowing she’d never know his feelings. Because he would never ever gather the courage to speak his heart out again.

He could try, perhaps, but what was the point? She liked Caden, and now, after talking to her, he was sure it was more than just a mere crush. She had said so herself. He was to her as he always had been. Her best friend.

Luke could be nothing more. He had known it for a long time, and yet every time he reminded