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Leon’s face did something complicated—something I’d never seen before. He looked upset. But why the fuck would he care? Every semester, he had a fresh wave of first-year grad students he could charm and fuck.

“I didn’t know.”

“It wasn’t your business,” I reminded him. “Guys who can’t keep their dicks in their pants and use philosophical arguments from cultures they don’t belong to in order to sway undergrads into fucking them aren’t entitled to my personal life.”

Leon went pale in the face. “The fact that you think you know my life⁠—”

“Leon. You literally never shut up about your bullshit. Ever.” I swiped a hand down my face. “Like, I know things about you against my will because you never fucking stop talking. And I’m tired, and we are over. You cheated, you tried to tell me it was your nature—whatever. Blah fucking blah. You said I had to take you as you are or leave. It was a very easy decision.”

“You didn’t even give yourself a chance to see things my way.”

Oh my god, was he pouting?

My stomach twisted. Nothing in my life would ever be more embarrassing than admitting I had actually liked this man enough to move in with him.

“Anyway, well, this has been fun, but I have a hockey player to stalk,” I said into the awkward silence. “Have fun with—actually, I don’t even want to speculate about what you’re up to today.” I wiggled my fingers at him, then shoulder-checked him on my way out the door.

It wasn’t until I was down the elevator and on the ground that I let everything hit me. My adrenaline dumped into my body, and my teeth began to chatter as I hurried toward the parking lot.

That was the first time I’d ever fully unleashed on him. It was the first time I’d ever been brave enough to do it. Up to now, I’d been letting things fester, making me a bitter, ugly shell of myself, and god, I did not ever want to be that person again.

All I had to do now was find some update on Tiago, write it down at the end of my article, turn it in, and then I could be done.

The beach was waiting for me.

And so was the rest of my life.

CHAPTER 4

ARAVIND

It didn’t take long for my investigation to fizzle into nothing. The community rink was closed, and after haunting the supermarket where Tiago’s friend Ford used to work and being asked to leave, I headed to Hugo’s office, where I was promptly turned away and threatened with being trespassed.

My only other option was the hospital, and I was pretty sure that if Tiago were still there, he’d gut me with a scalpel. But it wasn’t like I had another choice.

I was still shaken after my run-in with Leon, so I stopped for a burrito and ate in the hospital parking lot like some kind of car goblin. When I was done, I made sure I had no guac on my face, that my eyeliner hadn’t smudged, and that my waist still looked snatched in my new jeans.

Which it did.

I never bought ugly jeans.

When I got inside, the woman at the reception desk smiled at me, which was a nice change of pace, and I leaned my elbows on the edge of the counter. “Hi. I’m here to see a friend.”

“Sure thing. Name?”

“Tiago…”

She started to type, then paused when I did.

Fuck. Why did I have to forget his last name now? God, I was going to look like such a tool if I couldn’t⁠—

“Nadeau,” I blurted, then felt my cheeks heat up when she quirked an eyebrow at me. “Sorry. French names, you know?”

She didn’t answer as she finished putting the info in her computer. “Right, yes. Room 407.” She slid a sticker across the desk that had Tiago’s last name and room number on it.

Just like that? No ID, no asking if I was on the list? Did they do lists in hospitals? I tended to avoid them like the plague, especially after my mom, and that had been such a damn fog I didn’t remember any of the details.

I hovered for a moment, waiting to see if she was going to call me out, but she went back to her computer, and I became a piece of furniture in the room. Which was fine by me.