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“I would never hurt you,” he whispered.

Blaire looked away from him.

“Please believe me.” He reached toward her, but she flinched. Dropping his hand to his side, he clenched his fist. “I don’t know what came over me… At first, I was confused by what I felt from you in the theater, but I saw the way he looked at you. I got jealous. It made me angry.”

Blaire swallowed hard. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No… you didn’t. I messed up.”

Blaire looked up into his eyes, and he ran a hand through his hair.

“You scared me.”

“I know. I’m sorry… I wouldn’t hurt you. I need you to know that.”

Blaire sighed. “I…” Something in the emotions bleeding from him left no room for doubt that he spoke the truth. “You can’t do that again. I can’t handle that.”

“I’m sorry.”

Lukas stepped forward and Blaire didn’t make a move to stop him. He stopped directly in front of her, and she looked up into his eyes. He caressed her face and she leaned into the touch. She needed the physical reassurance as much as he did. Another step and his body pressed against hers, and she didn’t push him away.

After several minutes in each other’s space, the tension faded away, and she shifted against him. Lukas closed his eyes. Her eyes widened as something hard pressed against her abdomen when she moved. She looked up into Lukas’s eyes locked on her face, her breathing becoming heavier as her heart hammered in her chest. This nervousness wasn’t like what she felt in the theater. Blaire tingled all over.

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers. He lingered so close his labored breathing brushed her lips, the sweet smell of theater candy on his breath.

Lukas lifted his head and looked down into her eyes before leaning in to close the distance. He was going to kiss her, and she wouldn’t stop him this time. She didn’t want to stop him. Her heart raced. Her entire body screamed for him, every place where he pressed against her on fire.

Just as his lips were about to connect with hers, Riley’s voice rang out in the bathroom as she entered. “Yo, Blaire! You okay in here?”

Lukas quickly stepped back, the look in his eyes strained. He mouthed for her to “Go” before unlatching the door, stepping to the side, and allowing Blaire to leave.

Disappointment settled heavily in her stomach, and how easily she responded to him embarrassed her. She tripped over herself as she rushed from the stall to get away before she embarrassed herself further by mauling Lukas in a bathroom stall.

Blaire had never felt anything like that before for a man, and it scared her. The intense longing for his touch, drowning in the spicy apple scent that drove her senses mad. Was this what it felt like to desire a man? Like, physically desire a real man and not some book boyfriend she could conjure up fake scenarios for in her head? It certainly felt different from her dreams of Lukas, as much frightening as it was exhilarating.

“What’s wrong? Everything okay?” Riley said when she rounded the corner.

“Oh no, I’m fine. I just had to pee really badly.”

“Are you sure? You’re really red.”

“Yeah…” Blaire cleared her throat. “I’m just a little hot.”

Riley shrugged. “Alright. You were just gone for a while and Lukas also left, and now the movie’s over. You guys totally missed the ending.”

“It’s okay. Honestly, the blood and guts were a little too much for me.” Blaire cringed as they exited the bathroom.

“You’re as bad as my brother. Can’t handle a little gore. I wonder where Lukas went…”

Blaire shrugged as they stopped in the hallway.

“Maybe he’s in the bathroom too,” Riley said. “Aiden said he’d meet us outside, so let’s go wait there. Lukas will figure out where we are.”

Blaire glanced back at the woman’s bathroom as they walked away. Lukas stepped to the doorway before they rounded the corner to the lobby, and a shiver went through her body when their eyes met. His eyes were glowing dimly.

They exited the theater to find Aiden standing out past the ticket line. A few minutes later, Lukas stepped out to join them. They walked back toward campus in silence. Blaire kept her focus on the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with Aiden or Lukas. She didn’t know if she could handle it. She felt confused and her heart hurt when she thought about it.

Stretching, Riley said, “That movie was actually a lot better than I expected.” No one said anything, so she pouted. “Oh, come on, you all didn’t see the way that security guard at the camp was acting from the start?”