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Blaire climbed off the bed. “I still have to get ready because I haven’t had a shower or changed clothes since yesterday, and I feel gross.”

Riley laughed as Blaire rushed to the bathroom.

“We’ll just be over at Aiden’s dorm, waiting. Meet us when you both are ready,” Riley said as she and Mera left the room.

Lukas went to the closet and tossed his t-shirt into the clothes hamper, pulling a black long-sleeved Henley over his head, before pushing the sleeves halfway up his forearms. He raked his hands through his hair, finger-combing the strands down before going to the nightstand, grabbing his leather bracelets, and putting them on.

The bathroom door opened as he turned around and his heart stopped. Blaire stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy towel, beads of water still running over her shoulders from her wet hair.

She startled and started to stammer. “I-I didn’t know you were still here. I thought you left with the girls.”

Lukas didn’t say anything, just stared at her until she rushed to the side of the bed where her change of clothes lay discarded to grab them up. He moved out of her way as she brushed past him, retreating inside the bathroom and re-engaging the lock. He sighed.

When she came out of the bathroom dressed in a pair of jeans and a black tank top, he took a step toward her.

“Have I scared you away?” he asked in a gentle tone. The vulnerability in his question made him uncomfortable.

Blaire paused in the process of pulling on a short-sleeved cardigan and stared at him.

“No… but you did scare me.”

“I messed up,” he whispered.

“You said that before.”

“I know. It needs repeating… I was jealous. I am jealous. I can tell how much Aiden wants you, and I… do you really want to be with him?”

Lukas swallowed around the tightness in his throat. If Blaire told him she wanted to be with Aiden, he’d let her go. It would kill him, but he would do whatever was necessary for her to be happy and secure. If she didn’t feel that with him, he wouldn’t force her into the bond. He would face his biggest fear head on and accept reality.

Blaire gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing before she exhaled sharply. “No, Lukas. I don’t want to be with him. I’m attracted to him.”

Lukas growled until she frowned at him.

“But he’s not who I want.”

Lukas couldn’t stop the smile that overtook his face. If her words implied what he thought they did, he had a chance after all.

Blaire stared at him, surprise in her widened eyes. “You’re smiling…”

“I smile.”

“Not like that.” Blaire waved a hand at his face as if he could see his own expression.

Lukas shrugged and picked up another bracelet from the nightstand.

Blaire entered the closet and grabbed her shoes. When she returned, her expression clouded with an emotion Lukas didn’t recognize, and an unfamiliar sensation passed through him. She didn’t meet his eyes, and her lips were pressed into a tight line.

“Blaire?”

She sighed. “I kissed him back.”

Lukas dropped the bracelet he’d been holding.

“Before you get all growly…” Blaire held a hand up. “I haven’t had a boyfriend before. I’ve only been kissed once in my life during a game of Truth or Dare when I was twelve. Hardly something to write home about. I needed to know.”

“Know what?” Lukas’s voice sounded weak to his own ears. He didn’t enjoy listening to her admission, but she needed this.

“I needed to know if it was just physical attraction, and if I would feel anything more.”