“No!” Lina followed him towards the door. “If you go to her, I’m leaving.” There was no way she was going to sit in the cottage by herself while he comforted that woman.

He turned back to her. “Lina, I know you’re upset, but I need to do this. It’s for your protection.”

“No! She wants to hear from you. She wants to know you care, and if you care about her, you don’t care about me. You need to choose.”

“There’s no choice. There was never a choice, and you know it.”

“Then there’s nothing else to say.”

“Lina—”

“Do you know how hard that was? Having to see her tonight? How do you think you would have felt if there was a man in there I—”

“Okay, okay.” He took her hands. “I’m sorry. Don’t get upset. I’m not going anywhere.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry.”

Katie pushed through the crowd of bodies as she made her way to the back of the house. It was after 11:00 p.m., but with her parents away she didn’t feel pressured to make her curfew. Her father told her to stay in for the weekend, but he neglected to tell her grandma, so when Emma texted her about a party she and Ryan were going to, she decided to tag along, figuring her father would be too busy at the wedding to check on her. She’d even risked having her first beer since coming off restriction, knowing her grandma wouldn’t scrutinize her like her dad did when she got home.

She had no idea where Emma was, but she needed air, so she stepped out onto the back deck. That was when she saw Matt. He was leaning back against the deck rail, talking to a girl who was standing too close to just be a friend. Not the blonde she usually saw him with, but one who looked equally sleazy with short shorts and a tight T-shirt.

Katie hesitated, not sure if she should interrupt him, but then Matt noticed her, and she knew it would be odd if she walked by without acknowledging him. “Hey.”

“Hey.” His eyes flicked over her and then his attention returned to the girl before him, effectively dismissing Katie.

When the other girl slipped her hands up his chest, Katie quickly looked away and rushed back into the house, bumping into a boy who was coming out. “Sorry,” she mumbled as she stepped around him. She made her way to the other side of the kitchen where a drinking game was in full swing. “Can I play?”

Katie was drunk. Not so drunk she didn’t know what she was doing, but drunk enough to not care about the repercussions. “Again?” She looked across the table at the boy who slid a shot glass to her. “I just drank.”