She giggled, leaning into him, and I realized I was officially the third wheel. I finished the rest of my drink in one go, wincing at the burn, and set the cup down on the nearest table. Maybe I did need to loosen up. Maybe I was just being stupid.

I glanced at the pool again, at the way the glow sticks floated across the water, at the way the music thumped through my chest. Then I thought about Blake—what he’d say if he were here. Probably something about how the pool was a cesspool of bacteria.

I smiled to myself.

And just like that, I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy this party. Not because it wasn’t fun, not because Tiffany was off flirting with some guy whose name I’d already forgotten. But because the only person I actually wanted to be around wasn’t here.

And I had no one to blame for that but myself.

* * *

“I need you to see this.”

I barely had time to blink before Tiffany shoved me into the kitchen, where a group of guys were crowded around the island, cheering as Evan tipped his head back and let someone pour straight vodka down his throat.

“Jesus,” I muttered under my breath, my eyes widening as I watched him sputter and cough while everyone whooped in approval. “That’s going to end badly.”

The moment shattered. Because I heard Blake’s name.

I stiffened immediately.

Tiffany must’ve noticed because she leaned closer, her brow furrowing. “What’s wrong?”

I turned my head, my pulse quickening.

And that’s when I saw them.

A group of girls by the staircase, whispering and giggling.

I couldn’t hear everything, but I caught enough.

“Did you see him at the movies last week?”

“He gets hotter every year.”

“God, I would die if he ever looked at me like that.”

The words burned into my skull.

I ripped myself away from Tiffany’s arm. “I need fresh air.”

It was in that moment—when I left the kitchen, when I shoved my way through the crowd, the air too thick, my heartbeat too loud—that I realized what they were talking about.

Blake was here.

I felt him before I saw him. Felt the weight of his presence settle into my bones like muscle memory, like a force of nature I couldn’t ignore even if I tried.

His sharp green eyes were already locked onto mine. Watching me. His jaw was tight, like he was trying to decide whether he should be pissed off or apologetic.

My heart clenched painfully, tightening with every second I spent staring at him. I barely heard the laughter, the bass of the music, the hum of voices—everything dulled under the weight of that single fact.

Blake was here. And he looked good.