He burst out laughing. “God, Harrell, you’re such a pragmatist. I suppose I should have expected you to say something like that, though. I’ve never met anyone who works harder than you.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks and I mumbled, “I take pride in my work.”

“I meant it as a compliment,” he said gently, chucking me lightly on the shoulder. Then he paused, eyes trained somewhere behind me. “I didn’t realize Audrey was coming. Who’s that with her? That friend of yours?”

I turned and saw Audrey stepping onto the deck. She was wearing a short floral dress and a too-large men’s fleece jacket, and she was hand in hand with Max Metcalf. It suddenly felt as if the champagne were burning a hole in my stomach. Why had she brought Max here? It was bad enough Audrey was spending time with him, but she had to introduce him to all my friends? To Connor? One offhand mention of camp and everything could fall apart. If Connor learned about Emily Snow, what might he do with that information? I could certainly say goodbye to any chance of a romantic relationship with him. And what about work? We were friends, yes, but we were also competitors. Only one of us would get to argue during the Phillips trial, and down the road, we would be vying for partnership at the same time. Connor might seem affable, but no one went to a top-ten law school and worked at a Vault 50 firm without being at least a little cutthroat.

I forced myself to breathe. I was getting ahead of myself. Emily Snow would not come up. Camp Blackwood would not come up. Why would it? There was no reason for anyone to even be talking about me, not with Audrey right there.

QUICKLY I REALIZED my earlier concern about Audrey feeling alone at the party was unfounded. I watched from across the rooftop as she flitted around with a flute of champagne in hand and Max in tow, chatting with complete strangers as though they were intimate friends. I’d always envied her ability to do that.

If I was honest, a small part of me also envied the way Max was looking at her as though she were the most beautiful creature to ever walk on two legs. No one had ever looked at me like that, whereas almost every man who came into contact with Audrey was immediately smitten. Even Nick, who usually seemed so cool and detached, lost his mind over Audrey. I’d never forget the night sophomore year I awoke to hear someone jiggling our door handle. Audrey had still been out, trawling the bars with Jasmine, when I’d gone to bed, and I assumed she’d forgotten her key. It wouldn’t have been the first time. I was crossing the room to the door when I heard a high-pitched keening noise on the other side.

I froze. The noise sounded more animal than human.

“Audrey?” I tried.