My eyes were puffy and red, but it was the streaks of black mascara that truly cemented the fact that my first attempt at attending a party in five years had not ended well. My gaze met Cam’s in the mirror and embarrassment swamped me. I dropped my head in my hands and muttered, “Perfect—just perfect.”

“It’s not that bad, sweetheart.” His voice softened as his hands settled on my upper arms. He gently pulled my hands. “Sit down.”

I sat on the closed toilet seat. Staring at my fingers, I forced my sluggish brain to catch up. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” He ran a washcloth under the tap and knelt down in front of me. “Is that a serious question?”

“Guess not.”

“Look at me.” When I didn’t, he repeated it. “Dammit, Avery, look at me.”

Whoa. Anger rose like smoke through me. My chin lifted. “Happy?”

The muscle was back, ticking away. “Why would I come here? You left a party without saying a word to anyone.”

“I told—”

“You told Brittany you were getting some fresh air. That was three hours ago, Avery.  They thought you were with me, but when they saw me later they knew you weren’t. After what happened with that asshole, you scared them.”

My anger seeped out of me, replaced by guilt. “I didn’t mean to. I just left my phone in the car.”

He didn’t say anything as he smoothed the washcloth under my eyes, wiping away the mascara. “You didn’t need to leave.”

“I overreacted.” My lashes lowered and I let out a breath. “The guy… he really hadn’t done anything wrong. He just surprised me and I overreacted. I ruined the party.”

“You didn’t ruin the party. And that son of a bitch shouldn’t have been grabbing you. Fuck. I heard you say ‘let me go’ and I know damn well he did to. Maybe I shouldn’t have reacted as… strongly as I had, but fuck it. He was grabbing you and I didn’t like it.”

Yeah, I had told the guy to let me go, but he’d been drunk and stupid. All he had wanted to do was dance with me. I knew when a guy became a threat. He hadn’t hit that stage. Who knew if he would have, but it had been the memories that had sent me over the edge.

“You didn’t need to come here,” I said finally, suddenly very tired. “You should be at the party having fun.”

Cam was quiet so long that I had to look at him. The expression on his face was a cross between wanting to strangle me and something far, far different. There was a dipping motion in my stomach, very much like it had been at the party before everything went to hell.

“We’re friends, right?” he said in a quiet, low voice.