He was calling me back.

Finally. After dozens of unanswered calls.

Expecting my words.

In front of my friends, who’d faint if they heard me speak.

Answering him would be dangerous, but I couldn’t help myself, knowing he might change his mind if I waited to call him back. I excused myself and ran out into the alleyway sandwiched between the club and a coffee shop. I hit answer and jammed a finger into my ear so I could hear him better.

At first, I just listened to his soft breaths, feeling shudders of both pleasure and pain coursing through my body. His sheer existence excited me. Vaughn was wrong. Moving away from Knight didn’t solve the problem. It amplified it.

“Hey,” his gruff baritone said, finally.

“Hi,” I whispered, too afraid to be heard by anyone else. I hadn’t spoken a word to anyone who wasn’t him yet, but for some reason, when he was around I needed to speak—to claim his attention somehow. I still couldn’t understand why I was able to speak to him, especially now. I was putting my new, meaningful friendships at risk for someone who’d made it clear he wanted to get even with me. Who sought revenge. Who craved my pain.

“How have you been?” I asked at the same time he said, “You need to stop calling me, Luna.”

There was a beat of silence in which I digested what he’d said. He wasn’t mean or menacing this time. There was no edge to his voice.

“What?” I gasped.

“I’m trying really hard not to hurt you, but I’m struggling. You need to take a step back before I do something I’ll regret,” he explained.

“Who said I can leave you alone?” I asked breathlessly, not really deciphering my own words. “You think I haven’t tried?”

“Try harder, Luna. I know you can, because for about eight years, you did. Three unreciprocated kisses. You sleeping with someone else. You did a pretty darn good job, so just keep doing it, okay?”

I remembered what he’d said about my presence feeling like a metal chain. A heavy burden he wanted to shake off. Guess it had always been easy for me to choose Knight, because I didn’t have any options. Because Knight always chose me. But his choice came with a bigger sacrifice. He was the one getting me out of trouble, shooing off the bullies, making sure I had someone to sit with at recess. He was the one who constantly gave up the opportunity to actually date the hottest girls.

“Moonshine,” he pushed through the fog in my head, pulling me back to reality. “Give it a rest. You’re poking the bear.”

“You didn’t even say anything about my talking,” I sulked, feeling the anger clogging my throat.

I didn’t know why it was so important to address it right this second. I could hear the smile in his voice.

“I always knew you’d talk, and not just to me. To everyone. I watched you crawl out of your shell, and it was slow, but by fucking God, it was beautiful. Have you spoken to anyone else?”

He sounded warm, conversational now—the Knight I was used to, who looked at me with admiration and delight.

I thought about my answer before giving it to him this time. “I’m working on it. It’s strange to be without the gang, but I think I like it. I think I like being on my own. What about you? How’s school? Football?”

This was what we’d come to. Two strangers making small talk. I wanted to cry, and I had to bite my trembling lower lip to stop it from happening.

“We’re winning, which is good. School is fine. Mom is…”

“What?” I panicked. “How is Rosie doing?”

“Fine,” he amended his initial, worried tone. Still—that annoying word. “She’s getting more intensive treatment, but she’s doing well.”

“Send her my love.”

“Always.”

Are you dating someone?

Who is she?

Is she pretty?

My thought process scared me. I’d never cared much for boys. Only that wasn’t true. It just happened that the only boy I cared about was finally taking a step back, and now I knew how much he’d meant to me.

“Luna! Where the hell have you been? Josh is panicking that he lost you because he was the last person to see you.” I heard April’s drunken laugh just then, and turned around, my mouth falling open.

I was caught red-handed, with my phone pressed against my ear. As soon as April saw it, she stumbled back.

“Whoa.” She hiccupped, bracing herself against the red-brick wall.

I heard a dark chuckle coming from the other end of the line.

“Have a good night, Moonshine.” Knight’s voice turned metallic before the line went dead.

Crap. Now Knight knew I was spending time with Josh, and he’d probably draw his own wrong conclusions. But he’d explicitly asked me not to contact him any more, so I couldn’t even explain myself. Not without ignoring the only thing he’d ever asked of me.