Page 59 of Heart of Thorns

Lydia storms inside, all dolled up for some party, I’m sure.

“Hey—” Her smile falls. “What’s wrong?”

“Huh?” Even my voice is shaky.

Shit.

“I’m fine.”

Lydia cocks her perfectly arched eyebrow. Her arms cross against her low-cut shirt. “That’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I shake my head and hope it covers up the fact that my entire body is shaking. “I’m fine, really. What are you going?”

Lydia eyes me closely. “The hockey house for a party. I wanted to see if you wanted to come with.”

A party right now?

I can’t.

My gaze falls to the floor. I still smell gasoline.

“Sure.” The word rushes from my mouth, and we both pause.

Surprise flickers over her pretty features. “That was way easier than I thought it would be.” She claps her hands excitedly and walks over to my closet. Clothes fly through the air and land on my bed. “Snap, snap, Hart! Marley is waiting for us.”

I fake a smile and nod.

When she leaves the room, I exhale.

The hockey house is the last place I want to go to, but it’s either that or I sit in my room, obsess over the note, and become paralyzed with every noise I hear.

Heknows where I live.

And that doesnotsit well with me.

CHAPTER 20

THORNE

Rhys

Get your ass to this party, Thorne. You’re not gonna want to miss this.

I scan the text again,then shove my phone into my pocket. Rhys sent it almost an hour ago, followed by an address, and I had to work up the nerve to climb out of bed and throw clothes on.

My body hurts from a particularly grueling practice. An ice bath would probably do the trick on my sore muscles, but I just can’t find it in me to do that tonight. Instead, I climb the steps of the front porch and get hit with a wave of loud, pulsing music.

I grit my teeth and continue onward. I haven’t seen Briar since our workout session last night, though not for lack of trying. Today was a full schedule for me. Classes, a meeting with my academic advisor, a late team lunch, and then evening practice. I don’t think I stopped moving until I pitched myself into bed… but even that was short-lived.

Once I’minthe house, though, my mood lightens. Some teammates bump my fist as I pass. I catch a glimpse of one of the hockey guys whose house we’re in and nod a greeting.Evan Mitchell is a pretty cool dude. We only know each other in passing, though.

If half the football team wasn’t here, I probably wouldn’t just show up.

“What are we celebrating?” I ask one of the other hockey players.

“We won our third straight home game!”

I grin and clap him on the shoulder, then push deeper into the house.

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