Page 1 of No Longer Safe

Chapter One

Audrey

I was happy.

Okay… maybe I was content. I had a great job. A good boyfriend. A wonderful best friend and family that supported me when I needed them but kept to themselves for the most part. I was in my own little bubble exactly how I liked it all these years. It kept me safe. It kept me in a good place mentally and I didn’t have to worry about anyone or anything coming to harm me.

But as I sat at the local bar in my little town, I wondered if I was missing something. There was a point in time when I had wanted more. When I’d wanted to escape on a motorcycle and never look back, but that wasbefore. That was before I met Brian—the love of my life. It should have been enough.

But tonight, waiting for my Brian—late again— I felt a restlessness I couldn’t shake. An unsettling sadness washed over me as I motioned for the bartender to make me another drink. What did it matter? I wouldn’t be driving home; my apartment was within walking distance, like everything else in this town.

Funnily enough, I’d always imagined myself in the big city when I was in school. English major that was going to change the publishing world for good. But somehow I found myselfteachingEnglish to a bunch of middle schoolers. Brianconvinced me it was what I needed and that city life wasn’t forus. It wasn’t for him, but I was comfortable now and maybe he knew more than he let on. We would grow old in this little town and we would know everyone and everything and we would besafe.

My shoulders slumped.

“Long day?” Carina Phipps, my best friend, asked as she slid into the seat beside me, her eyes shining with a spark I rarely saw these days.

“You could say that,” I said, forcing a smile, grateful for the distraction. “At least it’s finally over.”

Carina leaned in, her grin entirely too bright for this bar. “It’s about to get a whole lot better! I have news!”

“Oh?” My eyebrow lifted. We usually shared everything, but lately, she’d been more secretive than usual. More distant.

Carina held up her left hand and the sparkling ring on her finger almost blinded me. “He proposed!” she whispered, her excitement bubbling over. “Ace proposed!”

I blinked, a mixture of surprise and something else stirring within me. I’d heard of Ace, the high-profile New York attorney Carina had been seeing, but I hadn’t thought it would lead to marriage so soon. “Wow! That’s… amazing!”

She flashed her big diamond again and I felt my smile falter for a moment. My best friend was stepping into a world of glittering possibilities, a life I’d once dreamed of—a life well outside of my reach now.

“His family wants to throw a big wedding,” she continued on, practically bouncing on her barstool. “The Cristofs have this massive mansion in upstate New York, and they want us to use it! And of course, as my Maid of Honor, we will be flying you up there to party with us!”

My breath caught. The allure of the invitation was almost too good to be true.The invitation shimmered with the allure of alife I’d nearly forgotten. It felt thrilling, yet so far from the safe, small-town routine I’d created for myself.

Half-laughing, I shook my head. “How could I ever say not to that?”

Carina’s laughter bubbled over, and her excitement felt infectious, like a spark flaring in the dim light of the bar. “We’ll have the time of our lives, Audrey. It’s just the adventure you need—you’ll see.”

As she spoke, her phone chimed, and her fiancé’s name flashed on the screen. Her eyes lit up, her voice softened, and she turned to take the call with a smile so wide it was impossible not to feel the warmth of her happiness. I looked away, swallowing the twist of emotions that had lodged in my throat. I glanced down at my own phone. Brian’s name was there too, a missed call from earlier, and a text that read,

Brian

Sorry again. Busy night. Hope you’re not waiting too long.

This was hisbusyseason and he couldn’t slack up now. I should have known this would be the same sad excuse I would get after getting it once last week and twice the week before that. He worked at the local law firm and did custody cases for the few single parents in the area. Sometimes he had late nights. Sometimes it seemed that more often than not he was working late. But who was I to say anything he was trying to become a partner. Something he told me would make us safe, more stable, and comfortable. Brian was steady and safe, reliable. This was the life I’d chosen, wasn’t it? Simple, familiar, perfectly predictable.

But as Carina ended her call and leaned back with a contented sigh, I felt a twinge of something I hadn’t felt in years—an ache for more, something unknown, something… daring. And suddenly, the thought of Ace’s world, of a grand wedding in a sprawling New York mansion, didn’t seem so impossible. Maybe it was exactly what I needed to remind myself of everything I once dreamed about. There were so many variables and honestly, the money part. But I would figure it out.

Carina noticed the look on my face and nudged me, grinning. “You’re in, right?”

I took a deep breath, letting her question settle in the air between us before I replied, “I’m in.”

As the words left my mouth, I felt a thrill, subtle but undeniable, unfurling somewhere deep inside me—a flicker of excitement and maybe even a little fear. But as I looked at Carina’s glowing smile, I realized it felt good to say yes to something that felt bigger than anything I’d allowed myself to imagine in years

Chapter Two

Audrey

My shoulders relaxed slightlyas I began putting away my lesson plan for the next day. My phone buzzed with an incoming text from Carina.

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