Page 14 of Beautiful Storm

“Your football career?” I huff out an incredulous laugh.That’s it?“Are you kidding me, Luke? You almost cost memy life.”

“Bullshit.” Luke huffs before shaking his head as though I'm exaggerating. And I wish I was. “That didn’t happen or I’d have known about it. Your beautiful temple was unharmed.”

“Unharmed?” He can’t be serious. I went to the hospital for smoke inhalation. I still get bronchitis occasionally, which Ineverhad before that fire. To this day, I still have no idea why the police let me off while Luke got in trouble, but I’ve always known better than to question it out loud.

Luke stares me down, his serious expression never wavering. He honestly thinks he did nothing wrong. “You know what? Never mind. I’m okay now.” I open the door and smile. It takes a lot to ignore the fact that he called me beautiful a second time, but I’m proud to say I push the information out of my mind. It’s been a long time since I cared what Luke thought about me—over ten years—and I’m not about to start again. “Goodnight, Luke.” I step aside and gesture for him to leave. “I’d say it was a pleasure, but it wasn’t.”

“Feeling is mutual, but I appreciate you scratching an itch.” He buttons his pants as he walks but stops when he reaches me, his expression full of something I can’t quite decipher.

“I should have said this a long time ago,” I say, pinning him with a glare. “If you ever see me again, pretend you don’t know me. I’m done.”

“Works for me. Bye, Amelia.” He stares into my eyes as he delivers his parting message and a shiver runs through me, waiting for more. But after shaking his head, he walks away, beelining for the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, never once looking back.

“Good riddance,” I say as he turns the corner, not loud enough for him to hear me, but enough to be satisfied I made the last remark.Good riddance.

And what the hell was all that?

I’m not sure how long I lie on the untainted side of the bed staring at the ceiling, but it feels like I’ve barely closed my eyes when my alarm goes off.

I curse the heavens until I remember the massage I booked and the world is good again. That’s exactly what I need. A moment to myself. A moment to forget life and focus on my body. While not focusing on the fact that it hurts in all the right places and feelssogood it’s already craving more. My body…not me…it. It’s a physical response, nothing more, and I have no doubt it would be the same with someone else.

I refuse to believe that was a Luke thing.

Plenty of guys have experience. I just have to find someone else to set my body on fire.Then I’ll forget all about last night.

Like it never happened.

Just a blip on my radar.

A moment that changed me, sure,but a single moment all the same.

Nothing more.

Because no matter how alive Luke made me feel, he’s stillLuke, and any chance of a relationship—sexual or otherwise—burned along with the memory of the last time I ever genuinely cared for him.

And that fire still haunts me.

So no. There’s no going back. They’re called one-nightstands for a reason. And this one is staying in the past.

CHAPTER FOUR

Amelia - Age Sixteen

Dear Diary,

I don’t know what happened. It was supposed to be a bit of fun…but it all went wrong and now I might be in trouble.

I can’t talk about it and I definitely can’t write it down. I’m so lost.

Amelia

“Truth or Dare.”

“Dare.” I’m not stupid enough to choose “truth.” I’ve seen people’s truths get used against them. One of the girls on the yearbook committee actually snuck someone’s truth into last year's edition. The kids at this school are brutal.

I chance a quick glance around the dark room, mentally running through all the potential dares this old mansion has to offer. And there are loads of them. They could make me spend time alone in what this town believes is a haunted barn or haveme permanently mark my name on the wall, evidence that I’ve been here if the cops ever get sick of us throwing parties.

Though, I say “us” loosely because while my peers have been coming here for years, this is my first time. All because I overheard one of my so-called friends telling her boyfriend I was too chicken.

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