“She’s not normally like that.”

“I know.” Theresa cast me another frown as she picked up her drink and sucked from the straw. “Something’s up her crack, but I know it wasn’t me. She’s the one who wants me to move in with Noah. Maybe that’s what it’s about? You think she’s jealous?”

I tensed. “Jealous?”

“Of me and Noah. She’s alone. I mean, I don’t know why. She’s beautiful. I know she’s had offers, but she never dates. Is that what it’s about? She’s worried about when I’ll move in with him.” Her eyes got big and her hand flung up to cover her mouth. “Oh, no. I can’t believe I said that.”

“When?!” I teased. “When? So it’s happening?”

“Oh god. I just admitted it, didn’t I? I said it out loud.”

“You did.”

She leaned back against the seat and gripped her drink. She shook her head. “I can’t take it back. I mean, I’m doing it. I can’t believe I’m doing it.”

“Speaking of doing it. Where’s Noah?” Sending her a knowing look, I asked, “Are you supposed to meet up with him in a private room somewhere?”

She giggled. “No. But, damn, that’d be nice, huh? No, he got a phone call, and I think he was looking for an excuse not to come back here. Amanda’s usually quiet, you know?”

I knew.

“And she’s usually friendly, always kinda in the background. I don’t think he knows how to handle her when she’s like this.” She scratched her forehead. “Come to think of it, I don’t either. Did you fix it?”

“Fix it?”

“Fix Amanda. Did you send her off to get a new attitude before she comes back?”

My heart broke a little more for my friend. She was off ending a relationship and was going to walk back into this? “If there was no Carter, there’d be no dilemma.” Amanda’s words came back to me. Hearing how tormented she’d been, I hadn’t known what to say. She’d said Noah would pull away, but maybe it was me. Maybe I needed to do what I’d considered doing before—pulling away from Amanda. I turned with new eyes toward Theresa. Would she be better off without me?

Yes.

The answer resounded in my head. They all would be. That was the right thing to do. Seeing Amanda so grief-stricken, I knew this was the right thing to do. She could still be with Brian, but the phone call—“Let me out.”

“What?”

“Let me out, Theresa!” I hadn’t meant to shout, but it got her going. She scooted out, and I was right behind her.

“Where are you going?”

“To stop a phone call,” I yelled over my shoulder as I ran from the private box.

“What?”

I heard Theresa behind me, but I kept going. Within seconds, as I knew they would be, the guards were around me. The new one who had shown up this afternoon was bigger than the rest, and he moved in front of me, clearing the way. I didn’t know his name.

They needed to know where I was going, so I turned to Thomas. “I need to find Amanda.”

He nodded and pressed a hand to his ear, speaking into his other hand at the same time. The new guard nodded and headed down a separate hallway. When we went past the exit door, I figured he knew where to go, so I kept following until we got to a back area. The music had faded, and there were fewer people in the hallway. The farther we went, the hallways grew lighter and lighter until I couldn’t hear the music at all anymore. Only two staff people passed us going the opposite way, and they frowned at us, but didn’t say a word. One girl had a black shirt tied in a knot underneath her breasts. The guy with her had a matching shirt on, and as I looked back, I could see the word SECURITY on the back of it.

“Here.”

The new security guard was at a door, but Thomas stepped in front of me, holding me back. The other guards went outside, shutting the door behind them. We waited for a moment until a soft tap sounded on the door, followed by a succession of three more taps.

“She’s outside, Miss Emma.” Thomas moved to stand guard against the door.

“You’re not coming out?”

He shook his head, pressing his hand to his ear again. “She’s coming out. Mitchell, come back inside.”

I heard a soft voice from his ear saying, “Coming.” Then the door opened, and Mitchell waited for me to step through.

This was normal protocol. I don’t know why I was surprised. As I stepped outside into a back alley, I found Amanda with her jaw hanging down. She leaned against the wall with her phone still in her hand.

I looked around at the guys. They’d positioned themselves ten feet from us at both ends of the alley, and Michael took point at the door. They were all going to be able to hear, which meant this would be reported to Carter—which you should’ve done yourself by now, an inner voice reminded me.

“Is something going on?” Amanda asked me, straightening from the wall.

“I came out to talk to you.” And not with them. I studied the guards. The conversation I needed to have—it couldn’t happen. Plan B. “Don’t say what you were going to say to the person on the other end of that phone.”

“What?” She looked at her phone, her forehead wrinkling.

“The phone call you left to make—don’t do it.”

She showed me her phone, and I read the name, Shelly, on the screen. “To her?”

“No. Is that who you’ve been talking to this whole time?”

She grew sheepish, glancing down at the ground and biting the inside of her cheek. “I chickened out.”

“Oh.”

“I will. I promise—”

“No, don’t. I…” What could I say here? “Don’t.”

“But…” She gave the guards a meaningful look.

“I know. I’ll fix it. I’ll make it work somehow.” By leaving you, but I couldn’t say that. That wouldn’t be a topic of discussion. It was just going to happen, and by the time they realized it, I’d be gone. It would be done. I’d need help with Carter, but that was for another day. “I promise. I’ll make it right,” I told her.

“How?”

I shook my head. “Who’s Shelly?”

“My coworker. I was asking if she could take over some of my workload for next week.”