First message
Jace wasn’t supposed to stay long.
That had been the plan—show up, make an appearance, keep the label off his back for another night. But plans had never really meant anything to him, not when the music was still ringing in his ears and the room felt too tight with too many people pretending to be something they weren’t.
He’d already had enough of it.
Drink in hand, leaning back against the wall like he owned it, his gaze dragged lazily across the crowd—faces blurring together under dim lights and camera flashes sneaking in through the doors.
And then it stopped.
On her.
She was familiar to him, definitely had seen her face before on a billboard or maybe in a magazine, but he couldn’t place her name.
She didn’t belong to the chaos of it. Not really. Too composed, too effortless, like she existed on a different frequency than the rest of them. People orbited her, drawn in without trying, but she didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she just didn’t care.
Jace exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing just slightly as something sharp and unfamiliar settled under his skin.
Who’s that?he muttered, not looking away as his shoulder bumped lightly against the guy next to him.
His friend followed his line of sight, gave a quiet, almost amused huff, “Don’t even think about it.”
Jace barely heard the answer.
Didn’t need to.
He was already pushing off the wall, setting his drink aside without a second thought.
Because suddenly, leaving didn’t seem like an option anymore.