Kian pulled out his phone and started typing on it. “The press are people, just like you and me, but when they have to work, they’re not paying attention. So”—he held up his phone—“we’re going to give them something to report.” As he said that, his thumb hit the Send button on his phone. “Now, we sit and wait.”

It’d already been thirty minutes. And we continued to wait again.

“Kian.” What had he done?

Then, I saw it. A pizza delivery car pulled around the block and headed for the media. I frowned, thinking he would go to my building, but he didn’t. He parked right in front of the closest media teams and started walking to them. Kian’s phone buzzed, and at the same time, a frenzy came over them. Cameras that had been pointing at my building were whipped around. Reporters took their places in front of them, studying their phones for a moment. And in the midst of it, a second, a third, and then a fourth food delivery car descended before the media. All of the drivers were walking around, delivering food to surprised media crew.

Whatever happened, I knew Kian had something to do with it. For one second, we got an opening.

Kian said under his breath, “Now.”

Moving as if we were synced together, we got out of his sedan, quietly closed the doors, and went to the front door of my building. On the drive to my apartment, Kian said we’d be using the front door. They wouldn’t be expecting it. As I inserted my key and the door opened for us, they weren’t. No one yelled. No cameras were flashing pictures. There wasn’t a stampede coming from across the street for us.

We took the stairs, hurrying upstairs with only the scuffle of our shoes sounding from us. When we got to my floor, Kian stopped me before going through the door. “You ready for this?”

My heart was racing. I should’ve been out of breath, but I wasn’t. I was on an adrenaline high. We were about to sneak into my apartment old apartment, and somehow, I was going to talk this out with Erica. That was my hope.

It might’ve been a grandiose one, but when I’d woken up next to Kian this morning, I had to try. I just had to. Being with him last night did something to me. It changed me somehow. My outlook on life wasn’t in hiding anymore. I didn’t care if the nation was going to hate me or blame me or crucify me. They did it before, and I survived, and that was when I had no one. I had people this time. Or I hoped I did. I had a roommate. I had a friend who was obsessed with my roommate, and Jake…well, I didn’t know where he fit in, but I used to love him.

Well…

Maybe friendship was a lofty goal with him.

Either way, I needed to talk to Erica face-to-face, and I needed to apologize for lying all these years. And the running-away part wasn’t good either.

Thinking about it all, about talking it out with Erica, my hand reached for Kian’s. It fit perfectly, and I squeezed. “I’m ready.” I remembered his phone when he reached for the hallway door. “Wait, what did you text before? To make the reporters react like that?”

A smooth low chuckle was my reward as he opened the door. “I had Cal send a credible anonymous tip that we were seen at the train station.”

The train station?

But it didn’t matter.

Kian opened the door, and he pulled me right behind him. When we got to my apartment, it was my turn. I sent a small prayer up that Erica hadn’t changed the locks in the last few hours, and was rewarded when my key went in, unlocking the door.

She hadn’t.

Two major roadblocks down. One more to go.

I would have to wake up Erica without causing—

As we slipped inside, she was up and at the patio door. The curtains were pulled, but she was peeking out. When she heard the door open, she twisted around, and a bloodcurdling scream came out of her throat.

Kian reacted before me.

He rushed forward, clamping a hand over her mouth. His other hand caught the back of her head, holding her in place so that she wouldn’t fall backward from the sudden pressure against her face. As he quieted her, I shut the door and locked it. I rushed to her.

Her eyes were wide and straining, looking up at Kian, but they got even bigger when I came over. Her eyes were glued to my sweatshirt’s hood, and I realized she didn’t know who we were. I was lifting a finger to my mouth, about to tell her, when another problem happened.

Two doors opened at the same time, and two more bodies hurled themselves into the living room. Wanker came from Erica’s room. Jake came from mine. He stopped and took in the scene in one second, his gaze skimming over me and landing on Kian, who was still holding Erica. A snarl formed over Jake’s mouth.

I saw it happening and tried to stop Jake. I held my hands in the air and stepped toward him. “No, Jake—”

“Get away from her!” He lunged at Kian and started to shove him against the wall.

Kian reversed the hold. He stepped aside, letting Jake’s body move past him, and then Jake slammed into the wall instead. He was stunned for a moment.

I raised my voice. “Stop! It’s me.”

They all turned to me.

No one reacted.

I cursed. It was my disguise. Ripping off my sunglasses, I pulled the cap and hood from my head and let them see me. “It’s me. It’s Jo.”

I turned around, my arms held out, so all of them could see me. Wanker was still standing in Erica’s doorway.

“Holy—” Erica started.

Jake finished for her, “Fuck.” He glared at Kian in silence, still being held up against the wall.