“How misogynist.” I bit down a smile, wondering how Luna had felt about that.

She hated wearing anything pink or girly, the exact opposite of Daria.

The girl flushed, drawing circles on the ground with her toes. “Thank you for saying that.”

“Huh?”

“Thanks for knowing it’s kind of offensive. Beautiful men…I mean, handsome men like yourself are…” she started, but her friends jerked her away, giggling and heading toward the cafeteria.

Are what?

Say, it sweetheart. I could use a little ego boost before I come face to face with Luna.

When I got to the lobby of the girls’ dorm, there was a man about two thousand years old behind the front desk, with a Ron Weasley-orange toupee, flipping a local newspaper that lay flat in front of him. His brows were high as he read a fascinating article about the fish prices in Asheville.

“Wrong dorm,” he said without looking up from his paper.

Instead of gracing him with a response, I dropped my designer backpack on his desk with a thud, fishing my wallet from my back pocket, plucking a few bills, and throwing them his way like confetti.

He didn’t look up from the paper. “Do you understand English?” he grumbled.

“Only when it suits me. What’s your price?”

“Why must there be a price tag on rules? Why can’t we just follow them blindly?” He licked the tip of his index finger, flicking a page.

An impatient smirk tugged at my lips. He was still staring at his paper.

“Because humans are corrupt, and rules are boring.”

“Speak for yourself, young man.”

With an exasperated sigh, I took out a few more Benjamins, boomeranging them across his desk. There was maybe a couple grand in total covering the surface before he finally looked up.

“What’s her name?”

“Rexroth. Luna Rexroth.”

“And your intentions?”

Entirely sinister.

“She’s my girlfriend,” I lied, unblinking. “I came to visit her from California. I want to surprise her in her room.”

I could see his gaze drifting to the row of spare keys under his counter. I didn’t dare breathe.

Do it, old man.

He didn’t budge. I took my wallet out and emptied it on his desk, the remainder of my cash raining in front of his eyes. I didn’t break eye contact.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” he asked.

“Do you know her?”

“Yes.”

Casually, I unlocked my phone and threw it into his hands. My screensaver was a picture of me hugging her and kissing her cheek while she smiled into the camera. It was pretty obvious we knew each other and liked each other. He lifted his bushy, white eyebrows, examining the picture before handing my phone back to me.

Finally, he lowered himself to the wall of keys, searching for her name.

“I’ll need you to leave your ID here.”

I slid my driver’s license over the counter.

“No spending the night on the premises. No loitering. Straight to room 601. And if I see you getting anywhere near girls who are not her, I’m calling the cops.”

“I need one more favor,” I said.

He looked up at me, Luna’s room key dangling between his meaty fingers.

“Namely, one more set of keys…and a lemon.”

If you’re ready to fall

Please do it with me

Ten o’clock. Water tower. Is where I will be.

—Broken Knight

I’d found the note under my pillow—where I kept the book I was reading that week—like a tooth, forgotten by the tooth fairy. A wish. A promise. Knight knew I’d lift the pillow, because he knew me. Knew us.

Knight was at Boon.

At my college.

In my dorm.

He wanted me to meet him at the water tower.

He was away from his mother.

His friends.

His school.

Away from his Poppy.

That alone should’ve made me run into his arms. I’d made a promise to Rosie. But only after she wasn’t here anymore. I didn’t have to put my heart on the line just yet. I wanted my heart to be free a little longer.

Before I moved to Boon, I used to organize my time in accordance with Knight’s life. When it was football season, I’d crammed activities into my schedule to make time move faster. I’d volunteered more, taken longer bike rides, and read entire fantasy series back to back. When he was free, I dropped said activities in favor of being with him—even when he’d flirted with other girls, when the rumors about his lothario ways had cut me open and made me bleed green with jealousy.

When I’d left for Boon, I’d needed to fill my life with distractions. I had done so by mimicking life as I saw it worn by other people. To my surprise, I was a pretty good actress—a miserable one without Knight, but decent nonetheless.

I munched on the straw of my fruity cocktail, my legs folded as I sat in the nightclub next to April, Josh, and Ryan. I flipped my phone to watch for the time.

Ten minutes to ten.

I couldn’t make it in time even if I wanted to. Good.

The music pounded so loudly, it felt like it was coming from inside my head. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to remove the vision of Knight waiting for me on the top of the water tower, in the cold.