[JASMINE – POV]
Parties were never my thing. But when Amara, the only girl I halfway trusted at Kingston High, begged me to come to Dev's rooftop birthday bash, I caved.
Big mistake.
Everyone was there—the popular crowd, the gossip girls, the guys who only knew how to talk with their egos. And Lucas. Of course Lucas.
He stood across the room, leaning on a wall, drink in hand, eyes on me like I was a challenge he hadn't figured out how to win yet.
"Try not to look so tense," Amara whispered, handing me a soda.
"I'm fine," I lied.
Then I got the text.
Unknown Number:"I know what you did in Lagos. Tell Lucas before I do."
My heart dropped.
[LUCAS – POV]
She looked shaken. Jasmine never looks shaken.
One minute she was sipping her drink, the next she was pale, staring at her phone like it had turned to fire.
I crossed the room instantly.
"Hey—what happened?"
She shoved the phone in her pocket and faked a smile. "Nothing. Just tired."
Liar.
I wanted to push. But the look in her eyes told me not now.
So instead, I pulled her outside. Away from the crowd. Just the two of us under the stars.
"If you ever want to talk," I said softly, "I'll listen. No judgment."
She looked at me, torn, and whispered, "You say that now. But you don't know what I'm hiding."