Chapter 5 Three Weeks Later

• I had responded to Luke, and we had been talking in secret ever since. Peyton would lose his mind if he thought we were talking, but who could blame him? Two years ago, Luke had gotten out of prison and tracked me down. He found me at my teaching job in the city and left a message asking me to meet him for drinks. It was meant to be an innocent interaction, but nothing about Luke was innocent by any means. He had lured me to a small bar at the edge of town with the plan to seduce me in the bathrooms. Unfortunately for him, Peyton had been tracking my location and found me in the parking lot before I could even walk in. Luke made eye contact with me through the dirty bar window as Peyton dragged me away. I smiled weakly and allowed Peyton to tug me into his car and drive out of the lot. I sent him one last message:
• "Sorry, something came up. Maybe another time".
• Three weeks later...