Bryna shrugged. “Let’s just dance.”

She placed her drink on the counter, unfinished, and veered for the dance floor. She didn’t want to get drunk tonight. She tended to act like an idiot while intoxicated. She was here to celebrate moving in with her friends and to not think about Eric—at all.

She let her body go free and forgot her struggles. The music was loud. Her friends were close. All felt right. She danced until her legs were shaking and her face was flushed before breaking away from the floor in need of some water.

She tried to flag down Maya, but she was busy with a group of customers who had walked in. Bryna leaned back against the bar and fanned herself as she waited.

“Can I get you a drink?” someone asked from behind her.

She turned around and found herself face-to-face with the hot businessman they had been eyeing earlier. He was even more handsome in person. She was shocked he worked for Google. Are tech guys suddenly getting hot?

“Just water. It’s hot on the dance floor.”

“I think I can manage a water.”

She smiled. “But can you afford it? It’s pretty expensive.”

“Most valuable thing in the world,” he replied.

“Hmm…and I always thought that was diamonds.”

He laughed and nodded at her necklace. “Seems you have that covered.”

She shrugged and glanced away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

“I’m Rick,” he said, offering her his hand and drawing her attention back to him.

“Bryna.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Maya returned then and looked triumphant as she saw Bryna talking to Rick. “Dirty martini?” she asked.

“Just water.”

Maya arched an eyebrow but complied.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything else?” he pushed.

“Really, I’m fine.”

She purposely glanced down at his left hand. No ring. Not even an indentation. Maybe he wasn’t a bad guy.

But that didn’t even matter, did it? It wasn’t that she should be looking out for the bad guys. They should be looking out for her.

Maya left her water on the counter and refilled Rick’s scotch glass before disappearing with a smug expression on her face.

“Do you want to dance or maybe go somewhere more private to talk?” he suggested.

She sighed. “I know where you think this is going, but it’s not. I’m not the kind of girl you want to talk to privately. I’m dangerous.”

He raised an eyebrow. She had only managed to intrigue him.

“I like dangerous.”

“I’m a gold digger,” she said flatly. “The jewels you’re admiring me for are from someone else. If you stick around, I’ll manage to get some out of you, too.”

He stepped back in surprise at her frankness.

She pulled the Harry Winston B necklace off and held it in her hand. She couldn’t believe she was still wearing it after all this time. It was her signature look, yet what it symbolized wasn’t even her anymore.

She left him alone and confused. She didn’t have an explanation. It turned out she did idiotic things completely sober, too.

“What happened?” Trihn asked as Bryna approached her.

“Here.” She handed Trihn the B necklace, which she took in confusion.

“What?”

“That’s not me anymore,” she said. “I can’t even look at it.”

She was getting rid of her last piece of Jude. It felt like shedding her skin and starting fresh. Now, she needed to find someone who could see her as she was now, not as she had always allowed people to see her. No director father. No gold-digger status. No slutty reputation.

Just someone with no expectations.

She didn’t know what that meant for her, but it wasn’t an older guy in a suit, thinking he could buy her body with a few drinks.

THE NEXT DAY, Bryna put her house on the market. She called a moving company next to take only the things that were truly hers to the new apartment. Everything else she was planning on leaving.

She didn’t know how long it was going to take. She had never sold a house before. But after only two weeks, she had an offer on the table and was set to close on the place. It was terrifying but a relief that everything had happened so quickly. She would be signing the papers this afternoon in between class and cheer. It was supposed to be quick and painless.

She walked into her history of film class on edge. Her mind was caught up in the paperwork and what her intentions were after that.

Cam dropped into the seat next to her with a smile just as class started. He still sat next to her every day, and they flirted. It was nice since after the fiasco at Posse, she had been avoiding most other guys. She was spending more time focusing on her studies. She had done fine freshman year, but cheer and guys and money and booze had made her lose focus. She figured if she was only really concerned with cheer that would leave her with a lot more time to bring her GPA up.

Her professor left them with a mound of homework to do at the end of class. But she couldn’t think about that right now because she had to leave to go sign the closing papers.

She stuffed her work back in her bag and was on her way out when Cam caught up with her.

“Hey, I know you’re busy with cheer or whatever after school, but what about this weekend?”

She stopped in her tracks. “It’s the first home game.”

“Oh. Okay,” he said, clearly disappointed. “Never mind then.”

Is he asking me out? “Wait,” she said before he could walk away. “That’s just Saturday though.”

His smile widened at her words. “Yeah? Good. You’re always super busy. I thought I’d never get a free moment with you outside of class.”

“Well, I haven’t exactly agreed to that moment yet,” she teased.

Cam laughed. “That’s true. Do you want to go out with me Friday?”

“I’ll see if I’m free,” she joked. She pulled out her phone and pretended to scroll through her calendar.

“Now, I’ll never get on the schedule.”

She playfully bumped his arm. “I’m just kidding. I’m free. What do you have in mind?”

“Dinner and a movie?”

This wasn’t a normal thing for her. She didn’t do these typical dates, but there was a first time for everything. This was what she wanted anyway—a fresh start with someone interested in her for her.

“That sounds great.”

She left campus with a feeling of accomplishment. Here was a totally normal college guy asking her out. She could do this without all the extra baggage from her past.

Signing was as easy as they’d explained it would be. She had to sign and initial about a million pieces of paper and hand over her house to total strangers, but by the end, it was a done deal. No going back now.

A check was issued directly to her, and the sum made her head spin. Hugh had paid a small fortune for the place. Not that he had cared at the time. Money didn’t matter to him. That she had come to figure out the hard way.

She didn’t have much time before she needed to be back on campus, but she had to take care of this. She drove out to the WC Resort. The receptionist called for the hotel director when Bryna explained that she had something for Mr. Westercamp.

The hotel director was short and impeccably dressed. “How may I help you?” she asked.

Bryna held the envelope out to the woman. “This is for Mr. Westercamp. It’s secure and he’s expecting it, but it cannot be mailed. I trust that you will deliver it to him.”

The woman warily eyed her. “You’re Miss Turner, right?”

Bryna stilled. “Yes?”