Chapter 40

Emily’s POV

The club was already alive when Ava and I stepped inside, a heartbeat of bass thudding against the walls, strobing lights spilling across the dance floor like restless fireflies.

Ava was the one to suggest this, but honestly, I wasn’t sure if I’d made the right choice.

Ava had been restless all morning, fidgeting with her phone, glancing toward the hallway like she expected someone to appear.

And me? I was just as bad as I was pretending to scroll through social media while fighting the urge to think about Alex.

Plus work has been stressful.

We’d both said it out loud over coffee that morning—we need a distraction.

So here we were, dressed up, faces made up, heels clicking against the sticky floor of a downtown club where anonymity came easy and the music drowned out inconvenient thoughts.

Ava leaned in close as we passed a group of guys at the bar, grinning at me.

“We’re not going home until we’ve had fun,” sh