Echo agrees, and when she looks at me I gesture to the woman who has already left. “I’ll stay here. You can find me when you’re ready.”

She flashes that glorious smile. “Thanks.”

Damn, Echo’s sexy as hell when she walks—especially in heels. When she rounds the corner, I push off the wall and pretend to understand the painting with red-and-black marks slashed across the canvas. Some things I just don’t get.

“But you said there was room!” A girl’s voice grabs my attention and farther down the hallway Hunter and a dark-haired girl I’ve seen from his studio are deep in conversation. “You said last month that I could extend past the summer session for the year.”

I should move so I won’t be accused of eavesdropping, but I told Echo I’d stay put. Plus, they’re the ones talking loud enough for people in China to hear.

“Meredith,” Hunter starts. “There was room. An artist I had seen potential in earlier in the year decided along with me that it was best that we didn’t work together.”

“So they came back?” Her voice breaks.

“No, they didn’t.” Hunter crosses his arms over his chest, and the poor girl crumples against the wall.

“You’re giving my spot to Echo.” The girl sways on her feet like the statement was a blow to the head.

“Next year, Meredith. I promise you’ll have a spot for the one-year program next year.”

Hunter turns away from Meredith, and my stomach drops. Fuck. This is the girl that Echo had told me asked her to lunch. The girl that Echo felt could have been her friend. There’s no way Echo will be okay with this, and there’s no way gossip like this won’t eventually be burning her ears.

“Noah?” Echo rounds the corner on her way back to me, and her eyes are wide with concern. “Did I hear that correctly?”

The urge is to tell her no. To keep her protected. To keep her happy. But I tried keeping something once from Echo in the name of not hurting her, and it almost destroyed us.

“Echo,” Hunter calls. “Are you ready?”

She glances at him then at me. “I didn’t hear it all, but I think you did. I need you to tell me what happened.”

“I will. I promise.”

Echo

The three people studying my painting, gesturing at my painting, talking in front of my painting are three of the biggest gallery owners in the world. I’m going to puke everywhere then die.

Near the wall opposite them, Noah and I watch. My foot taps continually against the floor, and the clicking sound from my high-heeled shoe is probably driving Noah to the brink of insanity.

Instead of telling me to chill out, he places a hand on the small of my back, leans down and whispers, “Let’s go see something else.”

I nod and with a gentle nudge, Noah guides us through the throngs of people. I smooth down my blue dress and berate myself for the hundredth time for wearing something that rides up when I walk.

“Stop it,” Noah breathes into my ear, and the fine hairs along the nape of my neck deliciously stand on end. “You look great.”

“You’re fine if my butt hangs out.”

Noah chuckles. “Not if other people can see it. And since you brought it up, there’s a broom closet to the left...”

He trails off, and I imagine all of the sweet, sweet naughty things Noah and I could do in a small, private space. For three point one seconds, I consider it. My nerves were shot fifteen minutes into this showing. That was when the first person approached me and told me they loved my work.

Hearing something like that—it’s comparable to being drunk on a high wire. It’s an overwhelming high, and I’m learning I don’t handle overwhelmed well. It sort of makes everything on the inside feel stretched while the smile on the outside becomes bigger.

But one look at Noah, and the sounds and chaos fade away. He’s my secret weapon tonight. The reason I haven’t run screaming from the building. I wish I wasn’t going to be away from him so much this coming year.

“Outside?” Noah jacks his thumb to a door leading to a patio, and I immediately turn right, cutting off a waiter with a tray full of drinks.

I inhale deeply the moment the cool evening air nips at the exposed skin on my arms. The scars have received a few pointed stares, but for the first time in my life I’ve felt nothing about it. I can’t change my scars any more than I can change the color of my eyes. They’re a part of me. It’s who I am, and I like the person I’ve become.

“You cold?” Noah rubs his hands up and down my arms.

I shiver, not from the cold, but from the heat of his palms on my skin. It’s like a flick of a switch and the attraction awakens. “Not when you’re around.”

He cocks his head to the brick wall behind me. “You know, I’ve got a thing about backing you up against walls. It’d be a shame to let that wall go to waste.”

I laugh, and as I start to wind my arms around his neck, I remember Meredith. The high crashes. Meredith and Hunter were arguing. They mentioned me and Meredith and the spot for the program, but... “What happened between Meredith and Hunter?”

Noah rolls his shoulders, attempting to ease the tension. Oh, crap. This is going to be bad.

“Before I tell you this, I want you to know that it’s okay to stay. You earned everything that’s happening to you, but I want you to be prepared for the fallout.”

“Now you’re scaring me.”

“Hunter’s pushing off Meredith’s spot in the program for a year. That’s how he created a space for you.”

My intestines cramp. I had no idea I was stealing anyone’s place, much less Meredith’s. “This is awful. She left her home over this. Her family practically kicked her out.” Panic causes adrenaline to rush in my veins. “Noah, I don’t think she has anywhere else to go.”

Noah cups my face and inches it up so that I’m staring straight into his eyes. “This does not diminish what you’ve worked for. No one can fault you for choices Hunter makes. You didn’t know that you were bumping Meredith out when you accepted, and you still wouldn’t if I hadn’t told you.”

“Until I started the program.” Then plenty of people would have been more than happy to gossip about it, hence why Noah mentioned a fallout. He’s preparing me for the impending rumors.

“You’ve done nothing wrong, Echo. Find Meredith. Make peace with her then take the spot and hold your head high.”