The rain is heavier than it looks from inside the hall.

It isn’t the gentle kind that cools the air—it’s sharp, cold, relentless, soaking through clothes within seconds. The courtyard outside the alumni hall is mostly empty now, the laughter and music sealed behind glass doors that blur into glowing rectangles. Cole stands near the edge of the stone steps, suit jacket abandoned on a bench, sleeves rolled up like he forgot he was supposed to be someone polished tonight.

He doesn’t turn when Laura steps out.

She hesitates for half a second, as if crossing the threshold means crossing something else entirely. The rain immediately darkens her dress, clings...