CH.160

Serena's body went rigid against the solid oak wall she had just crashed into. Her heart pounded against her ribcage.

She didn't dare look up, didn't dare meet the piercing gaze she could feel burning into her with an intensity that threatened to consume her whole. Deep down, in the very marrow of her bones, she knew exactly who had her pinned there - the one person she'd been desperately trying to avoid at all costs.

Serena felt exposed and vulnerable in a way that made her throat constrict with guilt. Her chest tightened until each shallow breath was a struggle.

The last thing she wanted, the absolute last thing in the world she needed right now, was for Knox to see her like this. She didn’t want to be seen looking all disheveled, emotionally wrecked, and barely holding it together by a few tenuous threads of rapidly fraying control.

The whole reason she had wanted to escape to the city was to get a total makeover.

She needed to change up her look so drastically that she wouldn't so