Page 65 of Trade It All

I should’ve ended the call.

Should’ve let her sleep without me sitting there listening like it was something I needed.

I didn’t. I stayed. Longer than I’ll ever admit out loud.

I laid there with the phone beside me, listening to her breathe like it was the only thing that mattered in that moment, like it settled something in me that nothing else has managed to touch.

Even when I got up—I didn’t hang up.

I took the phone with me, propped it on the counter while I made coffee, set it on the bathroom counter while I showered, the sound of water mixing with the quiet rhythm of her breathing in a way that should’ve felt strange.

It didn’t. It felt right.

By the time I was getting dressed, she shifted on the other end, the faint rustle of sheets pulling my attention back immediately.

“You’re still here?” she asked, her voice soft with sleep, like she hadn’t fully come back to herself yet.

“Morning, Baby.”

There was a pause.

“You didn’t hang up?”

I adjusted my cuff, glancing at the phone like I needed to see her even though I couldn’t.

“No.”

Another pause.

Longer this time.

Like she didn’t know what to do with that.

“I thought you would,” she said quietly.

“Not last night.”

The words came easy. Too easy. And the silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable. Just…full.

Now—I’m here.

And she’s not.

My jaw tightens as I turn again, forcing myself to stop pacing long enough to step toward the window, my hand bracing against the glass as I look down just as the first car pulls in.

Luka.

Of course it is.

He’s always early.

I track him without really seeing him, my focus already shifting to the next car, waiting for it before it even appears.

And then—there she is.

Right behind him.

My chest tightens before I can stop it, something immediate and sharp pulling through me as I watch her park, the way shemoves when she steps out, the way she doesn’t hesitate as she walks around to the back and pulls her suitcase out.