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I snort a laugh as I pull my shirt back on.

“Of course not,” I say, dropping the act. “I was kidding about the junk food and stress. Trust me, they keep us on a pretty tight leash.” Although, it’s been way too long since my last workout. My anxious mind is in need of the exertion as much as my body.

I turn to Luke. “Speaking of which, I was gonna ask if I could borrow your key and go hit the gym later.”

Luke casts a quick look at Callie before nodding to me. “Actually, if you want, I’ll just call down and have Mara get you one of your own.”

I freeze. Luke’s hesitant gaze finds mine. A decade passes between us, and I swallow the thickening mass in my throat. The last thing I want to do is turn this monumental shift into another setback.

“Thanks, man,” I return as evenly as possible.

He returns a quick nod, and I’m glad I played it correctly when he relaxes.

“Sure. Thanks for the burger.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Guess you’re staying?” Callie says once we’re alone.

I’m still having trouble processing what just happened.

“Guess so.”

Luke appeared exhausted when he retreated back to his room to make the call to the front desk. This must have been a taxing day for him. Now I’m really curious about what happened in that office.

“What about your life?” Callie asks suddenly. “I mean, don’t you have somewhere else you’re supposed to be?”

I toss a smile at her. “Trying to get rid of me?”

She returns a sardonic look. “You know I want you here. I just… I don’t know. You must have a whole other life. Obligations.”

“Obligations,” I scoff. She has no idea. “Yeah. But nothing I can’t do from here. Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be where I need to be when I need to be there.”

She returns a weak smile, and I soften the teasing. She’s just trying to be considerate, and I realize for all we’ve been throughin this short time, we really don’t know much about each other. She probably doesn’t know any more about what my life is outside this suite than I know of hers.

“Anyway, I do have my own place,” I explain. “But it’s nothing worth missing. I’m on the road so much I never thought there was any point in setting up roots.” I scan her as the mood shifts. “I could say the same to you.”

Her dry laugh cuts through the humor. “Please. My life is literally nothing. Talk about a pointless existence.”

I wince, staring at her with a mix of confusion and irritation.

“Sorry, that didn’t come out right,” she backpedals, reading my reaction.

Liar.

“I don’t know. Maybe it did,” I challenge. “What does that mean? Who are you? I don’t even know your last name.”

She averts her gaze, and now I’m getting annoyed. A minute ago, she was taking me on at every pass. Now all of a sudden she’s going to cower in the face of basic questions?

“No one worth your time, believe me,” she mumbles.

Is she fucking serious right now? I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

“You do understand you’re insulting me, too, when you do that?” I counter in an accusatory tone.

She withdraws into herself even more. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just… I don’t know. I just meant I’m no one.”

I run a hand over my hair and shake my head in frustration. “What the hell does that even mean? You’re no one? So am I just an idiot then to be wasting entire days and nights with ‘no one’?”