Page 116 of Hold Me Tight

Although, try telling that to the part of me that’s already panicking that I’ve lost her.

I head to the kitchen, hoping to find a note. Something that will stop the mental spiral.

But there’s nothing.

Why didn’t she wake me before taking off this morning?

No matter how hard I try to reason it out or how many scenarios I run through, my gut keeps dragging me back to the same conclusion.

She ran back to Zane.

The thought lodges like a splinter that’s impossible to dig out.

I pour a glass of water, more out of habit than thirst. It sits untouched on the counter, my hand wrapped too tight around the glass to lift it. My fingers are shaking. My whole body feels like it’s vibrating just beneath the surface.

Every step I take echoes too loudly in the silence she left behind. The space feels wrong. Off. Too quiet, too still. Almost like the air itself has gone stale without her in it.

Every room I pass feels empty. Like she somehow managed to take the warmth with her.

Did I push too hard?

Did I make her feel cornered?

What if I turned this into a choice when all she needed was time to figure out what she wanted?

What if last night was her way of saying goodbye?

My fingers curl around the edge of the counter, gripping it so tight my knuckles turn bone white.

I’ve never wanted something this badly.

Not the game.

Not a contract.

Not the numbers on the back of my jersey or the team logo stitched across the front.

I want Callie.

And Nora.

I want the quiet mornings, the messy evenings, the laughter from the next room. I want the routine of them in my space like they were always meant to be there.

For the first time since she walked into my life, I wonder if I let myself believe in something I was never meant to keep.

The sharp ding of the elevator breaks the stillness, and my heart kicks hard in my chest. I spin toward the door as hope surges within me.

Callie.

She came back.

She didn’t leave me.

She—

The doors slide open and Willow steps out first, her expression shifting the second she sees me. Maverick follows behind her with the kids in tow.

The hope rising within shatters, the air rushing out of me like a punch to the gut.