Claire:Please answer the phone.
Jaxon, I’m sorry.
Please forgive me. Just… answer.
Goodnight, Jax. I love you.
He stared at them for a long moment.
Thenhe set the phone down and started getting dressed—khakis and a polo, something simple. No suit today. He had too much to finish at the office before dinner tonight.
And even more on his mind.
The morning blurred in a rush of meetings, paperwork, and conversations that barely registered. For once, the chaos of work was welcome—something to drown in. Something that kept him from looking at his phone again.
He was just wrapping up a conversation with his receptionist when the door opened.
Claire.
“Hey,” he said carefully.
She smiled faintly at the receptionist, then turned back to him. “Hey.”
He led her into his office and shut the door behind them. She didn’t sit.
“What are you doing here?”
“I hadn’t heard from you,” she said, soft but rushed. “I texted. Called. Nothing.”
“I know,” he replied. “I went to bed early. Had work this morning.”
“Did you even read what I sent?”
“Claire,” he said, already tired. “I’m at work. This isn’t the time for this.”
“I’m not here to fight,” she insisted. “I just—needed to say I’m sorry.”
He tilted his head slightly, waiting.
“I acted like a brat. I know I did. You didn’t deserve it. I pouted because I didn’t get my way, and I hate that that’s what you saw of me last night. That’s not who I want to be. Especially not with you.”
He let out a slow breath. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
“I love you, Jaxon. I hope we can spend tonight together… without any of that in the air.”
He nodded once. “Look… it’s not the argument that bothered me. People argue. They get under each other’s skin. That’s normal. But what got to me—what still gets to me—is that you left. You didn’t want to work through it. You wanted to be right. You wanted me to come find you.”
She dropped her gaze. “I was just hurt.”
“Yeah, well… I was too. But I stayed.”
There was silence between them for a beat. No anger. Just truth.
“I’m not going to chase anyone, Claire,” he added. “Not because I don’t care. But because I can’t love someone who walks away when shit gets hard.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed the weight of his words. “So what does that mean?”
“It means… you need to figure out what you want. And who you are when things don’t go your way. Because I’m not going to break my back carrying something that’s only balanced when it’s easy.”
