Callahan: I’m sure I upset you. Sebastian told me.
Callahan: Please let me try and explain.
Callahan: At least let me know you’re alive.
Callahan: I made a mistake. I know.
Callahan: Jace, come on. Please.
Callahan: Just give me a chance to make it right. I don’t want to lose you.
Callahan: Just one, please.
Callahan: I’ll prove I deserve it, if you let me.
He pressed his finger against Callahan’s name and held the phone to his ear. Callahan answered before the first ring had even finished.
“Jace.” He sounded tired, and scared, and relieved, all at the same time. The thick emotion Callahan laid into his name had Jace’s chest constricting.
“How?”
“What?”
“How would you prove you deserve it?” he asked.
“Whatever you want,” Callahan promised. “Whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do it.”
Jace swallowed. “I don’t want to tell you to anything. I want…I want you to do what you think needs to be done.”
“I want to apologize to you in person,” Callahan said quickly.
“Me too.”
“What? What do you have to apologize for?”
Jace thought about the weight and the truth of what Remington had said to him, and he sighed. “I shouldn’t have left without talking to you first.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve been so worried. I didn’t know where you went or how you got there.” Callahan paused. “Where did you go?”
“Home,” Jace answered quietly. “I’m home.”
“Shit.”
“How was the event?” he asked.
“I didn’t do it. I…Sebastian and I came back to the hotel and I’ve been panicking ever since I realized you weren’t here.”
“Really?” he rubbed at the hollow of his throat, a pressure building there and making it hard for him to breathe.
“You could have at least left a note.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“It’s fine. It’s…I probably deserved it.” Callahan made a self-deprecating noise. “I owe you more than lip service over the phone, though.”
“When are you coming home?”
“The flight is tomorrow morning, but if you’re not here, I don’t want to be here. You made this weekend tolerable. Better than tolerable. You…” Callahan let out loud breath and didn’t finish his thought.
