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Again.

My stomach drops.

My fingers hover above the phone.

My breath shakes.

He wouldn’t?—

Not after that voicemail.

Not this soon.

Except—

He would.

I swallow hard.

The phone keeps vibrating.

Once.

Twice.

A third time.

I don’t answer.

I can’t.

I stand there frozen, trembling, watching it ring like it’s about to explode.

It stops.

The silence that follows is louder than the ringing.

A single new notification blooms across the screen.

1 New Voicemail.

My throat tightens painfully.

My fingers dig into the edge of the counter.

I don’t press play.

Not yet.

I just stand there, shaking, breath shallow, heart pounding so violently it hurts.

Because I know—I know whatever Kai just left me isn’t an answer.

It’s a beginning.

And I’m not ready.

But he doesn’t care if I’m ready.