A muscle twitches in his jaw. “You read my messages.”
It’s not a question, and I don’t try to deny it. I wrap my arms around myself instead, bones aching from more than just fatigue. “Thought you might want space for playoffs. Figured I’d make it easy for you.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Wasn’t meant to be.”
He takes a step forward, close enough to fill the space between us with heat and tension and the smell of his cologne. His voice stays low, but there’s a sharpness beneath it now. It’s not cruel, more concerned. Andpissed.
“What the hell happened, Carina?”
I bite the inside of my cheek and refuse to make eye contact.
“You disappear, you don’t text, don’t return calls. You don’t even let me know you’realive.” His tone tightens. “And I let it go the first few days. I figured you were tired or swamped. So I waited another day, then another. But I’m not a fucking idiot, and I’m not a stranger… So tell me the truth.”
“I’m fine,” I say too quickly. “I just—things got busy.”
His laugh is short and humorless. “Busy?”
“I don’t have time for this conversation.”
“Too bad. We’re having it.”
“Fine.” I push the door wider and turn my back on him, walking back down into the living room, arms crossed like it’ll hold me together. He follows, the door shutting gently behind him.
“I don’t know what you think this is,” I say, not looking back, “but we were clear. We said—”
“No strings or expectations,” he snaps. “But not radio silence. You don’t get to act like I imagined the last few months.”
“I didn’t ask you to imagine anything.”
He swears sharply under his breath, clearly frustrated. “Carina, come on. I’m not fucking stupid. I know what this was, and it was never just that.”
I spin around. “Ithadto be that.”
“Bullshit.”
“That doesn’t mean it was ever more than what we agreed,” I say, too quickly. “It was physical, and—and stress relief. That’s all.”
He steps up closer to me. “You’re such a bad fucking liar, Havoc.”
“Reid—”
“No. You don’t get to say that. You don’t get toghost meand act like I imagined that you didn’t care.”
My voice rises before I can stop it. “Because Ididcare, Reid. I do. That’s the goddamn problem!”
The words hang in the air like smoke, thick and consuming as he blinks, thrown by the heat in my voice. His arm twitches like he wants to reach for me, but doesn’t. Instead, he studies me, voice soft.
“Talk to me.”
“I can’t—”
“Try me.”
My laugh is bitter and too bright. “You don’t understand what this would cost me.”
“Then fucking explain it to me!”
