Lukas goes very still.
“I tracked her down at the hospital the next day,” I continue, every word scraping. “Told myself I just needed to know she was okay and there was no real damage done. That was it. That’s how I found Rose.”
Silence presses in around us, thick and dangerous.
“She doesn’t know,” I say. “She thinks we met by chance.”
Lukas swears under his breath, rubbing a hand over his face. “Callum…”
“I know,” I snap, then immediately hate myself for it. “I know.”
He looks at me then, like he’s seeing the cracks I’ve been trying to plaster over. “You have to tell her.”
My laugh is short and ugly. “You think I don’t know that? I just… every time I try, I see her face. The way she looks at me as though I’m safe and I’m the good guy.”
“And you won’t be if she finds out from someone else,” he says bluntly. “Because she will. Secrets don’t stay buried.”
I swallow hard. “Talia knows. She knows I tracked Rose down at the hospital.”
That gets his full attention. “Of course she does.”
“She’s been circling,” I say. “Dropping hints. Making Rose wonder if I’m hiding something.”
Lukas leans closer, voice fierce. “Then you’re out of time. If Rose hears this from Talia, it won’t matter how good you’ve been since. It’ll destroy her. And it’ll destroy you.”
I nod because he’s right and I hate him for it.
Practice blurs after that. Muscle memory carries me through drills, through contact, through the sharp relief of impact. It’s the only thing that settles my head, even a little. By the time I leave the rink, dusk has settled in, the sky bruised purple and grey.
I drive home slower than usual, knuckles white on the wheel. Every red light feels like an accusation.
The flat is dark when I walk in, quiet in a way that makes my chest ache. Rose’s scarf is draped over the back of the chair where she left it last time. I pick it up without thinking, press it to my face, breathe her in. Clean soap and something warm and indefinable that feels like home.
A knock sounds at the door and I freeze.
Another knock, sharper this time.
I already know who it is.
When I open the door, Talia stands there like a ghost I summoned myself. Perfect hair, perfect coat, eyes bright with something sharp and satisfied.
“Miss me?” she says.
“Go home,” I reply flatly.
She laughs, stepping inside anyway, heels clicking against the floor. “Relax. I won’t stay long.”
I close the door behind her, heart pounding. “What do you want?”
She looks around, taking in the flat, the traces of Rose everywhere. Her lip curls. “You moved on quickly.”
“You lost the right to comment on my life,” I say.
She shrugs. “Did I? Because I know things, Callum. Important things.”
My jaw tightens. “If you’re here to threaten me?—”
“I’m here to warn you,” she cuts in. “Tell her. Or I will.”
