This isn’t about inevitability.
It’s about stability.
If my ex files, I need to show something solid.
Something real.
I dry off, pull on sweats, grab my phone.
I type Natalie’s name.
Start a message.
Delete it.
This isn’t a text conversation.
I need to look her in the eye.
Mason and a few of the guys are still in the locker room when I walk out.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“Out.”
“That narrows it down.”
I grab my keys.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” he calls after me again.
I don’t answer.
Because I already know what I’m about to do.
And it doesn’t feel stupid.
It feels necessary.
I don’t drive home.
I drive to Natalie.
Chapter three
Natalie
"You’re not actually considering this."
Robin is halfway through pouring wine when she says it, like we’re picking up mid-argument instead of at the beginning of one.
"Considering what?" Lila asks, already suspicious.
I take the glass from Robin before she can change her mind.
"The fact that Gabriel showed up at my door two nights ago," I say evenly, "and asked me to marry him."
Silence.
