The message is still sitting in my mind.
Sophie.
“Dom…” I start.
He looks up at me. I open my mouth, ready to ask the question forming in my chest but before the words can leave my lips, he glances at the watch on the nightstand.
“Shit.” He sits up suddenly, running a hand through his hair. “I have to be at work in an hour.”
The moment breaks. I sit up too, pulling the blanket around me. “We should probably head out then,” I say.
He chuckles as he swings his legs off the bed, grabbing his pants from the floor. “After last night?” he says with a grin. “You’re the one rushing us?” Heat creeps into my cheeks despite myself. He pulls on his pants, glancing back at me. “Let’s grab coffee on the way.”
The drive is quiet but comfortable, the way mornings with Dominic usually are. We stop at a small café near the highway. The smell of coffee fills the car as he pulls back onto the road, one hand resting casually on the steering wheel. Eventually he pulls into the driveway of our house. I’m about to say something, to finally ask the question that’s been sitting on the tip of my tongue since the phone buzzed.
But Dominic speaks first. “Oh, babe,” he says, turning off the engine. I look over at him. “Some of the people from work are planning dinner tonight. They’re bringing their significant others.” He glances at me with an easy smile. “I’d say wear that red dress,” he adds casually. “But… I kind of destroyed it.”
I huff out a small laugh and suddenly it clicks.
Sophie.
A coworker.
Meet you there.
Dinner tonight.
Of course.
I push the lingering thought aside.
“Sure,” I say with a small smile. “I’d love to.” Dominic steps out of the car and walks around to my side, opening the door for me like he always does. I take his hand as I step out. Together, we walk toward the house. He unlocks the front door and lets me go in first, his hand brushing lightly against my back as we cross the threshold.
Everything feels normal, almost too normal. Dinner with coworkers, coffee on the way. A regular morning. I tell myself that’s all it is, just another day. But as I step inside, one thought lingers quietly in the back of my mind. Trust isn’t something that breaks loudly.
Sometimes it cracks so softly… you don’t hear it until it’s already too late.
The house is quiet when we step inside. Dominic barely pauses in the hallway, already halfway toward the bedroom. “I’m going to be late,” he mutters, glancing at his watch again. I lean against the kitchen counter, watching him move quickly through the room. He disappears into the bedroom for a moment, then comes back out dressed for work, running a hand through his hair as he grabs his keys from the table. “Sorry,” he says, walking toward me. Before I can respond, he pulls me gently toward him and kisses me. It’s quick and warm. “Last night was worth being late for,” he murmurs with a crooked smile. Then he presses another kiss to my forehead. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I say.
He’s already halfway to the door. “Dinner tonight,” he calls over his shoulder. “Don’t forget.”
The front door opens and then closes. And just like that, the house goes silent again. My phone feels heavy in my hand. I scroll to Clara’s name and press call. She answers on the second ring.
“Oh my God,” she says immediately. “Tell me you and Lucien finally gave in to the tension and had some dramatic, life-changing moment. Preferably in the rain. Or against a wall. I’m not picky.”
I close my eyes. “Actually,” I say slowly, “the opposite.”
There’s a pause.
“…What?”
“Yeah.”
Another pause.
“Wait,” she says. “So you’re not at your office with Lucien right now?”
