"I know."
"Luke—"
"Isn't here."
His grip tightens. I feel the tremor run through him. The last thread of control starting to fray.
My phone rings.
The sound cuts through the moment like a knife. We both freeze.
Ethan steps back, and lets go of my hair. He puts distance between us with the kind of precision that makes my chest ache.
I pull out my phone with shaking hands. Look at the screen.
Luke.
Of course it's Luke.
I stare at his name. Let it ring once. Twice. Three times.
"Answer it," Ethan says quietly.
"Ethan—"
"Answer it, Callie."
I swipe to accept. "Hey."
"Hey. You home yet?" Luke sounds relaxed. Normal. No idea what he just interrupted.
"Almost. Just stopped for gas."
The lie comes easily. Too easily.
"Alright. Just checking. I'm headed to bed. Long day."
"Yeah. Me too."
"Sleep well, sis."
"You too."
I hang up. Look at Ethan. He's watching me with an expression I can't quite read.
"You lied to him," he says.
"I didn't want to explain."
"Explain what? That you're at my cabin? That we were about to—" He stops. Shakes his head. "This is exactly why we can't do this."
"Because we'd have to lie?"
"Because we'd have to lie," he confirms. "And I'm not going to lie to Luke. Not about this. Not about you."
The anger rises fast and hot. "So what? You're just going to leave? Run to Denver and pretend this doesn't exist?"
"That's the plan."
