Page 69 of Spotlight Hearts

I gave him everything last night. I let him have me in a way I’ve never let anyone have me. I was vulnerable. Open. Scared. And he took it all, then threw it back in my face the moment the sun came up.

The anger grows hotter.

He doesn’t get to do this. He doesn’t get to crawl into my heart, make me feel things I’ve never felt for anyone, and then decide it’s too much and walk away as if it was nothing.

I’m not nothing.

And what we have—what we could have—isn’t nothing.

I drag a hand through my hair, pacing the room now, the hurt and anger twisting together until I can barely tell them apart.

Part of me wants to go after him. Drag him back here and make him look me in the eyes and say it again. Make him admit that he’s terrified, that he’s running because he feels it too—this terrifying, overwhelming thing between us that’s bigger than the band, bigger than the label, bigger than both of us.

But I don’t.

Because if he’s going to keep choosing fear over me, I’m not going to chase him.

I stop pacing and grab my phone from the nightstand. My thumb hovers over the screen for half a second before I scroll down and hit Harry’s name.

The call rings twice before he answers.

“Luca?” Harry sounds groggy. “It’s barely⁠—”

“I need a plane.”

There’s a pause on the other end.

“A plane,” he repeats slowly. “Right now?”

“Yes. As soon as possible.”

Another pause. I can practically hear him sitting up, his brain switching on.

“What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” I snap. “I just need to get out of here.”

Harry sighs. “You still have three more days of promo scheduled. The villa shoot, the livestream, the fan⁠—”

“I don’t care.”

My voice comes out colder than I mean it to, but I don’t bother softening it.

“I’m done, Harry. Get me a plane.”

“Luca,” he says carefully, “the whole point of this trip was to push the narrative. The fans are eating it up. The label⁠—”

“The label can shove the narrative up its ass.”

Silence drops heavy over the line.

I press a hand against the back of my neck, pacing again, the anger still simmering under my skin.

“I’m not staying here for another three days pretending everything’s fine,” I continue. “So either you get me a plane, or I’ll try to swim home.”

Harry exhales. “Did you and Kai fight?”

My jaw tightens.