Page 140 of California Wild

Hayley looked down at her lap, her chest tightening like a vise. She couldn’t keep doing this—talking into the void. Asking for honesty and getting these careful, measured silences in return.

“I just…” She trailed off, voice raw. “I don’t want to feel like I’m dragging you into something you’re not ready for.”

A long beat.

Then—finally—he spoke.

“You’re not.”

She looked up at him.

“You’re not dragging me,” he said, voice firmer now, but still soft. “I’m here because I want to be.”

“Then say something real, Jesse,” she whispered. “Please.”

He exhaled. Looked away.

The silence returned. Not angry. Just… unfinished.

Hayley leaned her head back against the pillows, tears prickling at the backs of her eyes. She didn’t cry. Not now. Not in front of him.

She just held the tea close to her chest, let the steam rise against her face, and wondered how it could be possible to have someone beside you and still feel so alone.

* * * * *

A few hours later, Hayley lay stretched out on the couch, one leg draped over the back cushion, her body half-tangled in the soft throw she’d pulled off the armrest. She was wearing one of Jesse’s old Navy PT shirts, soft from a hundred washes, and the fabric draped loose over the small swell of her belly.

Outside, she could hear him.

The occasional clink of tools. The soft grunt when something didn’t cooperate. A brief muttered curse, followed by the purr and cough of his motorcycle engine turning over before cutting again.

He was out there in the driveway, shirtless under the sun, working on the bike like it was the most important thing in the world.

This is what Jesse did when he needed space.

She let her eyes drift shut, the rhythmic clinking strangely soothing.

Until her phone buzzed against her stomach.

Hayley groaned, grabbed it, squinting at the screen.

Zoe.

She thumbed it open and pressed it to her ear. “Hey.”

“Babe,” Zoe said, her voice already buzzing with adrenaline. “You ready?”

Hayley blinked. “Ready for what?”

“Black Coast. It’s Sunday.”

A beat of silence.

Hayley sat bolt upright. “Shit. It’s tonight?”

Zoe laughed. “Girl. Where the hell have you been?”

“I don’t even know what day it is to be honest.”

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