Page 201 of California Wild

She curled into it instinctively, burying herself in the sheets, her body sinking into the familiar warmth. His scent wrapped around her, pulling her under.

She had spent so many nights here in the past, tangled up with him, lost in the whirlwind of them.

But this?

This felt different.

This felt like home.

She wasn’t sure when she had drifted off, only that sleep took her before she had time to overthink it.

Sometime in the middle of the night, vibration against the nightstand pulled her from her sleep. The glow of her phone screen sliced through the darkness, illuminating the room in a dim, flickering light.

Hayley blinked, disoriented, her heart hammering against her ribs as she reached for it, the instinct to check overriding everything else.

For a second, she just stared. Unknown Caller.

Her pulse roared in her ears as she swiped to answer. “Hello?”

He had never called before. Not once. Not when he was deployed. Not when he was overseas.

Then—his voice, rough, desperate, real.

“Hayley.”

Her stomach clenched. “Jesse, are you okay?”

He exhaled hard, and something about the way he did it—like he had been holding onto something too tight for too long—made her chest ache.

“I had a window,” he said, voice hoarse. “A chance to call. I took it.”

Her fingers curled tighter around the phone. The space between them felt unbearable.

“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you,” she admitted, voice quiet.

“I only have a minute,” he said. “But I need to talk to you.”

A pause.

Then, raw, broken honesty.

“I love you, Hayley.”

Her breath caught.

“I love you, and I don’t want to spend another second pretending like there’s a world where you and I don’t end up together.”

Her throat tightened. She rolled onto her side, gripping the phone with both hands, eyes squeezed shut.

“Jesse…”

“I don’t know how to do this right,” he admitted, voice cracking at the edges. “But I want to. I want you. I want our kid. I want our family. And I don’t want you to spend one second questioning that back home while I’m gone. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Tears burned behind her eyes.

“I’ve been talking to my command,” he continued, words rushed, urgent. “About stepping back after this deployment. About moving into a role that gives me more stability… so I can be there for us.”

Her lips parted. “What?”

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