Page 64 of California Wild

“Stay,” he said. “Just stay.”

She didn’t answer right away.

But she didn’t pull away.

She didn’t move.

And for a breath, for one fragile moment, he let himself believe she would.

But reality wasn’t far behind.

His fingers brushed the back of her neck. “I have to go in the morning.”

Hayley lifted her head, just enough to meet his eyes. “Go?”

“Deployment.”

The word sat heavy between them.

He felt her still. Then exhale, soft and slow, like it physically hurt.

“For how long?”

Jesse shook his head. “They’re not saying yet.”

Her gaze shifted to the ceiling. She rolled onto her back, the absence of her touch sending a cold ache down his spine.

“Tomorrow,” she said.

He nodded.

Then she added, quietly, “Me too.”

He already knew.

He’d looked up the damn tour schedule the second she texted him that night. The second he knew she was coming.

Still, hearing it cracked something open.

“When?”

“Noon flight. San Diego to Auckland.” She swallowed. “First show’s in five days.”

Across the world.

He closed his eyes. Let the silence crawl up his throat.

Fuck.

“I gotta tell you something.”

She turned to face him, eyes cautious, still unreadable. “What?”

He hesitated.

But it was there—right in front of him.

And he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

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