CALEB's POV:
One week after the hospital mess. One week after Rebecca. Everything still feels too close to the edge.
I’m sitting across from Lena at her kitchen table. Coffee’s going cold between us. Evan’s playing in his room, laughing at something only he understands. My hands feel sweaty. I wipe them on my jeans before I speak.
“I want to take you on a real date,” I say, straight and quiet. “Dinner. Saturday night. Just you and me. Eleanor can watch Evan.”
She looks up fast, eyes guarded like she’s bracing for a hit. “A date?”
“Yeah. One date.” I keep my voice steady even though my chest is tight. “If it’s terrible, we go right back to co-parenting, no hard feelings. But if it’s good…” I let it sit there. “We stop pretending this isn’t something more.”
Lena’s fingers curl tighter
