(Reese)
The door closed behind me and the apartment went still.
I stood there for a moment with my bag still in my hand, not moving right away. The quiet felt different tonight, not because anything in the room had changed, but because I had brought something back with me that did not belong here. I set the bag down near the table and stayed where I was for another second before I finally took a breath and walked further inside.
The dinner had gone exactly the way it needed to go.
Elena had asked her questions. Ethan had answered what mattered. Marcus had relaxed by the end of it, which was the whole point. I should have been able to come home, take off the ring, and file the evening away as one more necessary thing done for someone I cared about.
Instead, all I could think about was
