Luke’s POV

“Don’t hang up,” she said softly. “Just… stay.”

I stared at my phone like it had just asked me a dangerous question.

Sarah and I have been best friends for years. Long enough that I knew just what her silence meant. And she knew the exact way that I always took my coffee.

Long enough that her voice could cut through the worst days of my life and still sound like home. And yet, tonight, everything just felt… tilted. Off balance. Electric.

“Hey,” I said, keeping my voice light, almost playful. “You called me at midnight. That’s already suspicious.”

She let out a small laugh. It broke halfway...