“I know where it is. How did you get there?”

“Oh, I just sort of walked...and ended up here.”

“That’s one Hell of a distance to walk, Trin.”

Watching a couple jog by in matching spandex, I wondered how far I was from his apartment. “Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m sort of just sitting here on a bench.” I crossed my ankles. “So, did you take care of everything you needed to?”

“Yeah.” Zayne fell silent, and for a second I thought the call had disconnected. “Do you want me to come get you?”

A tiny part of me was on the verge of saying no, but I was going to have to deal with Zayne’s questions face-to-face sooner or later. “Can you? Because that would be great.”

“I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”

“Perfect,” I said with so much chirpiness, the one word could’ve turned into a cheer. “Do you want me to meet you at the entrance?”

“I’ll find you in the park.” There was a beat of silence. “Trin, I...”

A child toddled past me, chasing the leash of a dog that was three times its size. “Yes?”

He didn’t answer immediately. “Nothing. I’ll be there in thirty.”

Zayne disconnected, and I was left staring at my phone, wondering what he’d wanted to say. There was no way he could know what I’d done today. Distance definitely seemed to mute the bond, so even if he’d felt my anger, it couldn’t have been enough to worry him, because he hadn’t checked in on me.

I opened my missed calls. All of them were Jada’s except one from Matthew. He’d called this morning, before I’d woken up on the couch with Zayne...

I saw the way he looked at you yesterday.

“Stop it,” I whispered. My thumb hovered over Jada’s name. I missed her. I needed to talk to her. I owed her a return call and then some. I started to tap her name, but my stomach dropped so far I thought I might dry heave. I was being ridiculous. I needed to talk to her, but I wasn’t ready.

Tapping the text app, I typed a quick message and hit Send before I could chicken out. I wasn’t even sure what I’d said, other than I was sorry that I’d been out of contact and I’d call her soon. I turned the phone to silent like the coward I was before slipping it back into my pocket.