Claire had been watching them from across the room for a long time. They stood near the terrace doors, talking in low voices, completely absorbed in their own conversation. Seraphina leaned close to adjust his collar, her fingers lingering on the fabric of his jacket, and Ethan just stood there, letting her do it. He smiled at something she said. They moved together like they had been doing this for years. Claire realized they were not looking for her anymore. They had stopped scanning the room to see if she was still there. She decided it was enough for one evening. She turned away from them and walked toward the exit. She stepped out onto the pavement and unlocked her car door. She sat in the driver seat for a moment, resting her hands on the steering wheel before she started the engine. She pulled out of the driveway and merged into the evening traffic. The drive home took an hour, mostly because a water main had broken on the interstate and every lane was backed up to the next ex

Maybe it was too late.The thought didn’t arrive suddenly. It had been building for a while, sitting quietly at the edge of everything else she’d been trying not to think about. Now that she was alone, with nothing left to distract her, it settled in fully.Maybe Ethan had already moved on.Her steps slowed without her meaning them to. She kept walking anyway, her eyes fixed ahead, though she wasn’t really seeing anything in front of her.It made sense, didn’t it?People moved on all the time. Faster than they admitted. Faster than they should. She had seen it happen over and over again, watched people replace each other like it meant nothing. She had even been part of that cycle once, even if she never called it what it was.Still, this felt different.Because it was Ethan.Her jaw tightened slightly.Out of everyone, he didn’t seem like the kind of person who would just move on like that. He held onto things. Thought things through. He didn’t just switch directions because it was ea

Claire looked at him a second longer than she meant to.Up close, there was something steady about him. Not loud, not performing — just present in a way that felt unusual after everything else tonight, like he had nowhere better to be and genuinely didn't mind."Are you alright?" he asked again, quieter this time.Claire let out a small breath through her nose, something between a laugh and nothing at all."Do I look like it?"He didn't answer right away. Watched her for a moment like he was actually considering it."You look like someone who's trying not to think too much," he said eventually.Her brow lifted. "That obvious?""A little."Claire huffed softly and looked back at the counter. "Great."He stayed where he was. Close enough to be part of the moment without crowding it."What happened?" he asked.The question just sat there. Claire stared at the bottle in her hand, her fingers tracing the neck of it. She thought about brushing him off — saying it was nothing, saying she was

Claire sat across from him, both hands wrapped around the coffee cup he'd given her earlier. The warmth had faded, but she kept holding it anyway.The table between them was simple. Nothing fancy. Just breakfast—eggs, toast, something light.It felt strange, sitting there like she had walked into someone else's morning.He moved easily in the space, setting a plate in front of her without making a big deal out of it."Eat," he said. "You'll feel better."Claire glanced down at the plate, then back at him."You say that like you've done this before."He pulled out the chair across from her and sat."I've dealt with worse."She gave him a flat look. "Good for you."He smiled a little, like he'd expected that.Claire picked up the fork, more because she felt like she should than because she wanted to. She took a small bite, chewed slowly, and let her gaze drift around the kitchen before bringing it back.The pause that followed wasn't uncomfortable.Just waiting.She set the fork down."

Claire stood in front of the mirror with the invitation sitting open on the dresser behind her and the words *plus one* doing more damage than two words had any right to do.She knew what she was wearing. That wasn't the problem. The problem was the space beside her — figurative, literal, both — and the fact that when she ran through her actual options, the list was embarrassingly short. No friends she could call without it feeling like a transaction. No family she could lean on without cracking something open she didn't have time to deal with tonight. Just employees who needed answers and an ex she was trying to prove something to.And then, without fully deciding to, she thought of Adrian.She picked up her phone before the smarter version of herself could weigh in. It was convenient, she told herself. Practical. The invitation said plus one and she had exactly one person she could call without the call itself becoming a whole thing. That was all this was.She found his number and p