Clad.
Silence follows on the other side of the phone. But I don't even care.
And i don't wait for her to scramble for another excuse or beg for another chance.
I end the call with a simple, merciless press of my thumb.
The quiet that follows is almost deafening, but it's a relief.
A cold, clean cut between what she wants and what I will never give.
I'm not here to save her.
I'm not here to love her.
My heart—and every piece of me worth anything—is already owned by someone else.
So I can't afford to be tied down.
Not to Erin. Not to anyone who isn't Harley.
Because Harley—no matter how furious she is with me, no matter how distant she's been—is the only woman who ever mattered.
The only woman who ever will.
I continue up the winding path, my bike eating up the rough terrain beneath me, but barely a minute passes before my phone vibrates again.
I curse under my breath, the fragile thread of patience I have left snapping.
