Vee turned her head slightly toward her bedside table, where her phone lay just within reach. She reached for it and typed.
I miss you.
She hit send. It delivered immediately. The small confirmation on her screen felt louder than it should have, especially when it appeared beneath a string of other messages—messages Luca hadn't responded to. Each one sat there like a reminder of the distance he had placed between them.
She let out a soft, frustrated sigh and dropped the phone onto the bed beside her before sinking back into the mattress. "Yeah…" she muttered to herself, staring up at the ceiling again. "You've really done it this time. Okay… sleep," she whispered under her breath. "Just sleep."
Then she tried something simpler. Counting.
"One… two… three…" She focused on the rhythm, on the numbers, on anything that wasn't Luca. "…four… five…"
