Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
C aleb stirred, blinking into the dim room, his body heavy with the haze of sleep. For a moment, he stayed still, the remnants of the night before wrapping around him like a memory he didn’t want to let go. He reached across the bed, his fingers brushing the cool, empty sheets where she should have been.
His eyes opened, and he turned his head, half-expecting to see her lying there, her hair a tousled mess against the pillow, her face soft with sleep.
But the bed was empty.
The quiet in the room felt sharper now, the absence of her presence more deafening than the early-morning city noise creeping through the window. He sat up, panic tightening his breathing as his gaze swept the room. Her shoes weren’t by the chair. Her purse wasn’t on the desk. Her clothes were not lying on the floor.
She was gone.
Caleb scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to shake off the heaviness settling over him. Maybe she was just in the bathroom. Or getting coffee. But even as the thoughts surfaced, he knew better.
Had he dreamed it? Was last night even real?
Caleb half reclined on the bed as the previous night’s events swirled in his mind. The way Taylor had looked at him, the warmth of her touch, the electricity in every kiss—it had felt so vivid, so tangible.
And yet, she was gone.
Why would she leave without saying good-bye?
His gaze darted to the door as if she might walk back in at any moment, offering some logical explanation for her absence. Maybe she’d just returned to her room, needing space or time to think. That sounded like her—practical, measured, always retreating when things got too complicated.
But something about the empty bed and the stillness of the room made his heart ache. It didn’t feel like she was coming back.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, the cool floor grounding him as he stared at the spot where her clothes had been piled the night before. Nothing remained. No sign that she’d ever been there.
Something sharp twisted in his gut, an ache he hadn’t anticipated. He hadn’t expected her to stay forever, but waking up alone, with no explanation, no good-bye hit harder than he cared to admit.
The night before replayed in his mind, every touch, every kiss still vivid. He could still feel the warmth of her skin, hear her laugh, see how her eyes softened when she let her guard down for just a moment.
But now the space she’d filled felt achingly empty.
Caleb stood and pulled on a pair of jeans, his movements sluggish as he tried to make sense of what had happened. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand, scrolling through his recent calls and texts. Nothing from Taylor.
A quiet curse escaped him as he paced the room, his frustration mounting. He didn’t even have her number. How had he let himself get so lost in the moment that he hadn’t thought to ask for a way to reach her?
Grabbing the phone in the hotel room, it shook slightly in his hand as he hit the button for the front desk.
“Good morning, Mr. Burnett. How can I help you?”
“Taylor Montgomery,” he said, his voice rough. “The guest in room—” He stopped, realizing he didn’t know her room number.
There was a pause on the other end, the sound of typing. Caleb held his breath.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the receptionist said finally. “Ms. Montgomery checked out early this morning.”
Checked out.
The words slammed into him like a fist, knocking the air from his lungs.
Had last night meant nothing to her? For her to slip away without a word. The thought cut deeper than he expected, but wasn’t this precisely what he’d done to her all those years ago when he’d walked away in college? The bitter irony twisted deep inside him, heavy and unrelenting.
“Thanks,” he muttered, ending the call before anything else could be said.
He sank onto the edge of the bed. She was gone. Just like that.
The image of her slipping out in the middle of the night, quiet and determined, played in his mind. Had she been in such a hurry to leave? Was she running from him?
Caleb leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his hands gripping his hair. The sharp ache spread, the emotions he tried so hard to bury rising to the surface.
He hadn’t expected her to stay. He’d told himself not to expect anything at all. But a part of him, the part he didn’t like to acknowledge, had hoped for something—something more than silence and an empty room.
The night before had felt like stepping back in time, like they’d found a piece of what they used to be. But now it was clear that whatever they’d shared was fleeting, something she didn’t want to hold onto.
The memory of her calling it a one-night stand clawed at him, leaving a hollow ache in its wake. It had been exactly what he thought he wanted to hear, the perfect arrangement without strings. And yet, in the stark light of morning, it felt different—emptier, lonelier, and all wrong.
His jaw clenched as he stood. He should be angry, but the anger refused to take hold, replaced instead by the familiar weight of regret.
He thought of how she’d kissed him as if she wanted to forget the world outside that room.
He thought of the way she’d left without a word.
It wasn’t that he was looking for forever. Caleb wasn’t delusional enough to think one night could fix everything between them.
But still, a simple “Good morning” would’ve been nice.
Maybe even a casual “I enjoyed last night, how about you?” Something to acknowledge that it had meant something —that it wasn’t just a fleeting moment lost to the night.
Instead, all he had was an empty room, a cold bed, and a gnawing sense of uncertainty he couldn’t quite shake.
The frustration bubbled to the surface, and he grabbed the edge of the desk, his knuckles white as he stared at the floor. What had he expected? That one night could undo years of distance, of mistakes and missed chances?
But he hadn’t expected it to hurt like this.
Caleb plopped down, his head in his hands as his thoughts raced. He wanted to tell himself it didn’t matter, that she didn’t matter—not anymore. But the emptiness in his heart told a different story.
She mattered.
She always had.
And now she was gone, slipping away like smoke between his fingers. Slipping away when he wanted her to stay for them to talk about what happened between them.
The weight of it settled over him as he stared out the window, the city alive with movement and noise. Somewhere out there, Taylor was moving on, putting as much distance between them as possible.
And for the first time in years, Caleb wondered if maybe, just maybe, he’d let go of the one thing that truly mattered.