Chapter 23
The first time Lucas accidentally called Sabrina when he couldn't sleep happened at 2:13 in the morning.
She answered mostly because she thought someone had died.
"Sabrina?"
Her heartbeat slowed slightly against her pillow at the sound of his voice.
Still rough with exhaustion.
Still warm.
"No, actually," she muttered sleepily. "I'm Beyoncé."
A quiet laugh sounded through the phone.
Relief hit her embarrassingly fast.
"You're awake," Lucas said.
"You called me."
"Right."
Silence followed briefly.
Then Sabrina pushed herself up slightly against her headboard, squinting at the dark room around her.
"You okay?"
Another pause.
Too long.
And suddenly she understood.
"You couldn't sleep again."
Lucas exhaled softly through the phone.
"How do you always know that?"
Because she knew him now.
The realization felt both comforting and terrifying.
"What happened?" she asked quietly.
"Nothing."
"That's never convincing."
She heard movement on the other end of the line before Lucas spoke again.
"I had dinner with my father tonight."
Ah.
There it was.
Sabrina leaned back against the pillows slowly while rain tapped softly against her windows.
"How bad?"
Lucas laughed once under his breath without humor.
"He spent forty minutes explaining why my career choices peaked three years ago."
Her chest tightened immediately.
"What?"
"It's fine."
"It's not."
Another silence.
Then Lucas admitted quietly:
"I think I'm just tired of feeling like nothing I do is enough for him."
The vulnerability in his voice physically hurt to hear.
Sabrina closed her eyes briefly.
For all the attention Lucas received from the world, she'd never met someone who seemed more emotionally alone.
"You know what I think?" she said softly.
"What?"
"I think people expect you to keep performing even when you're exhausted."
Lucas went quiet.
And somehow she knew he was listening carefully now.
"You don't owe people perfection all the time," she continued quietly. "Not your fans. Not your father. Not anyone."
The line stayed silent for a moment longer.
Then Lucas said something so quietly she almost missed it.
"You make things feel quieter."
Her heart cracked directly down the middle.
Sabrina stared into the darkness of her room while warmth spread painfully through her chest.
"What does that mean?" she whispered.
Another soft exhale through the phone.
"It means my brain stops feeling so loud when I talk to you."
Oh.
Oh no.
That was significantly worse than flirting.
Sabrina pressed her lips together helplessly.
Because nobody had ever warned her that Lucas's quiet honesty would become the thing capable of destroying her emotionally.
"You know," she said carefully, "for someone emotionally avoidant, you say devastating things sometimes."
Lucas laughed softly again.
And God.
She loved that sound now.
Dangerous information.
"I'm serious," she muttered.
"I know."
Another silence settled between them afterward.
Not awkward.
Just close.
Somewhere during the last few weeks, their conversations had stopped feeling like two people pretending.
Now it felt like they existed inside their own private space together.
Like the rest of the world disappeared a little whenever they talked.
Lucas spoke again eventually.
"What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Depends."
"On?"
"How much money you're offering."
"I already fake-date you professionally. Don't get greedy."
Sabrina smiled tiredly against her pillow.
"What's the plan?"
"There's a bookstore outside the city I go to sometimes."
"A secret celebrity bookstore?"
"Relax."
"You saying 'relax' usually means emotional damage follows."
"I wanted to take you somewhere quiet."
The warmth in her chest deepened instantly.
Because Lucas sounded almost hesitant saying it.
Like asking mattered to him now.
"I'd like that," she admitted softly.
Another small silence.
Then:
"You know what I realized tonight?"
"What?"
"You're the first person I wanted to call."
The confession landed so gently Sabrina almost didn't process it at first.
Then her breath caught.
Hard.
Because Lucas sounded surprised by it himself.
Neither spoke afterward.
The weight of the moment settled quietly between them.
Real.
Tender.
Dangerous.
Finally Sabrina whispered:
"You're making this very difficult for me."
Lucas's voice softened immediately.
"Why?"
Because I'm falling for you.
The words sat dangerously close to escaping.
But Sabrina swallowed them back just in time.
Instead she smiled faintly into the darkness and said:
"Because now I can't pretend you're annoying."
Lucas laughed softly again.
And somehow the sound followed Sabrina all the way into sleep.