Dominic’s phone buzzed where it sat on his passenger seat as he drove toward his office.

Again.

And again.

He didn’t even need to look.

It was him.

By the third buzz, he gave in and tapped it open at a red light.

> 🍫 Baby Sasha the Sweetest🍼: r u busy? 🍼💖

🍫 Baby Sasha the Sweetest🍼: im boredddddd 😭😭 brie is out with her boyfriend n harper locked herself in to work 🙄

🍫 Baby Sasha the Sweetest🍼: hellooooo bear?? ur ignoring me 🍼🥺

Dominic grunted low in his throat.

> I’m driving.

It didn’t stop him.

Seconds later his phone rang.

He groaned and hit speaker, keeping his eyes on the road.

“What,” he barked.

Sasha’s bright, sing-songy voice rang out immediately.

“Hiiiiii!”

Dominic clenched his jaw.

“You couldn’t just text?”

“I did!” Sasha chirped back, completely unbothered by his tone. “But you’re slow. And I’m boreeeeed. Are you working? Are you mad at me? You’re always mad at me. Are you eating? Do you eat enough? You should drink water. I drank chocolate milk. It counts as water, right?!”

Dominic cut in with a sharp, dry: “Why are you calling me?”

Sasha giggled like it was the silliest question he’d ever heard.

“…Because you answer when I do.”

Dominic fell silent, his fingers tightening slightly on the steering wheel.

It was stupid.

Ridiculous.

And yet somehow — that answer… lodged somewhere deep in his chest.

By the time Sasha started rambling about what show Brie and Harper had left playing on the TV when they left him alone in the house, Dominic realized something strange:

By the time Sasha started rambling about what show Brie and Harper had left playing on the TV when they left him alone in the house — something about a reality dating show with people “who kiss so grossly on camera but still so funny, Bear, you’d love it” — Dominic realized something strange.

He… wasn’t heading to the office anymore.

In fact —

He was at Sasha’s house.

His car sat idling just outside the pastel blue-and-pink gate, his dark windows reflecting the warm afternoon sun back at him.

He blinked at it like it had appeared out of thin air.

Because he didn’t remember turning here.

He didn’t remember taking the long street past the park, didn’t remember glancing at his calendar or cancelling his 2:00 meeting.

But here he was anyway.

At Sasha’s gate.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, staring at the bungalow ahead of him like it was mocking him with how sweet it looked.

How ridiculous this all was.

That boy… that boy with his shiny lips and his baby giggles and his nonsensical little messages had somehow wormed his way so deep into Dominic’s head that his own damn body had betrayed him.

He clenched his jaw, the faintest muscle in his temple ticking.

“…Crazy, right?” he muttered under his breath — though whether it was to himself or to Sasha on the line, he couldn’t tell.

He finally noticed Sasha’s chatter on the other end of the call had quieted, replaced with soft little breaths of curiosity.

“…Bear?” Sasha’s voice was sweet. Hesitant. “You’re quiet. Did I… talk too much again? Did I annoy you?”

Dominic’s brow furrowed faintly.

For some reason, the thought of Sasha thinking he was annoyed by that chatter — when in truth it had carried him all the way here — made his chest ache in a way he didn’t care to name.

So he grunted low into the speaker and cut the engine, the quiet roar of his car fading into silence.

“I’m here,” he said simply.

A beat of silence.

Then Sasha’s bright, giddy little laugh bubbled through the line.

“Here?” he repeated, confused but happy.

Dominic glanced back at the gate once more before pressing the phone closer to his ear.

“Outside.”

Another laugh. Softer this time, like Sasha was smiling to himself on the other end.

“You’re crazy,” Sasha teased quietly.

Dominic stared at the bright pink trim on the little bungalow and huffed out a short, humorless sound that wasn’t quite a laugh.

“…Tell me about it,” he muttered.

And then he ended the call.