Chapter 22. Why Not Me?

Travis stared at the glowing screen of his phone, the message from Camila hanging in the digital space between them like an unfinished thought. “Always here to chat,” she had responded to his last text, and yet her words felt oddly dismissive, lacking the usual spark that he’d come to expect from their exchanges. He set the phone down with a quiet click against the dark wood of his desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he tried to dissect the vague dissatisfaction curling in his chest.

“Always here?” he muttered, echoing her words aloud. It wasn’t like Camila to be so noncommittal. She was assertive and decisive, qualities that had always drawn him in—and kept him on his toes. Something didn’t sit right, but the reason eluded him, leaving him suspended in a limbo of unease and irritation.

He leaned back in his leather chair, the cushions hissing softly under his weight, and let his gaze dr