Alex realized his mistake the second the name left his mouth.
He had half-listened, phone pressed between shoulder and ear, mind still stuck in the low thrum of bass and lights from the club. The smell of alcohol lingered on his jacket. Mia's laugh still echoed somewhere behind his ribs.
"Mia," he had said, distracted, absent.
The silence on the other end of the line landed heavy.
Not the dramatic kind. Not the sharp intake of breath or the instant snap he had braced himself for.she was just quiet,a stretch of it. Long enough to make his grip tighten on the steering wheel.
"Alex?" Nicole said again.
He swallowed. "Yeah. Sorry. That was… that was a mistake."
Another pause. Softer this time, but still there.
"Mistake how?" she asked.
He exhaled slowly, already arranging the lie as he spoke. "I was on the phone with Margaret earlier. About dinner. I asked her to let Mia know what I wanted. Her name was just… there. Still in my head."
