Romane von Karly

Chapter 5LinaI didn't know how I ended up in my own bed.One moment I was in the bar, the world spinning softly at the edges, and the next I was here, in my room, in the quiet, with the familiar weight of my own mattress beneath me. My eyes were too heavy to open properly. Everything felt warm and slow, like being wrapped in something thick and comfortable that I didn't want to leave.But then I smelled it.His cologne.That was what pulled me back.Warm and clean and distinctly him, the kind of scent that didn't just sit in the air but settled into it, like it belonged there. My nose found it before my eyes did. And something in my chest, something that had been tightly wound all evening, loosened just slightly.I opened my eyes.Just barely. Just enough.And there he was.Mick was sitting at the edge of my bed, close enough that I could see every detail of his face in the soft low light of my room. He was holding my hand. Both of his hands wrapped around mine, gentle and warm, and

Chapter 4MickLina's ApartmentHer apartment was exactly the kind of place I would have guessed she lived in.Clean. Quiet. Thoughtfully arranged, like every small thing in it had been placed with care. And it smelled like her, something soft and faintly sweet that I couldn't name but recognized immediately, the way you recognize a song you haven't heard in years.I stood in the middle of her living room, still holding her in my arms. She had gone quiet against my chest, her arms looped loosely around my neck, her head heavy on my shoulder. Her breathing had slowed into something deep and even. Almost asleep, but not quite.I should have set her down and left.Instead, my eyes moved slowly around the room.The living room was simple,no clutter, no excess,but it had warmth to it. The kind of warmth that comes from a space that actually belongs to someone, not just somewhere they sleep. A small lamp cast soft light across the walls. A few plants sat near the window. And on one wall, ha

Chapter 3MickI came back from Australia not long ago.The conversation with my father was not something I had prepared for.When he called and told me to come home, I thought it would be something ordinary. A family matter, maybe. Something about the company. The kind of thing that could be handled in a single afternoon and forgotten by evening.But the moment we sat down across from each other, I knew I had been wrong.Very wrong.Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn't that. His words landed somewhere deep in my chest and stayed there, heavy and stubborn, refusing to settle. By the time I left his house, my head was full of noise,a storm of thoughts circling each other without ever arriving at anything calm or clear.I couldn't go straight home after that.I needed somewhere familiar. Somewhere that didn't ask anything from me. Somewhere I could sit down, hold a glass, and let the world blur at the edges for a little while.The bar.Before I left for Australia, this was the place

Chapter 2LinaMick's voice finally broke the silence between us.His curious look slowly changed into something else. The teasing light that usually danced in his eyes was gone. Now they looked worried. Careful. The playful tone he had used earlier had disappeared completely, replaced by something quieter. Something that felt almost like concern."It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," he said softly.For a moment, I didn't answer.The noise of the bar rushed back to me all at once. The loud music thumping through the floor. The flashing lights. The laughter and shouting of strangers who had no idea I was slowly falling apart in my seat. I hadn't even noticed when I drifted away into my own thoughts. One second I was here, and the next I was somewhere far away,somewhere quiet and painful — and Mick had been the one to pull me back.I turned to look at him.And there it was.That smile.The kind of smile that made my legs feel like they had forgotten how to work. The kind that

Chapter 1Lina"Are you sure you'll be okay?""Sure."My best friend Millicent's voice came through the phone, soft and full of concern. I could picture her exactly brows pinched together, lips pressed into that thin worried line she always made when she thought I was lying to her face.She was good at reading me. She always had been."You don't sound okay," she said."I'm fine, Millie."A pause. The kind that meant she wasn't convinced but was choosing to let it go.She sounded guilty. I hated that. She had been looking forward to tonight all week,I could tell by the way she kept mentioning the restaurant, asking if the dress she bought looked right, sending me photos of her earrings side by side asking which one.I had called her too late. And she already had plans. Dinner with her boyfriend. That wasn't something you cancelled because your friend was having a bad day and didn't want to say so."Okay," she said softly. "Take care of yourself. I'll call later to check on you.""Don't