I came back two days early from the trip… and my wife insisted she was sleeping in our bed while I stood alone in that empty room.

He walked in without turning on the lights.

Every step sounded too loud.

Every shadow seemed to watch him.

He pulled out his phone and called her from the hallway, staring into the darkness of the bedroom at the end.

Brianna answered on the second ring.

Her voice was low, thick, almost intimate.

Like someone wrapped in warm sheets.

“Hello.”

Austin closed his eyes for a moment.

“Hey, love. Did I wake you?”