“I’ll be there,” he says. “I made you a promise.”
You made me fall in love with you.
I step into the hall and pull the door shut behind me.
Carter
Teagan didn’t come back last night. Three different times, I headed toward Saanvi’s suite and made myself turn around. We were both angry. Hurt.
I still don’t know what to believe about her and Rich, but it looked bad. She was in his room, inches from him, and he was half-naked with his pants unbuttoned. If I’d found them like that in our room, I’d have assumed Rich had pushed his way in, would’ve tackled him to protect her. But that wasn’t the case. She went to him. They planned that meeting and waited until everyone else was gone to have it.
There’s more I need to know, but she’ll never share it with me. I need to be okay with that. I need to be okay with letting her go. Even if it kills me.
I go down to breakfast, hoping I’ll spot her there. I don’t. I spend the whole meal checking my phone for a text from her every other minute, starting texts to her just as often and not letting myself send them.
After breakfast, I go back to the room and pack my things. Part of letting her go means giving her space. So after I’ve fulfilled my promise to her at the wedding and reception, I’ll head home.
I take a long shower and shave. I’m still in a towel when my phone buzzes, and I snag it to see a text from Isaiah.
Isaiah: I can’t move in with you.
I take a breath and frown at my phone. He can’t, or he doesn’t want to?
Me: Whatever you want. The offer stands if you change your mind.
Isaiah: I want to, but I can’t.
Me: Why not?
Isaiah: Because it’s my fault.
Me: You made a mistake, but you won’t do it again.
Isaiah: Not the accident. Dad. It’s my fault he’s dead.
I brace myself on the bathroom vanity and stare at Isaiah’s text. One emotion after another slams into me, too fast to identify. This poor kid. I don’t know why he could possibly think that, but I understand the feeling all too well.
It’s still early. I could go to Marta’s and still be at the church in time for the wedding.
Me: I’m coming over. I’ll be there in thirty.
Someone knocks on the door, and relief floods me. Teagan. It’s like she knew I needed her right now.
“Did you forget your key?” I call, tightening the towel around my waist.
If she answers, I don’t hear it over the sound of the maid vacuuming in the hall. I unlock the door. I’m so relieved to have her close that I’m actually smiling—even if this is a mess, even if I don’t know how we’re going to fix this, I just want to see her. I want to tell her what Isaiah said, want to explain that no matter what happens between us, she’ll always be precious to me.
When I yank the door open, my smile falls away. It’s Sabrina when I expected Teagan. Theme of the fucking weekend.
“Sabrina. What do you need?” Dread curdles in my stomach as I scan the hall for Teagan. She didn’t come. She won’t. After our fight, she probably doesn’t want to see my face.
Maybe I should have gone home last night.
Sabrina steps into the room and looks me over with a small, sad smile. “I was hoping we could talk again.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. “I can’t right now. I need to run out for a bit.”
“Please.” The word rips out of her like a sob. “Please, Carter?”
I told Isaiah thirty minutes. I can talk to Sabrina for a few before I head that way. “Let me get dressed, and then we can go down and get coffee together or something.” I turn to the bathroom.
“Wait.”
I stop and face her. “What?”
“I’m going to lose my nerve, so let me say this, okay?”
Nodding slowly, I fold my arms. “Okay.”
She draws in a ragged breath. “You’re a good guy, Carter. You aren’t a cheater.” I wait, unsure how to respond, and she laughs. “Though I guess you kind of are . . .” Turning, she starts to pace the room. “I’ve thought about that night we had together so many times. I felt something special, and I think you felt it too. If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have taken me home with you.”
“Sabrina . . .”
She stops pacing in front of the bed and stares at the rumpled sheets. What does she see there? Are the rumpled sheets proof enough of what’s between Teagan and me, or does she know that Teagan stayed with her sister last night?
When she turns back to me, there are tears in her eyes. “I like you a lot, Carter, and you deserve better than Teagan.”