“Sabrina? Are you here?”
“Shit.” Sabrina hissed in a low voice. “It’s my mom.”
In a panic, she stood, grabbing her panties off the floor and pulling them back on. Her movements were frenzied as she hurried over to the mirror above her dresser and ran her fingers through her hair to work out the tangles.
“Sabrina?”
Her mom’s voice was closer now, probably just at the end of the hall. Sabrina turned back to me, and I thought I saw a fleeting sign of guilt in her expression, but it was gone too quickly to be sure.
“Can you stay in here and be quiet?” she asked, already heading to the sitting room of her suite. “I’ll try to get rid of her. I have no idea why she’s here.”
“Yeah,” I said tightly, my erection disappearing as my stomach seemed to sink into the floor.
“Thanks.” She reached out to grab my arm, giving it a quick squeeze.
The next thing I knew, she was gone, closing the door behind her. Her mom came in just seconds later, and I could hear them talking.
“There you are,” her mother said, sounding annoyed. “I was calling for you.”
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
“Well, I need to borrow your rose gold drop earrings. They’d go perfectly with my dress.”
“What’s wrong with your own earrings?”
“The back fell off one of the ones I was wearing and I lost it. Now, make it quick. This wedding is the social event of the season and I don’t want to be late.”
God forbid.
“Hang on, I’ll check my room.”
When Sabrina slipped back into the room, she was careful not to open the door too much, and she snapped it shut behind her. I felt like an iron fist was squeezing my stomach as I watched her.
She was ashamed of me. It was clear in her actions. I didn’t want to care about that, but I did.
She went to her dresser and opened the jewelry box on top. There was a whole lot of shiny in there. I turned my attention to the ring on her finger. I tried not to think about it too often, but there was no escaping the truth of our situation. Bringing me here had only highlighted our differences.
Pulling a pair of earrings out of the box, she scurried back to the door, giving me an apologetic grin as she passed. I just looked away. My attention returned to the bed, remembering the vision I’d had of her alone and thinking of me. But that wasn’t quite right. She’d be sharing a bed with another man soon enough, and I fucking hated that.
I cursed myself for falling for Sabrina. I knew from the start that this was temporary, but I’d let myself develop feelings for her. They were just going to get stronger if we kept going like this. Maybe I should put an end to it now.
All I knew for sure was that I felt...dirty. In the beginning, sneaking around was exciting, but the thrill of it had worn off. I took her with me—to my place, to the bar, anywhere that I could show her off—because I was proud to be with her.
She didn’t feel the same, and I was just now realizing the toll that it was taking on my self-esteem.
I heard Sabrina and her mother leave the sitting room, and a few minutes later the faint sound of the front door opened and closed. I peeked through a gap in the curtains, careful not to move them and saw a black BMW with tinted windows backing down the driveway. They’d reached the street when the door of Sabrina’s bedroom opened once again. I turned and met her eyes.
“Sorry about that.”
“About the interruption or the way you reacted to it?”
“What?” She moved closer, her brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
I ran my hand over my skull, feeling the light fuzz of my hair growing back in. I needed another shave soon.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled, pacing the space to let out some of my energy. I didn’t like where this conversation was going, even though I was the one driving it. “I just don’t like this sneaking around shit. Hiding from your mom…”
“It’s just because of how she is—”
