She nodded against my shoulder.
“But we can’t keep making the same ones over and over and think we’re going to get a different outcome.” I pulled back so I could look down at her. “You need to stop shutting me out. We need to work together. We need to be a team for Ana.”
Katie smiled up at me through her tears as she nodded along with what I was saying. Even though the sentiments sounded good, there was still hesitation in my heart. I was never going to fully trust Katie—she’d burned me enough times. But I was going to attempt to work with her, for Ana’s sake.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Movement next to us drew my attention over. As soon as my gaze found Sabrina’s, I dropped my arms and took a step back from Katie as the realization of how that must have looked washed over me. I offered Sabrina an apologetic smile, but she didn’t acknowledge it. She shifted her attention from me to Katie and then back to me.
“I think I’m going to head back to the hotel room. Samuel’s ready for bed…” Sabrina sighed. She looked pale and her cheeks were red. “And I am, too.” Her smile was soft.
“Oh, okay.” I glanced over at Katie. There was no way I was going to stay at the gala. Especially without Sabrina. “I should go with her.”
“Oh, no,” Sabrina said at the same time Katie frowned and asked “What?”
I didn’t acknowledge Katie as I turned my attention to Sabrina with my eyebrows knitted.
She waved away my reaction. “Don’t let me spoil your night. You stay.” She patted my arm like a grandma patting her grandson’s arm. “Samuel and I will be just fine.” Her smile felt forced as she looked at me and then over to Katie.
“I’ll make sure that he gets home safely,” Katie said as she wrapped her arm around mine for the umpteenth time tonight.
Sabrina’s smile didn’t falter. Instead she just nodded. “Perfect.” She wrapped her arms around Samuel. His eyes were slits, and his head was tipped forward like it was just too much work to keep it upright.
“I’ll see you when you get back.” Sabrina’s voice was soft. She glanced up at me for only a moment and then turned and started to make her way through the crowd.
I wanted to go after her. I wanted to stop her. Hell, I wanted to join her. But she was adamant that I stay. And with the way Katie was holding on to me, I would have to make a scene to get her to let me go.
So I just stood there, watching Sabina leave until the crowd that had parted to let her through filled in the space and I could no longer see her. I thought, once she was gone, I’d be able to distract myself enough to not feel her absence.
I was wrong.
A half hour had passed since she left, and I was still glancing through the crowd, expecting to see her face. I probably looked so rude as yet another sponsor tried to talk to me, but I didn’t care. I missed Sabrina. I wanted to leave.
I just didn’t know how to walk away without disappointing Katie, Bonnie, and especially Sabrina. She wanted me to stay. She wanted me to do my job. And yet, that was the last thing I wanted to do.
I slipped out my phone during a lull in the conversation and sent her a quick text.
Just checking in that you got to the hotel safe.
I returned my phone to my pocket and rejoined the conversation.
Ten minutes passed with no response.
I excused myself, claiming I was parched and needed a refill. On my way over to the bar, I pulled out my phone once more and sent another text.
George taking care of you? You can tell me if he’s slacking.
I smiled at myself, hoping that she would have the same reaction when she read it. I kept my phone in hand while the bartender filled up my glass of water, waiting to read her response, but none came.
I finished my water and still no reaction.
I frowned as I left my empty glass on the bar and headed over to where Katie was standing. I had felt her gaze on me the entire time I was drinking my water, but I chose to ignore it. I could see her relief when I walked up to her.
“Everything okay?” she asked under her breath.
I nodded. I didn’t want to go down the Sabrina road with her again. I slipped my phone in my pocket, silently vowing that if she didn’t respond in the next few minutes, I was going to head to the bathroom to call her.
It was hard to pay attention to a conversation I really didn’t care about when I was waiting for her text. Every time I shifted my weight, my phone shifted against my leg and my adrenaline started pumping. I would shove my hand into my pocket to see if it was vibrating, but I would just be met with disappointment.
