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.”

I almost laugh. “I think you have that backward.”

“Heath deserved better than her too, but the moment he spotted her, it was like I didn’t exist anymore. And look what she did to him.”

I replay her words in my head. “You were with Heath?”

“We were . . . dating. Until he dropped me for her.” She shakes her head. “I told him he deserved better, and he didn’t listen. I’m telling you the same thing. Maybe you made a mistake with me, but that’s because we have a connection. Just like Teagan has a connection with Rich that will always lead her back to him.”

“Sabrina, you don’t really want me.”

“I do.” She steps closer to me and places her palm flat against my bare chest. “I want you to choose me.”

“No.” Christ, I feel bad for this woman. The desperation in her eyes has nothing to do with me and her, and everything to do with her personal demons. “You want to be chosen over Teagan. That’s not the same thing.”

“Do you love her or something?”

“Yeah.” I swallow hard as the truth slams into me. I should tell Teagan before I tell Sabrina, but here I am. I won’t deny it. “Not or something. I’m in love with her.” My throat burns. I am. I fucking love a woman who’s pushing me away because I’m a mess.

Dad. It’s my fault he’s dead.

Maybe we’re all a mess.

Sabrina blinks away. “You weren’t in love with her when you took me to bed.”

“That doesn’t change how I feel now.”

Hurt washes over her face before she stomps toward the door. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”