He stared at the notifications then looked up at the clock on the wall.
2:50 AM.
She was standing in front of him now, arms crossed, hoodie zipped halfway up, eyes hard but gleaming. Not with anger—with something else.
Concern.
She hadn’t just responded to a call.
She’d gotten dressed.
She’d driven.
Which meant…she’d already been on her way by the time the second text came in. Sabine didn’t wait for things to get worse. She moved the minute she thought something was off.
She was worried.
She came to him because…she wasworried.
Not out of obligation.
Not out of pity.
But because some part of her still responded to him on instinct. And that realization did something to his chest—stretched it open and cracked it in the same breath. He softened his voice. “You used the key?”
“Yes,” she said, clipped. “Because when a man you’ve had two kids with,obviouslydrunk calls you in the middle of the night,” she gestured towards the Hennessey bottle. “You don’t ignore it. You show the fuck up.”
“My bad, Bine,” Adair sighed, swiping a hand down his face. “I didn’t mean to call you.”
“I figured,” she muttered, shrugging. “Still. I’m here.” She scanned his face. Took in the empty glasses. The slump in his shoulders. The pain that still hadn’t left his eyes. “You been drinking with Tate?”
Adair nodded.
“Y’all alright?”
He looked up at her for a long moment. Then shook his head. She sighed and sank onto the arm of the couch, resting her palms on her thighs. She didn’t ask more questions. Not yet.
Adair leaned back, rubbed his hands over his face. “He told me you went on a date.”
Sabine looked away.
“I know you don’t owe me shit,” he said quickly, before she could answer. “And I’m not mad at you. I swear I’m not. I’m mad at myself. For making it so easy for another man to step in.”
She didn’t interrupt. Didn’t soften.
Just waited.
“And it’s not even about that,” he added. “It’s not about some nigga. It’s about how Iknowyou looked in that dress. How you probably took your time getting ready. Picked earrings. Smoothed your lipstick and shit. How your heart probably beat a little different when y’all got to the restaurant and his bitch ass told you how good you looked.”
Sabine swallowed but said nothing.
“I should’ve been the last man to make your heart do that.”
“You had that chance, Adair,” she said quietly. “You hadsomany chances.”
“I know.” He leaned forward, elbows on knees again. “I know I did. I just…”
“What?”