Page 18 of One Room Vacancy
I go still.
Gabe doesn’t move right away—just groans and buries his face in my neck like he hasn’t registered what’s happening.
But I already know.
This is the part where everything crashes.
Knocking again, harder this time.
“Sage, open the damn door!”
I jolt upright, heartbeat hammering, and grab the sheet as I shove Gabe’s shoulder.
“Get up,” I hiss. “Now.”
He groans, eyes still half-closed. “What the?—”
His phone buzzes again. He glances toward it—blinks once, then twice.
The color drains from his face.
“Seriously?” I snap, wrapping the sheet around myself and stumbling off the bed. “You said you weren’t going back to her.”
“I’m not,” he says automatically, voice rough and guilty. “I—fuck, I didn’t know she’d call.”
“Yeah, well,” I mutter, heading for the door, “she did.”
I fling it open.
Savannah stands on the other side, arms crossed, dressed and visibly annoyed.
“There you are,” she says, not even bothering with a hello. “You were supposed to be in the bridal suite an hour ago. Gen’s panicking about her hair, we can’t find the steamer, and you should already be up there.”
I blink at her, the sheet pulled tight around my chest, hair a mess, makeup smudged.
Her gaze flicks past me, over my shoulder, to the unmistakable shape of Gabe, sitting on the edge of the bed with the blanket draped over his lap, rubbing a hand down his face like he’s still trying to process what the hell he woke up to.
Savannah stares, blinks, then slowly exhales.
“You know what?” she says, holding up a hand. “I’ll yell at you later. Right now? Upstairs. Gen needs you.”
I nod, swallowing whatever stupid thing I was about to say. “Yeah. Okay.”
I move past her without looking back.
Behind me, I hear Gabe’s phone buzzing again.
“Give me a minute,” he calls after me. “I just need to?—”
But I already know what that means.
I hear the balcony door slide open.
I don’t wait.
I just walk.
Because I already gave him a minute.
