Her gaze turned shy, and I could tell that she wanted to look away. That the electric connection between us was too much for her. But she never did. Instead, she held my gaze until I was forced to look away and engage with a screaming fan at my feet.
Throughout the whole song, my gaze kept slipping back to Sabrina. I wanted her to know that I was singing this song for her. I wanted her to feel how I was feeling through the music. I wanted her to know that I was interested in her.
She must have gotten the hint. As soon as the concert was finished, I walked straight over to her with a huge smile on my face. When I approached, she didn’t step back. She let me stand near her as I smiled down at her.
“What did you think?” I asked.
Her expression was shy as she looked up at me. “That was amazing.”
My soul sang from her praise. I needed to hear that. I needed her to be impressed by me. I’d stopped caring about what others thought of me. I’d stopped needing the world’s validation. All I needed now was Sabrina’s approval. I craved it.
At Sabrina’s bidding, I stayed after the concert to greet the fans in the VIP room. I’d truly gotten a reputation for never going, because the fans seemed startled that I was even there. After my obligation was met, I helped Sabrina carry Samuel out to the car, and we climbed inside.
When we got to the hotel, we walked together to the elevator, and then I held the door open to our room. My body was exhausted, but adrenaline was still pumping through my veins as I moved. I was on a high from the concert, but also from the shy way Sabrina kept glancing over at me and the open way she laughed at my jokes as we worked together to bathe Samuel and get him dressed for bed.
I sat on the bed with Samuel on my lap as Sabrina made him up a bottle. When she came back into the room, I extended my hand and wiggled my fingers, expectantly. She hesitated, but I brushed her off.
“I’m already comfortable and so is little man. I’ll take care of getting him to sleep. You go relax. Do something for yourself.” I smiled and winked at her. “You deserve it.”
Thankfully, she didn’t fight me. After she handed me the bottle, she grabbed her tablet and headed into the living room.
With Samuel happily guzzling down his bottle, I leaned my head back against the headboard and closed my eyes. I took in a deep breath as I let my body relax into the soft mattress.
It didn’t take long for Samuel to finish his bottle and zonk out. I could feel his body still, and I knew he was out for the night. Not wanting to miss any opportunity to spend time with Sabrina, I slid off the bed, keeping my arm under Samuel until I could lift him up in one swift movement and carry him over to the bassinet in the corner.
With him tucked in, I headed out to the living room in search of Sabrina.
Just as I cleared the doorway, I paused. I could hear my lyrics playing softly in the living room. It wasn’t a Fading Atlas song. It was Drifter’s.
Sabrina was a fan.
That revelation did something to me. It was one thing to see Sabrina moving to the music from Fading Atlas, it was a whole other thing to see her listening to music that I wrote and created solely by myself. And that she was enjoying it without knowing that I was Drifter…it made her the perfect woman.
I stepped into the room, not knowing what I was going to say or do, but knowing I wanted to be closer to her. Even though I knew, logically, that I should stay away. That there was so much more at stake than I cared to admit. I couldn’t help myself.
She was the flame and I was the moth.
I was willing to risk getting burned.
I rounded the couch to see her sitting cross-legged on the middle cushion. She was hunched over her tablet, the glow from the screen illuminating her face. Whatever she was looking at had her undivided attention.
When she didn’t acknowledge me, I contemplated my next move. Did I just sit down next to her? Should I clear my throat? This was the first time I hadn’t known what to do with myself around a woman. Normally, I didn’t think this hard about what I should do. I just acted.
But with Sabrina, I didn’t want to mess this up. The last thing I wanted was to misinterpret her feelings and ruin the relationship that we were building together. I may want more out of this, but that didn’t mean she did. One wrong move and this whole arrangement could blow up in my face.
Suddenly, her gaze was on me. Her eyebrows were knit together as she studied me. “Samuel asleep?” she asked as she returned her attention back to the tablet.
Deciding that I looked like a fool standing there, staring at her, I pushed away my fears and plopped down next to her, extending my feet out in front of me and resting my arm on the back of the couch. “Out like a light,” I said as I sighed, tipped my head back, and closed my eyes.
When she didn’t respond, I opened one eye and looked at her. She was completely engrossed in whatever she was looking at. Sitting in silence was akin to torture, so I decided to engage her in conversation.
“Who are you listening to?” I already knew the answer to that question, but for some reason, I wanted to hear it straight from her lips. Was Drifter just a musician that she found in a random shuffle, or did she go out of her way to listen to his songs?
Sabrina glanced over at me and met my gaze. The pure joy in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. She loved Drifter.
“His name is Drifter.” She shifted her weight and turned until she was facing me. Her eyes were twinkling now. “No one knows who he is. A lot of people have theories, but no one has been able to prove any of them.”
“No one knows who he is?” I asked, loving that she was so invested in this.
