The gala wound down slowly, sponsors drifting toward the exits in twos and threes, the orchestra shifting from background music to something softer, signaling the night's official end. Sawyer found me near the coat check, offering his arm without a word.
"Walk you to your car?"
"You don't have to."
"I want to."
We stepped out into the cool night air, the noise of the ballroom fading behind heavy doors, leaving only the distant hum of traffic and the click of my heels against pavement. Neither of us spoke for a while, the events of the evening still settling between us, Elena's warning, Sawyer's firm response, the strange charged current that had been building since the training room days earlier.
"Today was a lot," I said finally, break
