I blink back joyful tears and bend down to kiss his full lips. “Good. Because I don’t think I could survive living without you again. Not now.”
“Me neither,” he says gruffly.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand.
“I have to go.”
He nods and untangles his long fingers from mine. “Are you sure Trisha won’t mind me coming tonight? She may want you all to herself.”
“Oh, I think Trisha will be very happy to see you again.” I smirk. “I thought I was going to have to scrape her jaw off the floor when I introduced you last night.”
He shakes his head. “I thought maybe she wasn’t real thrilled to meet me. After everything I put you through.” He shrugs.
“Well, that might have been part of it. But only because she didn’t know you yet. I think all that changed last night, not entirely because of your charming demeanor and devastating good looks.” I wink. “It’s not every day we women see men of your caliber.”
“Well, lucky for you, you can see me any time you want,” he says unpretentiously.
“Seriously, Gabe. I don’t think you know how gorgeous you are. You’re kind of beautiful.”
He stands up and holds my face in his hands. “Je ne peux pas imaginer quelque chose de plus exquis que tu.” I can’t imagine anything more exquisite than you.
Chapter 15
Liv
Trisha scolds me when I walk into my parents’ house just before noon. “It’s about time!”
“I’m so sorry,” I say quietly. “I thought I would be back before you woke up.”
“I’m messing with you. It’s fine. But why are we whispering?”
I take her hand and drag her into the kitchen.
“Where are we going?”
“Shhh.”
“Where were you? Did you go see Gabe?”
“Yes.” I turn around and face her, unable to hide the giant smile on my face.
“Did something happen?”
I nod my head.
“Oh my God!” she screeches.
“Trisha, quiet!”
“Liv, your parents aren’t here,” she says at normal volume.
“Oh. Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“I don’t know, I was kind of intrigued by your stealthiness.”
I spin around and fall into a chair at the kitchen table with a smile still plastered on my face.
Trisha sits across from me. “Liv, you’re killing me. Will you please let me into your world right now? What happened?” she screeches again.
I bite my smiling lip. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Okay, well, I’m dying to know, but first back up and tell me what happened last night. Why did your mystery boy disappear at the bar?”
“Oh, that was nothing. A guy made a crass comment about me, so Gabe punched him.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Hot and chivalrous.”
“I guess he was having a hard time staying in the friend zone with me, but he didn’t think I would understand, so he bolted.”
“Do you understand?”
“Yes”—I bob my head—“I do. Because I feel the same way. We still love each other, Trish.” My heart soars and I slump in the chair, still smiling, still reeling, still feeling satiated and enveloped in all things Gabe. But I sit up when I see the look on Trisha’s face.
“You still love him? After everything that happened?”
I inhale a slow breath and square my shoulders. “Yes. I know that’s probably hard to understand, but—”
“It’s not. I could see it after five minutes of being around you two.”
“Oh. Really?”
She widens her eyes. “Oh, come on! It’s like you two were orbiting each other.”
I exhale a quiet breath. “That’s exactly how it used to feel when we were younger. Like I was a satellite and Gabe was the earth.”
“I’ve never seen you like that before.” She shakes her head. “Especially not with Travis.” She stares across the table at me. “I kind of get it now. Gabe was your world.”
“Yeah,” I say softly. “When I was young, my mom used to tell me that you know you really love someone when they give you roots and wings.” I smile and shrug. “Gabe does that. Even now, after all this time, after everything we’ve been through. After everything I’ve been through.” I sit up straight and say happily, “He makes me feel excited about my life again, about my future. Like I can do anything I want to. Or be whoever I want to.” I shake my head, bewildered. “It’s as if this weight was tied around me that’s finally gone. I didn’t even know it was there, but now that it’s not, I feel so...free.”
She nods, trying to understand, but I can tell this is a lot for her. “Well, okay,” she says, smiling softly. “I’m just happy to see you so blissed out.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Cautiously optimistic.”
“I have to be, for your sake.”
“I know. And I love you for it. But I honestly don’t remember the last time I felt this happy. And it feels so damn good.”
She gives me a sincere smile and says, “You know, you still haven’t told me exactly what you’re so happy about.” She widens her eyes playfully. “What happened this morning?” She leans forward and asks very seriously, “Did you sleep with him?”
“Yes,” I say, smiling involuntarily, and her eyes widen to the size of saucers.
“Olivia!” She sits back in her chair. “Okay, tell me everything. How was it?”
I laugh. “Well, the first time was amazing. And the second time was also amazing. And the third time was pretty amazing too.”
She gasps dramatically. “You did not do it three times!”
“Yeah...we did.” I pull my hands to my mouth to cover my smile.
She slopes her shoulders and huffs. “I really don’t like you right now.”
I drop my hands and laugh at her.
“He’s like, ridiculously gorgeous. Pictures don’t do him justice. I can’t believe you were shagging him all morning while I was sitting here nursing my hangover.”
“Well, I didn’t just run over there and jump his bones, you know. I wanted to find out what happened last night. But when he told me he couldn’t be friends with me because he still loves me, and that he lied to me seven years ago because he thought I deserved better...I told him there’s nothing better than him...and then one thing led to another.”
“Wow,” she says. “All that before lunch. And here all I’ve done today is paint my toenails and watch Duck Dynasty reruns with your dad.”
I laugh. “Duck Dynasty?”
“Oh, yeah, Duke’s a big Duck Dynasty fan. Didn’t you know?”
“Well, I wouldn’t put it past him. Did you see the giant buck head hanging in his office?”
“Oh, yes, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Randy.”
We both burst out in laughter until tears reach the corners of our eyes. “My dad is so weird. Why would he name him Randy?”