Not even close.
EIGHTEEN
YOU IN?
“So, Gabe paid me a visit this afternoon,” I shared with Shanti and Raye as we walked down the alley behind the Sun Valley Motor Lodge.
I was carrying a bag that had a box of six cupcakes in it for Duane (the other six in the batch were at home, waiting for Gabe as a bonus to him for asking for a cookie (and, who was I kidding? they were also waiting for me)).
Shanti and Raye were carrying their Tasers at the ready.
Joey had texted she was in the room, but the back window was slatted, so we had to sneak around the front.
We weren’t thrilled with this change in plan, but we had no choice but to roll with it.
As for me, naturally, I was also still freaking about Gabe’s visit earlier.
“And he lost his shit about all that crap that happened to me in high school,” I finished.
“You told him?” Shanti asked.
“No. He found out from the Nightingale computer guru, Brody,” I answered. “Warning, Gabe told me this Brody guy has done deep dives on all of us.”
“Those boys are so weird about everything,” Shanti muttered. “God, I suppose I’m gonna need to break down and read those Rock Chick books.”
It wasn’t anybody else’s story I wanted to know, it was Gabe’s.
“He lost it, you guys,” I told them.
They both stopped and looked at me.
“Lost it?” Shanti asked. “How?”
“How, as in, it was ages ago, the memory isn’t fun, and I can’t deny it still bothers me, but he went gonzo like it was currently happening. He said he’s going to find out who started it, look into my ex-high school boyfriend, and if he isn’t toeing the good-guy line, he’s gonna pay him a visit and shake his shit.”
“Wow,” Shanti said.
“I guess I’m not surprised,” Raye said. “Cap told me Gabe lost it on Kevin.”
As Gabe would say…
Say again?
“Lost it on him?” I asked.
“That gonzo?” she asked back. When I nodded, she said, “When they were interrogating him, they had to pull Gabe out of the room. There are things Cap doesn’t share, and what they did with Kevin in the end, he hasn’t shared. But even before that was over, Cap told me no way in fuck would Kevin get anywhere near you, Gabe lost it so bad. Kevin was scared shitless.”
Part of me thought that was awesome. Especially the part where, obviously, Gabe was feeling that vibe between us well before there was an us, just like I did. And I liked that.
Though, the other part of that part was the fact he had no patience for the kind of man Kevin was, and no compunction with sharing it with him.
I wasn’t worried about the “lost it” part.
I knew to the depths of my soul Gabe probably did scare the shit out of Kevin, but I also knew he had enough training and control not to take it too far.
Though, I figured there were many shades of what “too far” was. However, in Kevin’s case, I wasn’t sure there was a far enough.
The second part of me was now even more concerned.
