The changes Gabe insisted on were a bit of a nuisance at first, but I adapted. It was doubtful I would confess just how much I liked the ornately carved door at the bottom of the staircase that led to my home though. I liked having some kind of advantage over Gabe. I thought it would make the sitting area looked closed in, but the fancy-ass door I chose looked like it had been there since the home was built. I’m not sure how Gabe did it, but the door was delivered and installed in two days, which was unheard of in my neck of the woods.
The biggest change, and also my favorite, was Gabe having a key to let himself into my house anytime he wanted. I didn’t miss the reference he made to my house as “home,” but I couldn’t be sure if it was a slip of the tongue or he genuinely thought of my home as his. I loved when Gabe slipped me the tongue, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about the latter.
As much as I loved and craved his nearness, I worried that it was too soon. Hell, I grew some giant–but never hairy-balls and told the man I was in love with him. That was a huge step for me and all that I was ready for at the moment, but I acknowledged that the time for me wanting to take the next step with him was getting nearer every day. Besides, I wanted Gabe by my side because he wanted to be there, not because he thought it was necessary. That wasn’t very romantic, and I’d call anyone a liar if they accused me of it, but I was starting to get pretty sappy when it came to Gabe.
I even went so far as to put an aqua blue streak in the front of my hair to match the pair of underwear that he favored the most. Not only did he like the colored streaks I sometimes wore in my hair, but he’d be reminded of how much he liked taking those sexy little undies off of me. It was no coincidence that I was wearing the exact pair of briefs when Gabe saw the streak for the first time.
“I like it,” Gabe said, running his hand through my hair. “It’s the same color as those Andrew Christians I like so much.”
“Really?” I unbuttoned my jeans and opened the fly to reveal the bright color I wore beneath. “Hmm. I guess you’re right.” My little stunt had the desired effect and we were much later getting to the diner to eat than originally planned.
I learned that as high maintenance as I was, compromising and adjusting actually came easy to me. Gabe was extremely easy to please and very cooperative, but I had to remind myself not to take advantage of his pleaser personality. Perhaps I overcompensated too much, because I drew Gabe’s ire when I ordered pizza without any mushrooms.
“For fuck’s sake, Josh,” he exclaimed when the pizza arrived mushroomless. “I never said anything about the mushrooms to my mom because she worked hard and they were easy to pick off. There was no deeply-rooted motivation for it like she thinks. I will not lie and say that I didn’t have issues with being adopted when I was a kid, but the mushrooms were not an example of me trying to avoid getting booted from the family.”
“If you say so,” I said complacently, just wanting to eat my pizza in peace by that time. I had to admit it sounded awfully similar to the “yes, dear” my father used on my mother in similar circumstances. Gabe was just as pissed as my mother had been.
Gabe threw his hands up in frustration. “I made you chicken Marsala and one of the key ingredients is mushrooms.”
I put my pizza down on my plate and turned to face him. I was New Josh and I didn’t have kneejerk reactions to things like little fights over mushrooms. I took in the pinched and tired expression on Gabe’s face and realized that our little tiff had nothing to do with mushrooms.
I removed his plate from his hand then set it beside mine. “Gabe,” I said, crawling on his lap. “Maybe you tell me what’s really upsetting you. And don’t tell me it’s about the mushrooms or anything else. I know you’re not really mad that I didn’t put any mushrooms on the pizza.” Even though I knew I was correct, I thought it might not hurt to be so obvious next time. “So, what’s going on with my man today?”
I slipped my hands in his dark hair and massaged his scalp and, just like that, he melted into the couch and gave up all his secrets. “There’s been no new breaks in either case and Rocky Beaumont is threatening to sue the department if Nadine finds out he’s been sleeping with commissioner Wallace. I don’t know why he thinks we…”
“Wait a damn minute!” I waited for Gabe to open his eyes and focus them on me. “Are you saying Rocky likes the D?”
“Um…” I could tell the wheels were spinning as he tried to come up with a way to backtrack or imply I misunderstood.
“No, nuh huh. I heard exactly what you said.” I dropped my hands from his head to my waist as I sat in disbelief of what he just said. “You never told me?”
“You know I can’t talk…”
“…About open cases,” I interrupted again. “Wanda confessed to trying to kill Rocky so his case is closed.” I still couldn’t believe my Sunday school teacher was capable of murder and attempted murder. “Why didn’t you tell me? I know it’s not because you think he’s a swell guy. You practically growl and snarl whenever you see him around town.” Then it felt like a crushing blow to my heart when I realized why he hadn’t told me. “You still don’t trust me,” I whispered softly. I moved to slide off his lap, but he grabbed my hips and held me to him.
“Not true,” he argued. “I do trust you and I know damn well outing a guy–even someone as vile as Rocky–isn’t something you would do. There is an open case that could involve Rocky and I should never have said anything to you.”
“What case?” Then I thought about it. “Oh, you mean Georgia’s house getting broken into and ransacked.”
“Yes, that one. Rocky had a lot to lose if those photos ever came out. Perhaps he did hire someone to look for them while he was safely out of town. It’s doubtful, but I had no business saying what I did. I won’t ask you to keep it quiet because I know that you will.”
“Damn straight,” I replied, feeling mollified. “You better not let anyone rub your scalp around town because you sing like a damn canary,” I said joking. “Hey, I know,” I said with wide eyes, “maybe the police department can hire me to come in during interrogations and give head massages until the perp confesses.”
I could feel Gabe’s muscles tightening against my body and it was obvious he was getting jealous thinking about my hands in other men’s hair. “I don’t think so, Josh. I’m the only one who gets scalp massages from now on.”
“My clients will have a big problem with that, babe. I’m famous for my massages.” The leering grin he gave me said he was remembering the special massage I gave him in my salon. “Not that kind of massage,” I clarified. “That one only belongs to you. I was referring to the massages I give while I shampoo hair.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to upset the ladies…”
“And Kyle,” I amended.
“Excuse me?” Gabe asked angrily.
“I cut Kyle’s hair too,” I told him. “Sometimes he comes in for a quick dry trim in the morning and other times he wants the shampoo and scalp massage thrown in.”
“I just be he does,” Gabe snapped.
“Hey,” I threw up my hands, “it’s not like that. There’s never been a spark of anything there. Wait,” I said as I realized something. “Didn’t you know I cut Kyle’s hair?”
