“Chaz won’t show up then,” I said worriedly.
“Chaz isn’t going to skip dinner with us, but he can at least show up looking rested and have his hair styled.” I knew Gabe was thinking about Chaz’s ruffled appearance the previous week. I thought it was adorable that he wanted Chaz to look his best.Hmmm, had he finally joined the matchmaking bandwagon?I still suspected there was more at play than just video games with Chaz, but I wasn’t sure what the hell I could do about it. He was, in fact, a grown-ass man and could make his own decisions.
“I’ll tell him,” I said to Gabe, but I didn’t promise when.
“Today,” Gabe added firmly, not falling for my shenanigans. It was okay for him to be vague with time and make up his own rules, but apparently, I didn’t have the same freedoms. Lucky for him he was so fucking sexy with his dark scowl and demanding tone of voice or I might’ve put up a bigger fight. Of course, it helped that he was also right.
“Fine,” I said like a petulant brat. I rolled my eyes at the huge grin that spread across Gabe’s face. My mind skipped past being jealous and insecure and started plotting strategies to make him suffer.
“I know that look too,” Gabe said smugly. “You going to cuff me to a chair again and fuck my brains out? That’ll teach me.” The sarcasm rolled off his tongue so naturally, it was like he was born to snark.Damn, that would make a great coffee cup.
“You’re one more wisecrack away from wearing skinny jeans,” I told him.
“Never going to happen,” he said shaking his head. “I’ll stick with my relaxed fit.”
Here’s the thing, I had zero plans of turning Gabe into a more muscular version of me. I just liked to rile him up. Although, I did feel that a dark wash denim in a straight leg fit was a good compromise between skinny and relaxed. I thought about buying them and slipping them in his drawer to see if he noticed. I knew what would happen when I saw those sexy, long legs in that dark denim, which would cling tighter to his thighs and delicious ass than his preferred fit. I loved jeans with a button fly because I could take my time kissing each inch I revealed as I unbuttoned them slowly.
“Oh, baby, I know that look too,” Gabe remarked gleefully. He looked at his watch then back at me. “How much time do you have?”
I stood quickly from my chair and replied, “Enough to give you a proper send-off and remind you who loves you.” I turned and made a dash to the bedroom.
“As if there’s ever a doubt,” Gabe said following hot on my heels.
It was still amazing to me how much emotion and love Gabe could pack into a quick, hard fuck. It wasn’t about me presenting my ass to him in the middle of our bed and making myself available just to please him. He was completely devoted to getting me off at the same time. Beyond the physical aspect, there were the kisses he placed on my neck and the loving way he caressed my chest as he told me how much he loved me and that he could never get enough of me. Never, not even when I wanted him just to use me, did Gabe ever make me feel like I wasn’t valued.
I decided that days that started out with grunting, groaning, and coming were absolutely the best. I had just enough time to clean up and give my man a long, lusty kiss before I headed downstairs to start my day.
I was surprised to see Chaz was already downstairs waiting for me. Hell, he even beat Meredith in and that was no easy feat. He was sitting kind of primly in my salon chair with his legs crossed sipping a cup of coffee. The expression on his face looked like a combination of anger and admiration. “I know what you did,” he said gravely.
“Oh,” I said, feeling my cheeks flush with mortification. “We would’ve tried to be quieter if we knew you were down here already. Sorry, man.”
“Not that,” Chaz said in a voice that clearly stated how aggravated he was with me. “It’s nice to know that someone got their morning started off the right way,” he added snidely. “You know what you did.” I did know what he was referring to but wasn’t sure how he knew.
“Who told? Meredith?” I asked.
“Kyle called me,” Chaz said flatly.
“Oh! Did he? What did he say?” I had to know. “Is he coming to dinner?”
“Josh, do you have any idea how humiliated I was by the encounter yesterday? Or, are you so blinded by your happiness that you’ve lost sight of how others might be feeling?” Chaz asked.
I gasped and took a step back as if he slapped me. “I did it for you,” I told him. “There’s just so much,” I made wave motions with my hands that were meant to be vibes, “going on between the two of you and I thought that…”
“No, you did this foryou, not me or Kyle. You weren’t thinking either. You, of all people, know that these things can’t be rushed or forced. You didn’t see Meredith or me interfering with you and Gabe when you were trying to find your way. We encouraged you to be brave and take chances, and we even called you out on your bullshit…”
“Like you’re doing now,” I interjected.
“…when you needed it. We never put you in a situation where you were made to feel uncomfortable,” Chaz continued as if I hadn’t interrupted him.
“I’m sorry, Chaz, I truly am. I overstepped, and I’m not sure how to fix it. I can’t uninvite him to dinner. Besides, it’s a holiday, he shouldn’t be alone.”
“Kyle has his parents, three sisters, and two sets of grandparents living in this town. Do you honestly believe he has no place to eat ham and deviled eggs?”
“They won’t bemyham and deviled eggs,” I retorted.
Chaz sighed in frustration then rose to his feet. “I don’t think he’s coming, Josh, so you can just forget about your little matchmaking schemes. He knows you’ve made me feel awkward and he didn’t want to ruin my dinner.” The phone started ringing so he headed to his desk by the front door. “By the way, your deviled eggs had too much mustard in them last time.”
Had I been wearing pearls, I would’ve clutched them. I staggered and stumbled like I’d been dealt a hard blow to my body. The happy cloud I floated down on was starting to dissipate beneath my feet, and I wondered how far the fall would be until I crashed to the earth. Would my heart give out first or would I know the horrendous sound of every bone in my body breaking when I hit the fiery pits of hell?
