“He’s one of the founding members of Club Bandit. He’s a bit of a player, with both men and women.”
“So? I’m not going to sleep with him.” Ivy put her mug against the pastry box.
“He’s a little intense, that’s all. Since when do you want to become a radio host?”
“Since that’s the job offer I got.” She put her hands on her hips. He looked away, his hands curling into fists at his sides.
“So you’re going to talk about sex every day? And kink shit?”
“That’s the idea.” Ivy crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes darkened, and her lips pursed.
“Haven’t you learned your lesson? Nothing good came from the last time you did that.”
“Yeah, for me, because my boyfriend kicked me out and left me with nothing for months. However, he’s alive to tell the tale and still pissed off about it. This is a space where theywantme to talk about the kink shit.”
“Ivy, I don’t think you should do it,” Gabe said. “You didn’t even ask me.”
“Just like you don’t ask me when you leave for wherever Axis Management sends you, and you didn’t ask me about going to work for the contractor. Since when do we ask each other about our employment?”
“I had to work, Ivy. What did you want me to do? Go get a job as a security guard?”
“I never said that!”
“But you didn’t want me to keep going that last year. You thought signing on with Axis Management was a good idea.” Damn, this was ancient history he was flinging around.
“You were excited about Team Stealth. I thought you were burnt out. I didn’t suggest you quit, though, just that you look at other options.”
“Options that would have me out of the action.” He grabbed her arms. “I loved being a medic, and you didn’t want me to continue.”
“That’s not true. And regardless of what I thought, you did!”
“So you’re going to be some kind of sex host, regardless of what I think?”
“Yes!” Ivy shouted. She turned from him, marched down the hall, slid her feet into shoes and grabbed her purse.
“Where are you going?”
“Out,” Ivy said.
“Fine. Go,” Gabe spat out the words. He couldn’t take this. How did she not see that he was hurt by her taking a job without talking to him about it first? She knew that being out with the kink stuff made him uncomfortable.
“Didn’t ask your permission!” Ivy slammed the door closed behind her.
Gabe turned and punched the wall. His bosses were correct. His head wasn’t in the greatest place to do this. Thinking back to Xander’s steely look, he knew he had to get his head together. He picked up his phone and called Nick. Maybe hitting the weights with his friend would clear his head, and he would wait to show Ivy just how pissed off he was when she got back in bed, where they ended all their arguments.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN – IVY
Spinningthecoolglassof double whiskey on the coaster, Ivy glanced at her friends, Emery and Natasha, a co-worker from Metric who didn’t hate Ivy. She’d called them after being in the bar for an hour, tired of hanging out alone.
“Ivy, you okay there?” Natasha’s cool hand covered hers, stopping her from spinning the glass.
“Yeah.” Ivy blinked, pushing the image of Gabe’s expression of disbelief out of her mind. Her stomach churned, thinking about it. Was there any hope for them? “Thanks for coming out with me.”
“It’s good to see you.” Natasha smiled, brushing her long highlighted hair off her shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t call. I didn’t know if you wanted to hear from me.”
“I did. Sorry, I was so shocked at everything that happened that I didn’t call people. Well, except for Emery.”
“Only because she needed somewhere to live,” Emery draped an arm over Ivy.
