Lincoln is over by another table plating his food.
Sarah is near him.
He’s smiling.
She is not.
Lincoln walks over toward me, sharing a smile.
“Look at you,” he says playfully.
Sarah is right there by his arm, trying not to look awkward. She’s been very quiet.
How weird. But this is good.
Can’t let the enemy have the advantage. And it’s best to let everyone know that I know what they know, then everyone can move on.
-??-
Chapter 9
Lincoln's POV
Gabrielle looks so beautiful, God damn it, she looks beautiful. You know when you’re seeing someone with a fresh pair of eyes as if seeing them for the first time? That’s how it feels every time I see her. Every morning I wake up and she graces me with her vision.
How could I have missed what was right in front of me the whole time? How could I have lost sight of that? I was so tired and so ungrateful that I didn’t see it right in front of me. The woman who I’d loved all my life, that she’s always been beautiful, and that the only reason she started looking duller is because that’s how I was making her feel. I feel like kicking myself, thinking about how I messed up something so bad.
I feel a little bit better now, but damn, I’m tired all the time. What doesn’t make it easier is living there with her, jerking off every moment I get, because I’m incessantly hungry and horny for her. Since I’ve gotten back from the hospital, I haven’t had sex with Sarah, and honestly, I don’t want to.
Sarah feels like something I’ve completely lost taste for, something that was a snack, something sweet. And for someone who’s never had sweets before, of course it’s going to blow your mind, but no matter how many sweet things you start to eat, at some point your body is going to remind you that you crave a huge piece of steak and a full-blown meal with vegetables and cornbread and just sweet soul food, which Gabrielle fully embodies. She always made me feel as though I ate a full meal, and I don’t know how in heaven’s hell I ended up losing sight of that.
Tom comes over and puts an arm around Gabrielle’s shoulder, something that makes me bristle, but I try to hide it.
“Well, now that you’re single,” Tom says to me, “I can say that there’s nothing wrong with a little aggression.”
He directs it at Gabrielle with a big smile.
Sarah’s been beside me this whole time, her face sour. She smiles with absolutely zero humor in that smile.
“Aren’t you married, Tom?” Sarah asks.
Tom smiles back. “Well, for her, I’ll make an exception.”
Gabrielle smiles.
As soon as she does, my dick dropkicks my pants.
Gabrielle speaks up, saying, “If you were single, maybe. I’m very flattered, Tom, but unfortunately, I can’t be caught doing women at the bottom of the barrel activities.”
She finishes off as her eyes land squarely on Sarah as if to make a point.
Holy shit.
Was that something Sarah said to her?
Sarah hisses.
Or maybe it just feels like she does. That’s the sound I imagine her making when I look at her face.
