“Would love to be, but I got kicked out of my own house by a couple of female agents who didn’t appreciate the perceived insinuation that they couldn’t provide adequate security for a girls’ night in.” He knew they would die before they let anything happen to Ivy. It had nothing to do with them being women, and they knew it, but that didn’t stop them from messing with him about it. Mainly because he couldn’t say the truth. He didn’t want to leave Ivy. He wanted to be wherever she was. Full stop.
Adam laughed. “So she’s with Faith and Tessa.”
“And my sister.”
At that, Adam howled. “Hope you weren’t planning on going home before midnight.”
“They promised me ten.”
“Don’t hold your breath. When Bri gets together with Leigh, Anissa, and Sharon, there’s no telling when she’ll finally get home. Last time, Ryan texted me and Gabe at midnight and begged us to do something. We tried. Bri told me to leave her alone. Anissa told Chavez to go jump in the lake. Bri didn’t get home until 1:30.”
“Not making me feel better.”
“Not trying to.” Adam’s laughter faded. “But seriously, thanks for the heads-up.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, then Adam disconnected the call.
“Good move to give Campbell a heads-up.” Zane frowned. “But it may get you in trouble with Ivy if he shares with Sabrina before she does.”
“I’m on it.” He dialed her number.
She answered on the first ring. “I can’t believe it’s you.”
Something was very wrong in her voice. “Are you okay?” When she didn’t respond after ten seconds, he prompted, “Ivy?”
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to see ‘Gil Dixon’ pop up on my phone?”
He had no idea what to say to that.
Fortunately, she kept talking. “Sorry. I probably should have just said hello.”
Was she embarrassed? Her discomfort loosened his tongue. “I’d say you handled that perfectly.”
“Good.” She didn’t try to hide her relief. “I’m not usually so ... er ... awkward.”
“I would never use that word to describe you.”
“Give it time. You’ll change your mind.”
“Not likely.” Luke cleared his throat, and Gil looked up to see Zane spinning his finger in the universal symbol for “get on with it.”
“Leave her alone, Gil! It’s girls’ night in. No boys allowed.” Emily yelled from somewhere, loud enough for him to hear it clearly through Ivy’s phone.
“Are you having fun? Or is Emily driving you insane?”
Zane turned and made a show of banging his head against the wall. Luke laughed.
“I’m having fun. Emily, well, you know Emily is awesome. Faith has a surprising sense of humor. And Tessa is hilarious. I’ve laughed more tonight than I have in, well, I honestly don’t remember.”
“That’s great.” Gil made a mental note to buy Tessa a gift card to her favorite coffee shop. And then to stop by the store for a six-pack of Cherry Coke for Faith.
“Yeah.” Her voice was soft. “But I’m sorry Emily kicked you out of your house. Where did y’all wind up?”
“The office.”
“You went to work?” She sounded horrified.
“Yeah.” Gil forced the next words out. “And I had a thought and I acted on it, and now I need to run it past you. I hate to mess with your girls’-night vibe, but I need to know if you’ve shared anything with Sabrina yet.”
