Aha, so she was going down that route.
‘So it’s probably best if we don’t get into anything heavy. Maybe it’s better if we keep it. . .’
She paused and he waited for the word ‘friends’.
‘Casual?’
He frowned.
‘Casual?’ he repeated. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means. . .’ she said. ‘It means no strings attached.’
He shook his head, not sure he’d heard right. ‘You’d better clarify that,’ he said.
‘You know, great sex but maybe not sleepovers.’
He felt like she’d just slapped him in the face. It was just as he feared. She liked his body, but nothim. He felt frozen in time and place. Worse than he’d ever felt. He let himself look down into her chocolate-brown eyes and wanted to hurt her.
‘Gabi, I don’t want that.’
She blinked up at him and he watched the confusion cross her face. He lowered his voice and dipped his head towards her.
‘I told you all my deepest truths last night,’ he said. She blanched. ‘And you couldn’t get away fast enough this morning.’
She shook her head sharply and opened her mouth to speak but he couldn’t let her.
‘So, do I want to have sex with you again?’ He faced her squarely. ‘No.’
She inhaled quickly as if he’d wounded her.
‘Walker,’ she said, ‘wait.’
‘I might not be looking for someone tocommitwhen I have sex, Gabi’– he fixed her with his eyes and wouldn’t let her look away– ‘but I’m at least looking for someone who canconnect.’
She put a hand on his arm, but the touch ignited his fury.
‘Don’t worry, you’re always so fucking independent, I’m sure you can sort yourself out.’ He shook her off and walked away.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Gabi
Jayden was tired by the time they got home, and so was Gabi. She’d had to wait on the riverbank on her own for an hour for Jayden to finish his rowing class, with Walker studiously ignoring her from across the yard. Her good leg ached from standing on it for so long and her eyes burned with tears she would not let fall. She couldn’t believe that Walker would say those things to her. To think she’d been worried about it all being a bit too much, too soon, and he was just wanting to finish it all together. What an arsehole. And all that bullshit about a connection? What the hell? She could connect with people. She had to, for her job.
Jayden threw his rucksack at the peg and it hit the floor as he ran to hug Amber. Gabi picked it up and hung it for him before dragging herself into the kitchen. Gabi was dismayed to see Isabella was also there at the table, red-eyed and nursing a glass of wine. Gabi checked the kitchen clock and Isabella saw it.
‘It’s twelve o’clock somewhere,’ Isabella said. ‘Don’t judge me.’
‘No judgement here,’ Gabi said, reaching for the bottle and pouring herself a small glass. She’d earned it. Amber sighed and joined in and the three women clinked.
‘What’s up? You okay?’ Gabi asked Isabella, as she made room for Jayden to sit at the table and open his iPad to play.
‘I don’t see the problem personally,’ Amber cut in, rolling her eyes. ‘Unless you think it’s a bad thing that your boyfriend who you are crazy about wants to marry you. . .’
Isabella huffed in frustration. ‘When you put it like that, it sounds daft,’ she said. ‘But I said I wanted a year when he asked me the first time. A year of “everything but marriage”. And now he’s trying to move the goalposts.’
‘But only to marry you sooner!’ Amber said. ‘If you ask me, it’s a nice problem to have.’
