I know he’s only being protective of his people, myself included in this scenario. There’s potential for both Ender or me to fuck this up and hurt each other if this goes south—not to mention the uncomfortable position Kaden will be in—and that’s assuming anything even happens.
I’m reminded how guarded Ender seems to be when I read his next text message.
What are your intentions with me?
Do I really have clear intentions about what I want out of this?
That’s a very open-ended question, Ender. Are you sure you’re ready for that conversation?
Again, he leaves me on read for a painfully long minute until the dots pop up. My relief must be written all over my face because I hear an amused snort from Luke across the room. I ignore him.
What are your intentions with me, Gabe?
Truthfully, I’m not quite sure. Is it such a bad thing that I might want to get know you more?
You shook on no intrusive questions, so how do you plan on doing that?
That deal was part of winning the bet. I haven’t won yet. Perfect loophole. *face with tongue sticking out emoji*
I told you that’s a hard no for me. Bet or not. Maybe you should think more about this before you message me again.
Shit, that didn’t go how I thought it would. Maybe getting to know him won’t be as easy as I thought it would be. Instead of responding with a reaction that will make things worse, I’ll takehis advice for a few days. Luke may have been right—there’s more of a story there than I thought if Ender is this closed off.
Chapter Five
I Almost Fucked It Up Before It Even Began
Ender
I’m fucking around on my phone when I hear the apartment door open.
“Darling, I’m home.” I’ll never get tired of the singsong endearment Connor greets me with every evening. Silly, but it makes me feel slightly normal, what with never having had an actual boyfriend at twenty-eight years old to call me affectionate names.
My hopes for anything to happen between Gabe and me died rather quickly when he didn’t respect my one request. Sure, he might have been joking with me, trying to be cute, but if I can’t trust him with this, what’s to say he won’t just up and leave when it gets too hard to be around me? He hasn’t texted or called me since I reminded him about my hard no two days ago. He gave up before he even started—clear proof that he’s not built to deal with someone like me.
“Why are you still working, sweetie?” Connor has to remind me every night to shut down my laptop and leave my work desk, or else I’ll wind up sitting here until bedtime.
“I’m shutting down now. You want to order some food?”
“I probably shouldn’t—got a date tonight.” He waggles his eyebrows, telling me all I need to know and don’t want to know at the same time.
“Okay, I’ll find something here. Have fun, be safe.” My phone buzzes in my hand as Connor leaves with a “Toodles!” I open the app to check my messages.
I’m sorry for not respecting your one boundary set from the start.
It was disrespectful and I won’t blame you if you don’t respond.
To say I’m a little shocked is putting it mildly. I figured he’d forgotten about me by now. While I’m tempted to respond right away, I know I should wait a few minutes. I can’t make it seemlike I was looking at my phone, waiting for him to contact me—that’s the last thing I want him to think.
I finish shutting down my laptop, grab a snack, and sit in my favorite spot at the end of the couch with my phone in hand, considering what to text back.
Thank you
I stall for time, not knowing how to do this—or even if I want to bother.
Does this mean I’m forgiven, or will I need to grovel on my knees?
Are you always this forward with innuendos? Do they actually work on your groupies?
