She smiles as she uses a fork to cut off a piece of brownie. “I don’t know if you’re my favorite. Phyllis and Kitty are much more entertaining.”
Those are the words that came out of her heart-shaped lips, but the smile on her face is saying that I’m in fact her favorite. I’m claiming it as another win. “Have you ever had a day like this?”
She shakes her head and sits back in her chair. “Never. Not even the grand opening. And I thought that day was insane.”
Insane is an understatement. Normally, Gabi closes at five, and according to her, it’s usually so slow that she’s cleaned up and out of the door by five fifteen. Tonight we had to stay open until six to serve all the customers in line, and that was after cutting off new guests at four-forty-five. And even by that point, she was down to cupcakes, brownies, and a few cookies that made it through the day.
It was a sight to see. And I’m so damn happy for her.
“Well let me propose a toast.” I hold up my bottle of water, and she does the same with her can of Coke Zero. “To the first of many successful days at Sugar and Sweets.”
“Your mouth to God’s ears,” she says. “Thank you again. This… I don’t have words.”
“You’re welcome, but you never have to thank me,” I say. “I like to see good people—especially my friends—succeed. And if I can do anything to help make that happen, I make sure I do.”
“As easy as that?” she asks.
“Yeah. Easy as that,” I say. “There’s too much shit in the world and too many people bringing others down. So when I can lift something or someone up, or help someone out, I do it.”
She sits back, giving her head a little shake. “You’re something else.”
“In what way?”
“Oh let me count the ways,” she says as she sits back in her chair. “You’re a twenty-four-year-old professional football player who eats bear claws. You run a STEM program for kids and also take your free afternoons during a time when most football players are probably hibernating to work unpaid at a bakery.”
“Whoa! I’m not getting paid!” I tease.
“Sorry. Should’ve told you that up front.”
“Can I work for baked goods?”
“Obviously.”
“Well then we’re just fine.”
We share a smile before she continues on.
“Then there’s your personal life. You’re insistent on being my friend even though I know you want more. On the other hand you’ve been called the playboy of the Fury, have multiple videos of you singing karaoke on the internet, and were rumored to be dating a country star last year. I’ve run the numbers and frankly, that math doesn’t math.”
“Someone Googled me…” I add in a wink to go with my little tease. Also I don’t miss that she made mention about my feelings. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but I’m going to go with the vibes that it was a good thing.
“It was a long plane ride home from Vegas,” she says, before a shocked look comes over her face. Oh I have a feeling she wasn’t supposed to say that quiet part out loud.
“Vegas?” I ask, suddenly very giddy about this new information. “You were reading about me on the way home from Vegas?”
Her face flushes into a color that rivals a cherry tomato. It’s cute as hell. “I might’ve… I was a little curious as to who you were.”
“Sure…” I tease as I lean in closer. “But the most important question, is were you wearing my clothes while you did it?”
My question was to push her a little more, or if anything she could give me one of her eye rolls that I secretly love. I wasn’t expecting her to bite her bottom lip. Or for her face to flush.
“Gabrielle…” I think it’s the first time in our short history that I’ve said her name first. It’s also the first time since we’ve been in Nashville that I feel the sexual tension this thick between us. And it's been thick. “Did you keep my clothes on when you flew back?”
She slowly nods. “I couldn’t take them off.”
“Do you still wear them?”
She nods, the blush coming back across her cheeks. “The T-shirt. To bed.”
