“Fine, but I’m coming with you.”
I scoff. “I’m not going to climb out the window while you’re waiting.”
In lieu of a response, Gabe follows me into my room, making himself comfortable when he plops onto my bed.
“Gabriel, shoes off the bed.”
He shuffles so his feet hang haphazardly over the edge and then props his head up in the palm of his hand. I stand there staring at him, waiting for him to—I don’t know—avert his eyes? “Do you mind?” I ask.
“Nope,” he replies, popping thePobnoxiously. “You aren’t escaping me, Benny boo.”
“I’m not trying to escape you!” I sigh, dropping my towel and quickly hopping into some boxers. “I’m just trying to get dressed in private.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not looking at your dick. I’m too busy trying to figure out what that tattoo is. Do Mom and Dad know about that?”
“As a thirty-year-old man, I didn’t think I had to update my parents on everything new that happens with my body,” I retort.
“What about Jules? Does he know?”
Gabe is cruel for bringing up my twin. Mainly because I feel guilty that Jules does not know about my tattoo.
“Fuck,” Gabe mutters. “I’m calling him. He needs to be here for this.”
Scrubbing my hand down my face, I ask, “Be here for what?” But it’s too late, Gabe has already FaceTimed Jules.
“Everything okay?” Jules asks as soon as he answers. Always the worrier.
“Everything is fine,” Gabe says at the same time I yell, “I’m being held hostage!”
Jules’ low chuckle comes through the phone. “Do I need to come over there?”
“Yes,” Gabe replies.
“No,” I counter.
“Be there in ten,” Jules says before hanging up.
Gabe tosses the phone onto the bed next to him, appearing to have no care in the world. After a moment, the motherfucker startswhistling. I finish getting dressed, leaving the room without another look his way.
The plus side of working at the coffee shop with Jules is that he’s taught me how to make a phenomenal cup of coffee at home. I grind the beans, measuring out just enough for myself when Gabe joins me in the kitchen. The island chair scrapes across the floor as he pulls it out and takes a seat. “Will you make me some too?” he has the audacity to ask.
“No, asshole. Make your own coffee.”
“Touchy, touchy this morning.”
I smash the button on the kettle a little too hard, effectively proving Gabe’s point. “You would be touchy too if you woke up to an intervention.”
Gabe laughs at me. “This isn’t an intervention. Jules and I just want to know what’s going on in your life.”
“Yeah, because you are both so forthcoming,” I huff.
He considers me for a moment. “Fine, I can be forthcoming. I have… had a thing for Luci Ramirez for… a while. And I just found out she’s been dating someone since January.”
“Luci Ramirez… as in Bex’s Luci?” Damn, we’ve all been keeping secrets it seems.
He nods, a crease forming between his brows. “Yeah. So I downloaded a dating app and guess who else I saw on the app?”
I groan because I bet I know exactly who he saw. “Colette.”
