“Yeah, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me, Vixen. I’m sorry if I scared you.” I straighten and stretch my arms wide. “But I could really use a hug right now.”
She smiles and nods, then closes the distance between us and enters my arms. I expected her to resist more, to tell me to find someone else to hug. But I guess she can sense hownotokay I really am at the moment.
I close my arms around her and take a deep breath as my nose digs into her hair. “Seems we’re both in need of a new phone. I’ll pick two up on my way back from practice.”
She laughs. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I want to,” I whisper. “I’m sorry I won’t be making you a fancy breakfast this morning,” I say after a beat.
She softens in my arms, hers tightening against my back. “It’s okay. You can make it up to me tomorrow.”So, she’s planning on coming back tomorrow.That will make it four days in a row that she’s here, and I’m not complaining.
I smile against her head. “It’s a deal.”
Chapter ten
Veronica
Kissing = Thank you.
I’m not sure who Gabe was arguing with on the phone when I came down to the kitchen. I only caught the end of his conversation, where he mentioned an agreement of once a month, and that whoever was on the line couldn’t start demandingitwhenever they wanted.
What is ‘it’? And who was he talking to?
Whoever it was, Gabe hates their guts. It showed in his posture, his features, and his tone. His entire body language screamed with pent-up fury. I’ve never seen Gabe that mad in his life. I didn’t even know that was an emotion he had with how happy and goofy he always is. He’s like a jokester, the class clown. You’d never expect that person to have a bad temper.
In that moment, he scared me. Without wanting to, my body and mind feared that anger he contained. It reminded me too much of my past, too much of someone I desperately want to forget. But then he asked me for a hug, and despite that smile he carried on his face, there was so much unspoken sadness behind it. Although I could tell from the haunted look in his eyes, it wasn’t sadness toward what the person had said. It was something else. Like the person on the phone had evoked a buried past that he didn’t want to relive.
And atthatmoment, all I wanted was to run into his arms. To tell him that everything would be okay, the same way I desperately needed someone to tell me that three years ago. But just like three years ago, those words were never spoken. But through my hug, I know he felt them.
I wait around the penthouse for Noah and Gabe to get home before heading out, since Gabe told me I couldn’t leave until he arrived with my new phone, even though I reminded him it wasn’t necessary. I’m pretty sure I have an old one lying around somewhere in my room that I could use. But he said it was out of the question and that since he was picking one up for himself, it just made more sense to get me one, too.
I walk over to the fridge and pull out a water bottle, then grab my medication bottle from the counter beside it and pop one pill. I could probably go without the medication today, but I’m being cautious. The cramps aren’t as bad today, thank God, because I would never be able to sit through a whole hockey game tonight if they were.
I lean my ass against the counter as I wait, bottle in hand, thinking about what little tricks Gabe might pull on me with this phone. Who knows, he might ask for something in exchange. I wouldn’t put it past him.
I wouldn’t be surprised if, when he hands it over, I find some very inappropriate photos of himself on it. Or maybe he’ll text himself from my phone, saying how much I want him and declaring my undying love for him. Then he’ll show it to our friends, claiming it was really me who wrote it. The thought makes me laugh from where I stand, the water bottle inches from my lips.
“What’s got you laughing over there?”
I look up to find the man in question smirking at me from the couch, his butt leaning against the back of it, feet crossed at the ankles, and arms folded over his large chest. His tight gray shirt clings to his muscular torso and arms that bulge in their position. His damp wavy-blond hair that falls to his shoulders is held back by a backwards baseball cap, and a devilish smirk lies on his clean-shaven face, white pearly teeth glimpsing out from the side.
Gabriel has that boyish charm. The one that makes you want to do wild, crazy things with him. He could ask you to go graffiti the Statue of Liberty, and all it would take is that smile to convince you. He’s ridiculously handsome.
“You,” I answer truthfully.
His smile broadens as he pushes off the couch and walks toward me. “Glad to know you’re thinking about me.”
I roll my eyes but still smile.
He comes to stand in front of me and hands me a brand-new iPhone. The newest version, while mine was three generations old. As predicted, the phone is already activated, and everything has been synced from my old one. When I look up to thank him, the mischievous look in his eyes confirms my earlier thoughts. He definitely did something.
“What did you do?” I narrow my eyes to slits.
He holds his hands up. “Nothing. I swear, I’m a good boy.”
“The fact that you didn’t stop at‘nothing’, then claimed you were a‘good boy’tells me you weren’t. What did you do to my phone, Ellis?” I raise a brow.
“You’ll just have to find out.” He winks, then lowers quickly and pecks my cheek.Noah and Gabe are practically the same height, although I suspect Gabe is maybe half an inch taller, maybe even a third.
