Page 16 of Shadow
Gage nodded. “Sure is. He’s changed a bit since Elise was killed, but he’s been coming back for a while now. I think he’s finally healing.”
Olivia smiled. “That’s good. He’s been through a lot.”
Gage patted the stool next to the one he slid onto. “Tell me how you’ve been. Why’d you stop coming around?”
“So, we’re just going to dive right in?”
Gage shrugged. “Never saw the point of dipping a toe in. That ain’t gonna beat the Texas heat.”
Olivia laughed. “Gage, you haven’t lived in Texas for like twenty years.”
“You can take the boy out of Texas…” he trailed off with a shrug. “All I’m saying is that I don’t get the point of dicking around with small talk when we can get to the heart of it.”
“I appreciate that about you. I stopped coming because I was embarrassed. After you guys ran Mario out of town, I also felt a little lost and wasn’t sure what I wanted out of life anymore. So, I guess I took a few months to figure that out. And open a second bar.”
“Fair enough. But you’re back now, right?”
Olivia laughed. “Yes. I’m back. Silas got me to agree to dinner with him and his wife. I’m sure Darci will hit me up for drinks sometime soon.”
Gage shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll be bugging you to come see that baby. You knew she had it, right?”
Olivia grinned. “The obvious lack of a baby bump kind of gave it away. Not to mention Carrie told me the last time we had dinner. I’m glad they’re still coming around here.”
Gage grinned. “Me too. They moved Mama Givens in with them to help with the little one.”
She rolled her eyes. “You mean First Lady Givens?”
Gage shrugged. “She told me I could call her that.”
Olivia laughed. “Leave it to you to come up with a nickname for the freaking former first lady.”
“So, what have you been up to besides working? Do you do anything for fun?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Just gaming and cons.”
“Right, you’re into dungeons and dragons or whatever.”
Olivia laughed and took a sip of her drink. “Something like that. It’s not as boring as you make it sound. I promise. I still want to run a game here sometime. We could use the Library.”
Gage squeezed her shoulder. “If it will keep you coming back, I’ll totally let you. We’ve got a full weekend camping event coming up soon. Let’s add a game to the schedule.”
Olivia squealed. “Yay. You’re going to be surprised by how many nerds and geeks are in your club Gage Allard. Edith plays. Did you know that?”
Gage lifted an eyebrow. “I did not. She’s my business partner in all this. How did I not know that about her?”
Olivia shrugged. “I guess you never asked.”
“Don’t get sassy with me.”
“Sassy is her middle name, Gage.”
Olivia stiffened at the sound of Ripley’s voice. But she was already prepared for him to show up. And it was unfair to ask him not to. So, she turned to stick her tongue out at him but nearly choked on it instead. He was freshly shaved and wore a pair of black dress pants and a red button-up shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to reveal the lone tattoo on his left arm. In all their years of sleeping together, she’d never seen him dressed up before. And damn if he didn’t look incredible.
She glanced down at her black denim shorts and white knit top and wished she’d dressed up a little. Then she mentally smacked herself for those thoughts. She was not here to impress Cannon Ripley. She was here to have a good time with her family of choice.
“Evening, Liv. You’re looking especially gorgeous tonight.”
She took a drink and tried not to smile, telling herself not to let the compliment go to her head. “Thanks. You clean up pretty well yourself. I didn’t think you owned anything but camo and jeans.”
