She nods, and our eyes lock. For a moment I wonder how different things would be if I’d worked through my shit with her by my side. If I hadn’t run. She’d be mine right now. The thought sends a pulse of heat through me.
The doorbell rings, and it shakes me from my Gabby-induced stupor.
“Can you hold her?” Gabby hands Poppy to me.
Right. I have a child. That means I can’t lose focus.
I bounce my kid and wander into the living room and remind myself there’s a reason things didn’t work out between me and Gabby in the past. We’re in different places. We’ll likely always be in different places.
“What are you doing here?” Gabby’s annoyed voice makes me look up.
That douche Jason is hovering in the doorway. He has two coffees in his hands. Everything in me bristles. Especially when he eyeballs her tits.
Is it wrong that I hope she slams the door in his face too?
“I wanted to make things up to you for last weekend. It all went sideways, and I feel bad. You wouldn’t answer any of my texts and then you blocked me. I just wanted to talk and explain.”
She must realize he’s skeezing on her wet t-shirt because she crosses her arms. “We barely know each other, Jason, but what I do know is that we’re not really compatible.” Her words are direct, but her voice is gentle, even though that dick doesn’t deserve her compassion.
“How can you say that?”
“If we had anything special, you wouldn’t have hooked up with another girl ten minutes after dropping me off.”
What a fucker.
She starts to close the door, and he throws out his arm to hold it open. “Gabby, baby, it wasn’t like that!”
She’s not your fucking baby, asshole. And if he takes one more step toward her, I’m laying him out.
“Jason, I don’t care what it was like. It’s not a big deal that you were with someone else, and that’s telling too. Go hook up. Be my guest. Just please leave me out of the picture.”
“But we never hadthe talk. You know, where we agree to be official and monogamous or whatever.”
“Honestly? I think when you find someone you really want to be with, you don’t need to have ‘the talk.’ If you find the right woman, it would kill you to hook up with anyone else.” She shrugs. “Maybe I want someone who is certain about me and doesn’t need to wait for that kind of conversation to commit to me. Because in his heart, he knows what he wants and goes for it.”
God, she’s beautiful. I love this woman’s spirit.
Suddenly, he spies me in the background.
“What the fuck? Are you dating Kingston now?” He glances at me. “No offense, man. Great game yesterday, by the way. Killer second half.”
Christ. This guy.
Gabby shakes her head. “Who I’m dating is really none of your business, but he and I are neighbors.”
He must see something in my eyes because his narrow. “How can you be with him and not me? He probably fucked a different girl every night last week.”
Excuse me, dickhead. I fucked my hand every night last week, thank you very much.
“Rider’s sex life is none of my business—or yours.”
Is it wrong that I want it to be her business?
He hisses, “Do you have any idea what goes on at his house? What goes down at those parties? Did you know they call the first-floor bathroom the ‘blow job bathroom’? He’ll never be faithful to you.”
“Really, dude?” He just got his ass banned from football parties.
I bounce Poppy on my lap so I’m not tempted to cross the room. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a cheater. After my mother did my dad so dirty, I’d never be able to look at myself in the mirror if I ever pulled that kind of shit.
