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Relief washes over me, and I blink back a tear or two. I might find my parents overbearing, but they are all I have.
“Enough about me,” my mom says as I sniff, “Have you found a boyfriend?”
I’m taken aback, and my tears dry up immediately. “What?”
“What?”
“You’ve never asked me if I had a boyfriend before.”
She shrugs. “That’s because I didn’t think you cared for things like that. But there’s something different about you, honey. I can’t put my finger on it, but I know it must be a man. Who is he?”
It’s eerie that she’s not far from the truth, but I’m not naive enough to trust my mom not to look into Gabriel once she finds out who he is.
“There’s no man in my life,” I say as I shake my head. “And I don’t think I have time for one with everything going on in my life.”
She doesn’t look like she believes me, though. “If you don’t want to tell me who he is, it’s fine. I want you to know that I’m happy for you, though. Your dad and I, we—”
“You should rest, Mom,” I cut her short.
“You’re trying to throw me off,” she tutts. “But it’s okay. It’s all right. I’m good at figuring out when my only child wants to share her life with me, and today is not that day.”
I say nothing, only patting her hand until she falls asleep.
Then, I step out of the room to call Gabriel. He assures me that Bucky is fine and that he was wrong about him being mean, which makes me laugh.
“Take care of yourself,” he tells me gently, caringly. “You should take some time to rest while you’re there. Don’t think about work—it’ll be here when you get back.”
“How did you know that was on my mind?”
He makes a sound that puts an image of him shrugging in my head. “I know you to some extent, Harper Quinn. Now, I must go, I have to play fetch with your hundred-pound fur child. Call me if you need anything.”
Does he know how that sounds?
Call me if you need anything.
Let me be the person you can rely on.
You’re always on my mind.
“All right,” I respond and end the call.
“He probably said it as a normal response,” I tell myself.
My attempt to rationalize it doesn’t take away the feeling of warmth that envelopes me as I walk back into the hospital room. It makes me feel like I’m not alone because someone, hours away, is thinking about me.
Chapter 12
Gabriel
"They bailed on us?”
“Yup,” I respond, trying not to sound too eager as Harper shakes her head.
It’s been a week since we last saw each other, and when she called me last night saying that she was back, I had to physically restrain myself from going downstairs. I would have been there with a good reason—dropping off her dog.
Yet I knew I wouldn’t have been able to resist her. I’d hug her and kiss her, or something like that. Even now, with the black, thin strap maxi dress she has on, with the silver heels and matching earrings, I want to hurry up and get out of here so I can kiss her…and maybe take that dress off.
Caleb called when I was back at my apartment and asked if I would ask Harper to go on a double date—Mira’s request. I wasted no time picking up the phone and fist-bumped the air silently when she agreed.
