Page 44 of See You Next Tuesday

“Nah, you were doing something nice.” Kira clapped his shoulder, smiling as color returned to her face. “Hey, but you should still jump! We can all wait for you at the bottom. It’ll be awesome.”

“No, that’d be weird. Don’t worry about it.”

Gabe laughed uncomfortably and shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked so awkward that Anya almost felt sorry for him.

“You bought two tickets, right?” Judy stepped forward, and Gabe turned to her in surprise.

“Uh…yeah?”

“So I’ll go.”

“What?!” Walt looked at Judy in shock.

“Mom, what are you talking about?” Anya gasped.

Judy folded her arms and looked at all of them like they were being complete fools. Walt and Anya called this her “teacher look,” and it was one of the most highly effective weapons in her vast arsenal for getting her way. Even though Judy was only five-foot-three, same as Anya, with the same zaftig figure and unruly curls (graying curls, now), she could still be deeply intimidating when she wanted to be.

“What, you can play spy all summer and I can’t go on one bungee jump?” she said to Walt. Then she turned to Gabe. “You don’t want to go alone. So I’ll go with you.”

“I…” Gabe looked like he genuinely didn’t know what to say. In eight years of knowing him, Anya had never seen that before. “Are you sure?”

“Is it safe?” Judy gave him an appraising look, and he nodded. She broke into a wide smile. “Then why not? It sounds fun.”

It had, undoubtedly, been one of the weirder days of Gabe’s life.

Meeting Anya’s parents was one thing—how immediately terrific they were, how totally alone it made him feel to stand in an elevator with Anya and her parents and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend. God, that guy was ordinary. He was nice enough, whatever, and she certainly seemed to like him; she couldn’t stop kissing him all afternoon. He was big, so. Gabe guessed there was that. He could go fell a tree for her if necessary.

It wasn’t like Gabe cared who Anya dated. He was happy with Tallulah, and it was none of his business what Anya did with her personal life. She could start a polycule with ten dull lumberjacks for all he cared. It just got on his nerves that Anya acted like she was too good for Gabe and then got together with some guy who wore gym shorts to a party and ditched her before it was over.

And all that was before Gabe jumped off a building with Anya’s mother.

He didn’t know why he thought Judy would be soft or kindly—probably because everyone loved her so much down at the phone bank. But of course she wasn’t. She was tough and smart and fiery, and completely stubborn, and insanely brave. She was just like Anya. It was surreal, watching Judy strap on a bright teal jumpsuit and click into her helmet, walking together onto that small platform as the wind whooshed around them and the sun set over Sin City, the neon lights of the casinos already blazing.

Gabe thought he’d need to comfort Judy, or encourage her at least, but she never wavered. It was like she’d made up her mind to do the thing, so the only conceivable option was to do it. Then they were plunging through the air, and Gabe was yelling with exhilaration, and Judy was whooping like a teenager at prom, and when they made it to the landing pad Judy jumped up and down and pulled Gabe into a tight hug, this incredible hug.

“Thank you,” she said to him, her eyes shining.

“Don’t thank me, thank Isaac Newton,” Gabe joked, and Judy threw back her head and laughed. But then Walt and Anya rushed over to Judy, and they were all so excited and worried and hugging and shouting questions at one another, and Kira and Simone were there hugging Gabe, and then they went back upstairs to eat more cupcakes. It was all normal, except—Gabe felt off. Not from the jump. Or maybe from the jump, he wasn’t sure.

Despite his protests, Judy sent Gabe home with a whole tray of leftover cupcakes, and Anya went over to Kira and Simone’s place so they could get ready for Chandelier Bar together. It was Simone’s favorite bar in Vegas, set inside a giant chandelier so you were surrounded at all times by thousands of crystals suspended in midair. This would be a smaller group than the party at the Strat, only ten people or so, all in cocktail attire—a bonus since Gabe loved any excuse to break out his favorite suit, black and crisp with a subtle sheen.

He checked his reflection in his hallway mirror. The apartment he’d leased for the cycle was sleek and masculine with dark walls, big windows, and leather furniture. The suit looked great with a black button-down beneath it, worn open at the collar. His sandy hair was combed back, and a gold chain and black boots were the perfect finishing touches. It all felt so Vegas—a little seedy, a little splashy. Gabe loved how this town made him feel: like nothing was a problem, because everything was temporary.

Gabe was ready to go an hour before they were scheduled to meet, and waiting around his apartment made him twitchy. (He tried FaceTiming Tallulah, but she didn’t pick up. He wasn’t sure what time zone she was in this week.) So he decided to head to the bar a little early. The bartender on shift was cute; Gabe told her to surprise him and she made some kind of spicy Thai-inspired coconut lemongrass gin cocktail that was ridiculously strong.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“I think you’re trying to get me into trouble,” he said with a grin.

“Please.” She returned the smile. “Like you need my help with that. I’m Morgan, by the way.”

Gabe introduced himself, and they got to chatting. He was three drinks deep by the time the others arrived. Kira wore low-slung trousers and a matching vest with nothing under it, and Simone looked fantastic in a gold cocktail dress. But when Anya walked in behind them, Gabe’s breath caught in his throat. She was wearing a strapless gray silk bustier top trimmed with black beads that dangled and caught the light as she walked. It was tight across her chest—considerably tighter than that red dress she’d worn earlier, which Gabe hadn’t hated either. It seemed like the bustier was barely containing her, and when she turned to say something to Simone, Gabe saw it tied in the back with silk ribbon, the fabric not quite coming together to cover her pale skin. He’d never seen Anya wear anything like this; it was practically lingerie. It didn’t help that her long black skirt had a slit that ran up to her thigh, or that her sandals were tall and strappy, or that her hair was pressed into loose waves that tumbled over her bare shoulders.

Gabe had a vicious, involuntary thought that he was glad Zeke had to leave town. He didn’t deserve to touch Anya when she looked like this.

Anya usually kept her distance with Gabe, particularly when the staff went drinking after work. But right now, staring at her, Gabe felt like he was dying, so of course she was walking straight toward him.

“Hey,” she said casually. “How are you feeling?”