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ChapterFourteen
FELIX
Iflipped burgers on the grill out on the porch and sipped my beer. I had a bottle of 611 Ale ready for Gemma when she came downstairs.
“Is that for me?” Gemma asked. She pointed toward the beer on the table a few feet away.
“Geez, Gem, you’re sneaky. Yeah, it’s for you.”
“I thought you were kidding about having a beer waiting for me. You need help with dinner?”
“Nah. Sit that fine ass down. I got it.”
It surprised me when she didn’t argue, but sat down at the table while I finished dinner.
Telling her about my dad and Skye had been like a weight lifted off my shoulders, but it still didn’t excuse my behavior, and a part of me wished she hadn’t been so understanding. I’d rather she screamed in my face and told me it didn’t matter because I was still a dick. That would have made things way easier. But no, sweet, little Gemma had to be nice and forgive me.
I turned off the grill and put the burgers on a paper plate. I joined Gemma at the table where I had laid out all the fixings for dinner. I sat next to her, and she grabbed a bun to assemble her burger. I heaped potato salad on my plate and squirted ketchup and mustard on my bun.
We ate in companionable silence, sipping our beers and enjoying being able to eat outdoors. Maybe I should have told her about Skye sooner.
“I think I’ll make another fire tonight,” she said after finishing her burger.
“Yeah? You want help this time?”
She shook her head. “Nah. I like doing it. Thanks for dinner.”
I watched her take the dinner supplies back inside. She came outside a little while later and walked down to the fire pit to get the fire started. I joined her in front of the fire after getting us another round of beers. She gave me a smile as she took hers, but she was busy with something in her hands.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Oh. I make jewelry,” she said.
“Oh. Like the one around your neck?”
She nodded. “Yup.”
“Pretty. What do you do that for?”
She shrugged. “Fun. I have a store, but I don’t make a lot off of it. It’s mostly friends and family.”
“What’s it called?” I asked, and I took my phone out.
She grimaced. “Don’t laugh.”
“I won’t.”
Her expression didn’t change. “Yes, you will.”
“Just tell me.”
“Gemma’s Gems.”
My shoulders shook as I tried not to laugh.
She kicked my foot. “I said not to laugh!”
“It’s not terrible,” I lied. I pulled up her craft shop and winced when I saw the terrible logo on her shop. It looked like she threw up the shop name in freaking PowerPoint. “Oh, Gem, let me make you a better logo.”
