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“Champs?” Dane started to laugh. He finished off his first beer and grabbed the new one and downed half of that before more laughter started to escape.
Jaxson followed his actions, only a little slower. “I’m missing the joke.”
“My brother, Champ. The bastard. He’ll be the golden boy once again tomorrow.” Dane wanted to smash the beer bottle against the counter. “Can’t ever win against my brother. I guess it figures. I can’t win the heart of the woman I love either.”
Jaxson spewed beer over the counter. “Shit. You love Gabs?”
Damn it. He hadn’t meant to let that slip.
He looked over at Brick and lifted his beer. “Round three, Brick. Pronto.”
Brick winked, and Dane knew he was going to have a helluva hangover tomorrow.
Oh, what a birthday party it would be.
* * *
After Mia left,Gabby didn’t know what to do with herself. The conversation she had with Mia went through her mind like a tape rewinding in a VCR. Then she popped in another tape and rewound the conversation between Mia and Dane.
So maybe he had been sticking up for her. But with Mia? It wasn’t necessary.
But the more times she rewound and fast-forwarded, trying to pinpoint one anomaly that could keep her in an irate state, she couldn’t find one.
He had said what he did out of caring. Even Mia had agreed with what he had said to her.
With that knowledge in mind, she did what any normal person would do when they needed to apologize.
She took a shower.
Again.
Because she wasn’t normal. She was messed up, imperfect, and made bad decisions all the time.
Right now, she felt like acting like a coward. Plus, the hot water felt so nice on her skin. As if it could cleanse all the hurt out of her body.
Her idiotic mistakes.
The fact she probably shot a man.
Of course, the man had killed his girlfriend and had tried to kill them. It was shoot or die themselves. They had no choice.
It still didn’t make her feel better or erase the image of his bloodied body from her mind, lying half on his front porch, half inside the house.
They’d be on administrative leave no more than a week for the investigation to find they had just cause to shoot.
She had no idea what she’d do with herself in that week’s timeframe. Suddenly—unlike last night when she only wanted to be alone in her misery—she wanted company.
She wanted Dane.
Talk about wishy-washy feelings.
Getting out of the shower for the second time that day, she got ready. Blew dry her hair. Styled with soft curls. Applied a tiny bit of makeup: mascara, eyeshadow, and a touch of red lipstick.
Yet, her foolish, scared pride still couldn’t conjure the courage to call Dane. It was now nearing lunchtime. He hadn’t called her yet, either.
Of course, why would he? She kicked him out. He wouldn’t be calling anytime soon.
Trying to erase the pain she had witnessed in his eyes before he walked away, she decided to clean her apartment. Not that it was that messy. She usually picked up after herself right away rather than leave a mess to deal with once a week. But a blanket needed to be folded in the living room. The floor had to be vacuumed. Twice. Well, not really, but the noise filling the silent apartment soothed her somewhat.
