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She had no idea what to do, or how to proceed. Hell, he had asked her to marry him. It shouldn’t be so odd for her to call him—or even send a friendly text.
Yet, she couldn’t do it. She wasn’t brave enough.
No matter how many times she tried to tell herself she had the courage, she didn’t. She was a coward. Pretending otherwise didn’t make it true.
Ignoring her phone, she grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured herself a cup to the rim, mixing in a splash of creamer to add a bit of caramel flavor.
She nearly dropped her coffee mug when a loud banging sounded on her door. Then an agitated voice joined the knocking.
“You open this door right now, Mia Joanna Carter.”
Oh, dear.
Although she hadn’t given Jaxson a concrete answer—more like no—he told Gabby they were together. Getting married! She still couldn’t believe she’d said yes, or that he’d even asked her. This had to be moving too fast. What was wrong with them?
As Mia walked to the door with her coffee mug—to act as a shield—she wondered why Gabby would be so upset by the idea they finally got together. Mia thought that’s what she had wanted all along.
The second she unlocked the door, Gabby pulled her into her arms. Not even the hot coffee that splashed and spilled over the rim, some on her, some on Gabby, stopped Gabby from squeezing her like she was afraid she’d back away.
Maybe she wasn’t mad. This felt like a strong hug. More so, congratulatory. That made more sense.
Then Gabby pulled back, her hands gripping her shoulders tight, to the point her fingernails dug into her skin.
“What is wrong with you?”
She held her half-empty mug in one hand as her other clutched Gabby’s back. She could feel herself trembling and hated that she couldn’t hide that small detail from her best friend.
But why was she trembling? Why did Gabby seem madandrelieved?
“I thought you’d be happy.”
“Happy?” Gabby practically shrieked. “You were nearly shot yesterday by some punk-ass kid, which you didn’t bother to tell me, and you think I’d be happy about that?”
Oh, okay. Gabby’s attitude made a lot more sense now.
How had she forgotten about the attempted robbery?
More happiness bubbled up to the surface, and she had to force herself to suppress another sappy smile. Because Jaxson didn’t tell Gabby yet. He had respected her by waiting to finish that conversation.
Though it made no sense—even to her own rattled brain—she wasn’t ready to tell Gabby they were an item.
“Oh, you’re talking about that. Yeah, that was terrible. I don’t want to relive it by talking about it.”
Which wasn’t a lie, but with the added sorrow in her eyes, Gabby immediately toned down her anger, her eyes betraying the sympathy Mia knew would appear. Because she was fragile. She couldn’t handle stressful things. Gabby knew this. At least, she liked to pretend at times she couldn’t handle it. Playing a part was easier than facing the truth. She felt like a terrible friend for pulling that card out. Constantly. Especially when she wanted to avoid a subject.
Gabby finally let go of her shoulders, narrowing her eyes. “Of course I’m talking about that. What did you think I was talking about?”
She couldn’t lie to Gabby. While she didn’t always tell her friend everything, liking to keep some secrets to herself, she never outright lied to her friend.
Until now.
“That Brick said we could have Dane’s party at the bar.”
Her smile didn’t falter, but her heart pounded like a stampede of elephants as the lie slipped from her lips.
Damn it. She just told herself not to lie, and she did it anyway.
Mental reminder—call Brick as soon as Gabby leaves and book the bar for the party.
