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He slid a hand down her back. “Love you, too, baby.”
Then he moved on, though not before he saw Teresa turn to her brother and cross her arms across her chest.
Into the kitchen, beer out of the fridge.
But listening to every word.
“Why are you here?” No wiggle room in her tone.
Good.
A long silence then, “I’m so sorry, T. I…shouldn’t have said what I did. It was way out of line and—” His voice cut off. “I didn’t mean it. I was…fuck, I never stopped to think about what you might want. I just assumed that…”
“I was a typical useless female?”
“What?No.”
“Then what?”
“Then, fuck, T, I—” The volume of his voice dropped then raised. “I’m jealous, okay?”
That nearly made Jeremy drop his beer, and he leaned back against the countertop in the kitchen, surprised the kid had admitted it, but glad for Teresa that he had.
“You’re doingexactlywhat you want,” Gabe said, “and you’re not scared to go out and try something new and—”
He was getting louder, and Jer had run out of patience.
He moved back down the hall, slipped into her family room.
The siblings were facing off, just a couple of feet apart, and he moved close to Teresa, drew her back against him. A glance up revealed she wasn’t upset, that her lips were actually turning up at the edges.
“Reached your limit?”
He brushed his lips over hers. “Yeah.” He glanced up. “Just because your sister is a badass, doesn’t mean that you can use her like a punching bag.”
Teresa’s hand found his, squeezed lightly.
“IknowI’m an asshole,” Gabe snapped. “But I’m trying to apologize.”
“You said sorry. She accepts—” He glanced down, and Teresa nodded, a bemused smile on her lips. “But it’s late, and we’ve had a hell of a day. You want to rehash this? Do it another day.”
“You let him speak for you?”
“Sometimes.” Teresa’s smile grew. “Because most of the time, he lets me speak for myself.”
Gabe inhaled sharply.
“Listen to your sister,” he said. “She’s the smartest person I know, and she’s taught me that the only way to stop being an asshole is to stop thinking about what you don’t have, start thinking about what you want, and then going out andgettingit.”
Now Gabe exhaled.
And he did it with a bemused smile on his lips.
“You believe that, T?” he asked.
“With every cell in my body.”
“Damn,” Gabe whispered.
