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“They’re cominguphere. As in right this second.”
A triple series of knocks interrupts our conversation, and Gage goes to answer the door. I’m behind him, my chest hitting his back, when he opens it.
A bright smile pops on Willow’s cherry-colored lips. “Well, well, look at what we have here.” She points to Gage. “Bet me five hundred bucks I know your name.”
“Willow, stop messing with him,” I say with a groan.
She smiles. “And who exactly ishim? He your milkman, your landlord, yourex?”
Gage holds out his hand. “I’m Gage, definitely not the milkman, kind of the landlord, and yes, the ex ...for now.”
“I vote for you to keep him,” Willow says to me.
We move to the side to let Willow in. Maven is next to her, their hands entwined, and Dallas is behind them with Samuel in his arms.
“Gage, man, good seeing you,” Dallas says.
Gage nods toward Samuel. “Congratulations on the addition to your family.”
“The little one is my daughter, Maven, and the loudmouth to her side is my baby mama, Willow,” Dallas says, jerking his head toward them. “A heads-up, she wasn’t born with a filter.”
Gage laughs. “The good ones never are. I’d love to catch up, but I’m due for work soon.” He kisses the top of my head. “See you soon.”
“Gage, huh?” Dallas asks when Gage shuts the door behind him. “Can’t say I’m surprised once I heard he was back in town.”
Willow sighs, her shoulders slumping. “Man, this is one of those times I wish I had grown up here. I need some juicy dating history.”
Dallas hands Samuel over to me at my request and gives his good-byes. He drove the tow truck to take my car into their shop. Even though Gage offered to look at it, I can’t put that on him.
I sit down with Samuel in my arms and rock back and forth while Maven roams around the loft, loaded with curiosity. The girl might be only seven, but she’s a nosy one. She must’ve inherited that gene from my family.
Willow points to my clothes. “This a new style of yours?”
I glance down at myself. I’m sporting a pair of Gage’s shorts and a scrub shirt. “Thought I’d try something new.”
She snorts. “Yeah, whatever. I can’t wait to get you alone.”
Twenty-Two
Gage
“And good morningto my best friend who finally got laid,” Kyle calls out, slapping me on the back when I walk into the station. “Was it an exorcism with the ex?”
All eyes of my coworkers go to me, and I don’t answer him as I take long strides to my office, him trailing behind me. I’ve already been a subject of gossip since I got home, and now, Kyle has sparked the curiosity in their heads even more. They’ll be keeping their ears open for any information they can gather and spill out to their friends and family.
I expected him to give me shit eventually, but damn, am I that transparent when it comes to Lauren? Maybe it’s easier for people to read us than it is for us to read ourselves.
I read Lauren this morning, and I saw the confusion and panic in her. It was a familiar feeling.
“How about you quit worrying about my relationship?” I respond when we reach my office, and he plops down in the chair in front of my desk.
Kyle has his own office, which he hardly frequents because he hates being alone. Blame it on growing up in a large family where there was always noise in the background.
His eyes crinkle at the corners. “Ah … so it’s a relationship now?”
I rub at my tired eyes. “Why are you asking me these questions?”
“You look the happiest you’ve been since you moved back, which is a giant motherfucking dis to my ass, considering you haven’t ever been that happy to see my smiling face.”
