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He shook his head. “Nothing.” He pulled a small jewelry box out of his jacket pocket. He opened it to reveal a small, black metal caduceus on a black chain. “What do you think of this? Do you think Liam will like it?”
I looked at the necklace and back up at my friend. “You got him jewelry? What the fuck?”
Gabe stared at me with a flat expression. “Why not? Why should it matter to you?”
I opened my mouth to say…something. But what could I say? I’d made it clear to Liam that we were casual and not exclusive. I could go out with whoever I wanted, and so could he. But my inner cavemen wanted to tear that box out of Gabe’s hands and throw it in the trash. In a fit of temporary insanity, my brain screamed,He’s mine!I shook off the thought and clenched my jaw. “It doesn’t,” I finally answered.
For some reason, Gabe looked disappointed. “That’s what I thought.” He shook his head. “It’s a shame. Liam is one of the nicest, sweetest people I know.”
My gut twisted. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
Gabe narrowed his eyes and glared at me. “Do you really think we don’t all know you two are fucking?”
“I…”
“Seriously, Marco? We’re fucking ex-Navy SEALs. Observing human behavior is part of the damn job.”
His attitude put me on the defensive. “He knows it’s casual. He knows that’s all I can do.”
“Well, good luck with that,” Gabe sneered. “That man looks at you like you hung the moon and the stars.”
Andrea poked her head around the corner. “Liam just pulled up.”
Gabe put the box back in his pocket and left the kitchen. Andrea’s brows pulled into a frown. “Y’all okay, Sarge?”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” I replied gruffly. “Just a little difference of opinion.”
“All right,” she said, clearly not believing a word I said. “You better come on out. He’s almost to the door.”
I got my shit together and hurried to the living room as Liam walked through the front door. Gabe, Dante, Pete, and Andrea stood in the middle of the room, waiting for him to come in.
“Surprise!” the team shouted.
Liam froze for a second, then his hand went to his mouth. His eyes searched the room until he found me. “You said it was a movie night.”
I couldn’t help but smile. He was cute when he was flustered. “I might have stretched the truth a little.”
He gave me the sweetest smile. “Thank you.” He walked into the room. “You all are great. This is so nice.” He hugged everyone on the team in turn, saving me for last. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head on my chest. “Thank you.”
I wrapped my arms around him and kissed the top of his head. “Happy birthday, Liam.” I looked up and saw Gabe staring at me with narrowed eyes. I stepped away from Liam and said, “Michael couldn’t make it because he had a job tonight, but he said to tell you your present is in your inbox.”
Liam’s smile grew. “Ooh, maybe it’s that game I’ve been wanting to play.”
“Probably,” I replied. “There’s food on the table. Come and eat up. We’ve got a whole chafing dish of Guinness beef stew from that Irish pub in Spring Lake, Irish soda bread, and a birthday cake from Wegman’s.”
Liam’s eyes lit up. “All my favorites.”
“Yep,” I said. “Plus some Guinness and Jameson to wash it down.”
Gabe put an arm around Liam’s shoulders. “You’ll have to introduce me to this Guinness beef stew. I’ve never even heard of it before.”
I was going to kill Gabe. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to get me to stake a claim on Liam. To make it “official” or some shit. It wasn’t going to happen. It couldn’t. At the same time, I wanted to pull him off Liam and choke the shit out of him.
Dante came up to me with a bowl of stew in one hand and a can of Guinness Stout in the other. “Everything okay, Chief?”
I nodded curtly. “Yep. It’s all good.”
“You know, Liam’s a really good guy,” he said out of nowhere.
