AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shrugged, hating that she could feel the tears threatening once more. “And then before she’d tell me anything else, she told me to leave.” Blowing out a deep breath, she tried to ignore the pain reflecting in his eyes. “What a shitty day. I’m sorry, Jaxson. I don’t know what to say right now.”
Dane clapped, the sudden noise making her and Jaxson jump. “I say we eat. The lasagna you had cooking is done. It smells delicious.”
She knew he was trying to dispel the tension, and shift everyone’s focus to something else, but she didn’t feel like eating. She didn’t even feel like socializing. As terrible as it sounded—because Jaxson needed her support right now—she wanted him to leave.
Her bottom lip trembled.
She wanted Dane to leave, too.
It didn’t make her any better than Mia. She felt sick to her stomach at how she felt.
She wanted to be left alone. Cry in silence. In peace. Where no one could witness her breakdown. Her weakness.
Steeling her spine, she forced the tears back once more. Stopping the trembling of her lip. Smoothed her features into indifference. She couldn’t fake happiness, but she could hide the sadness.
Maybe.
Dane’s smile remained as he waited for her to say something in response.
Jaxson looked between both of them, yet silent.
“Look. I know you both had a terrible day. The night isn’t turning out much better with what happened with Mia, and I’m sorry.” Dane tipped his head toward Jaxson as if communicating something with him silently. She wondered what it could be. “We’re all here. We all need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.” She was surprised she could even speak. She barely had the energy to think right now. She wanted to curl up under her covers and bawl her eyes out.
His smile disappeared—a tortured kind of agony filtered into his gaze. “Maybe you want to be alone. I can respect that, Gabriella. I will respect that if you want me to leave.” Then his expression hardened. “As long as Jaxson stays. But I won’t leave you completely alone.”
Warmth filled her heart, shattering a bit of her hurt away.
Wow. If she hadn’t already decided she loved him, this would’ve sealed the deal.
He couldn’t stand Jaxson. Barely tolerated him at times, his jealousy consumed him so much. Yet, he was willing to leave and let Jaxson console her. Hell, let her console Jaxson as well. They were both hurting from the day. One, from work. The other, from Mia.
Jaxson cleared his throat. “That…that’s nice of you to offer, Dane, but I’ll leave, and you stay.”
Geez. Were these two about to argue who was going to stay and who was going to leave? She was in no mood to dispel an argument that would sound like two kindergarteners arguing over a box of crayons and who got to pick the first color.
As much as she appreciated Dane’s gesture, she still wanted to be alone. She loved the man for his thoughtfulness, but she needed to break down in peace.
“How about you both leave? I’ll be fine, and we all need time to ourselves.”
Dane crossed his arms. His expression turned fierce and unyielding—the same look he’d given her when she gave him lip at work.
“I’m not leaving if Jaxson is leaving. I won’t leave you alone.”
She mimicked his expression, folding her arms and giving him a stern stare. “I want to be alone.”
“Tough.” He smirked, little devils dancing in his eyes. “You didn’t say please.”
Her eyes narrowed. She wanted to bash him over the head with the book laying on her coffee table for being so obstinate. But then she also had the urge to laugh at his teasing.
Before she could counter with her own witty remark, Jaxson rounded the coffee table and stood in front of her, shielding Dane from her view.
“Give the guy a break, Gabs. Let him stay. Don’t push him away. Don’t ruin this thing going on between you two.”
Whoa. What a change in his attitude toward Dane.
“What happened to hating him?”
