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A full day of…
Well, shit. She wasn’t sure now. Maybe hanging with Mia.
She had figured she’d hang out with Dane, but…that wasn’t happening anymore. She had asked him to leave. And why? Because he saw what neither she nor Mia could see. Because, yeah, when she thought about it, she tended to drop whatever she was doing and be there for Mia no matter what. She couldn’t help it. All she could hear in those moments were her cries of terror.Help me, Gabby. I need you.
Mia pulled away, wiping under eyes, clearing the evidence of her minor breakdown. Gabby wanted to punch a wall, scream in frustration—hell, stomp her feet at how Mia could shed a few tears and still look like a goddess. Her face wasn’t red and blotchy. Her mascara didn’t run even a millimeter down her face. She looked put together while Gabby figured she looked like a horror show doll ready for a massacre to begin.
“I didn’t mean to cause problems between you and Dane.” Mia groaned and rolled her eyes. “Again. I’m always screwing things up for you with him.”
Gabby waved her off. “He shouldn’t have said anything to you. It’s fine.”
Mia tilted her head in that motherly way she could do on occasion. “He had every right to say something to me. You know what that means, right?”
Oh, God.
No, she had no idea what that meant.
“He loves you, you goof,” Mia said with a chuckle.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Gabby mock laughed and headed for the pantry to grab a box of cereal.
She wasn’t sure what Dane had been preparing, but she only needed something light right now.
“Gabby—”
“Hey, we’re not having this conversation,” she said, pointing the bright red cereal box at Mia with a stern expression on her face as if that would stop Mia.
Then her eyes narrowed. Her mind processing everything Mia said since she arrived in lightyear speed.
“How did you know Jaxson and I were involved in a shooting yesterday? I didn’t tell you that over the phone before you got here, and you left so fast, no one had time to tell you then.”
A light blush coated Mia’s cheeks as she glanced away. “Jaxson told me.”
One hand propped to her hip as the other hand pointed the box of cereal at her once again. “When?”
Mia huffed. “Don’t treat me like a suspect. Interrogating me with those beady eyes of yours.”
“These beady eyes?” She narrowed them even further, purposely displaying a bit of her interrogation technique.
“Does that really work?” Mia giggled as she clapped a hand over her mouth.
Slamming the cereal box on the island between them, she smirked when Mia jumped a little. “Oh, I have a whole arsenal I can use on you. Or you can be the best friend that you are and just tell me.”
“Admit Dane loves you.”
“How in the hell would I know that? I can’t read his mind. And trust me, I’m pretty good at reading his facial expressions, and I don’t think he’s anywhere near in love with me.”
Mia narrowed her eyes this time. “So, you love him?”
Gabby started to open her mouth to deny it—which would’ve been a lie—when she pointed a finger at her. Hell, she was tempted to pick up the box of cereal and throw it at her. But then it might make a mess, and she didn’t have the patience to pick up a bunch of tiny pieces of colorful cereal from the floor.
“You’re deflecting from my original question, and I will not allow it. Now, spill. Before I tell Jimmy Calhoun that you really did have a crush on him in high school.”
Mia’s eyes bulged. “You wouldn’t?”
The secret wouldn’t amount to much, considering Jimmy was happily married with two kids. But the embarrassment would be plenty for Mia since she worked with his sister, who always loved to tease her that she liked Jimmy. She always had vehemently denied it. Although Gabby couldn’t blame her. Jimmy—to this day—was a handsome guy. Star quarterback. Sweet. Full of manners. And smart. What woman could resist that? But he always only had eyes for Penny Smithson. Star cheerleader. Annoyingly sweet in her own way. Honestly, they were a cute couple. It sounded cliché, but neither had a mean bone in their body—the perfect, sweet power couple.
Mia crossed her arms. “Fine. A few hours after you left, Jaxson showed up. By that time, I had come to my senses how silly I acted, and I apologized for walking out on him. We made up, and he told me what had happened. I would’ve come over except he told me Dane was here and…” She shrugged, loosening her arms a bit. “Well, I figured you would’ve preferred his company over mine.”
