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But he couldn’t.
The temptation was too great.
“So, you asked Mia to organize the party, didn’t you?”
“Umm, yeah. I suck at that shit.” She slapped the dashboard, groaning. “Damn it. Ugh. Two quarters now. I should just add five bucks to the jar and we hit up Samson’s Deli later.”
“You won’t hear me disagreeing.” Hell, yes. He was still salivating for the earlier thought of grabbing one of their subs.
“Can I ask you a question?” It came out tentatively as if she didn’t want to ask him, but the urge was too overwhelming. Which was odd. Besides the topic of Mia, Gabby never hesitated with him. She always said it straight.
Which made his heart rat-a-tat-tat a little harder.
It had to do with Mia.
He heard aclink,clink—two more quarters added to the pile—before he responded. “Of course. Not even sure why you’d ask me that. You can always talk to me about anything.”
To some, it might seem odd, or even unbelievable, but Gabby was his best friend. True and honest best friend. Yeah, she was a woman. Yeah, they worked together. But no, he had never—not once—had a sexual thought about her. Women and men could be friends without anything turning awkward, and their friendship was proof of it.
He never wanted her to feel like she couldn’t come to him about anything. Even something concerning Mia.
“Dane…well, he’s been talking to…umm…Champ lately. They’re trying…ugh, I don’t know what that jackass is trying, but Dane hasn’t been as grumpy when Champ calls.”
Interesting news. Although Gabby was his best friend, he had gotten close with Dane as well. They talked about a lot of things. Sometimes, even Gabby. As one of her best friends, he could give Dane insight about her on occasion. Usually what made her tick or how to butter her up to apologize.
“Are you wondering whether you should invite him?”
Because if it was up to Jaxson, that would be a huge hell no!
First off, he was one of the world’s worst brothers.
Second, he dated Mia briefly—and cheated on her. The bastard. To have such a perfect, beautiful woman in his hands, and he treated her so callously. Yep, nope. He’d be on the ban list if it were up to him.
“He is his brother.”
Jaxson couldn’t keep it to himself. “He also cheated on Mia.”
Gabby sighed. “I know. I don’t know what to do.”
Yeah, he didn’t either. And he wasn’t about to give her any advice on the situation. She’d have to make up her own mind. Because if she wanted him to be honest, which she would, he’d say screw the asshole and not invite him.
“Whatever you do, Gabs, don’t ask Mia to invite him.”
That was the most he’d say about the topic. For now.
“Yeah, I agree. I won’t do that.”
2
“What are you working on?” Jezebelle, one of the actresses in the Off-Broadway play, asked as she tried to peer around Mia’s shoulder.
Mia closed her sketch pad and smiled—a friendly one that would ward off more questions, but not be offensive at the same time. Sometimes, it didn’t work, but she liked to practice in the mirror on occasion with her smiles. Gabby liked to think she was fragile. Needed coddling a bit too much. Like she had to walk on glass around her. But she didn’t. She was made of stronger stuff than that. On most days, anyway. Some days she did feel like a tiny mouse being chased by a vicious cat with no escape in sight. Practicing different facial expressions in the mirror helped put on a mask most people didn’t see through—even Gabby, on occasion.
“Oh, nothing much. A surprise party for my best friend’s fiancé. Jotting down different ideas and such.”
Mia wasn’t much for lying. Had she lied in her life? Oh, yes, she had. Sometimes, lying had to be done. Because the truth wasn’t always pretty. People couldn’t handle the truth about certain things. Why make life difficult and awkward when a simple little lie made everything easier? She would never feel guilty about any of those lies. They had kept her sane in a time she felt like her entire world was crumbling down around her.
While she hadn’t given Jezebelle a complete lie—shehadbeen working on that a little while ago—it wasn’t the truth of what she was doing when Jezebelle stepped into her space. So, was she really lying?
