Chapter Eleven
“So, what you’re saying is that statute fifty-two, bylaw four states that you guys can resolve this with a dance off?” Sebastian’s eyebrows rose almost to his hairline as he said this.
“Not in the typical sense,” Gabe tried to explain to Sebastian once again. Of all the things he could’ve forgotten to bring, he hadn’t grabbed his copy of the township bylaws which outlined the convoluted codes for buying a downtown property. “Think more of a 1920’s dance-a-thon.”
Sebastian sat in silence for a moment. “Okay, I am thinking of that, and it still doesn’t help me understand why that would be a legal way to solve a property dispute.”
Greyson, who was lying on the leather sofa, moved his arm off his eyes. “No one knows why.”
“And this is the same building that was the speakeasy?”
“Yes,” Greyson and Gabe answered in unison.
The planning part of the morning so far had had little actual planning. Sebastian, in an apparent attempt to understand the town and its laws better before offering his advice, had been asking question after question, and his frustration increased with each brother’s reply.
Sebastian sat thoughtful for a moment before asking, “Do you think you can out dance Devlin?”
Gabe laughed at the reality of his situation. He’d gone from putting an offer in on the building, to being told he needed to put together a proposal that would beat out the woman he was scared he was falling for, to seriously considering having a dance competition to win.
“This thing is going to drive me nuts,” he said. “It doesn’t help that I forgot to bring a copy of the city codes so I could try to find some sort of loophole that would make me a slam dunk.”
“You shouldn’t need loopholes, Gabe. You’ve got a strong proposal, plus your business has been established for many more years than Devlin’s.” Greyson put his hand back over his eyes and groaned. “I hate talking like this. I like Devlin!”
Gabe swallowed past the lump in his throat that popped up every time he started to think about winning. He’d been able to peek behind the curtain that Devlin had kept shut when they shopped for his house and no matter what voice was telling him to be cutthroat about business, a louder, more insistent voice stated that whatever this woman had to show him was far more important than a business expansion. The problem was, he didn’t know which voice to listen to.
Sebastian pulled out his phone. “The city codes have to be on the township website.” He tapped the screen a few times before cursing. “Fuck! I forgot about this whole no reception thing.”
“I can’t be upset with anyone but myself,” Gabe admitted. “I had it all saved to my thumb drive”—he tapped at his computer’s keyboard—“but that’s no good if I forget the thumb drive.”
“I can’t think of a single place within a two hundred mile radius from Atlanta that doesn’t have cell reception,” Sebastian complained.
“Same for L.A.,” Greyson added, sitting up on the couch, a yawn escaping.
“C’mon, guys,” Gabe implored. “Isn’t there something to be said about the solitude of knowing there’s no point in picking up your phone just to check if anything needs your attention? That the world will continue to function without your input. You can focus on the here and now, whoever you’re with and whatever you’re doing.”
“I have trouble with the here and now,” Sebastian admitted. “Something always needs my attention.”
Greyson pointed at Sebastian holding his phone. “Why do you still have it with you? You know your phone isn’t gonna work, just throw it in your bag until we leave.”
Sebastian gave a rueful grin. “I still think a hundred emails and texts will all start coming in at once.”
“They won’t,” Greyson assured him. “You’ll be about halfway down the mountain when that happens and since you’re driving, you’ll have to wait until you’re home.”
“I’ll just have Winters read them all to me, get some business done on the drive back.”
“You’re not going to have anything coming through that you don’t want her to see?” Gabe asked.
“Nah, I’ve been so busy since I moved here that I haven’t had any time for fun. Having Sofia here at New Years didn’t help, either. That was my last chunk of time not sitting at my desk and I spent it doing sibling bonding.”
Greyson got up to stoke the fire while saying, “I find it hard to believe that you’ve been celibate since October.”
“Longer than that, if you must know,” Sebastian admitted. “I’m serious when I say that buying The Bee and the move has taken up every ounce of my energy. And no offense to Amber Falls, but there’s not exactly a swinging singles scene here. It’s a college town and the older I get, I just don’t have the patience for twenty year olds.”
Gabe laughed. “And I’m sure they’re just as thankful that Old Man Locke isn’t as lecherous as media moguls are portrayed. Besides, you don’t need a group of ladies, just one. In fact, I know that Annab—”
“Enough about me,” Sebastian broke in. “Since we’re at a standstill with work, who else wants to talk about their feelings?” He gave Gabe a pointed look.
“Hey, man, I don’t have feelings,” Gabe insisted, lying through his front teeth. “In fact, I’m completely dead inside.”
“I have so many feelings,” Greyson said.
“We know, Grey. We know,” Sebastian deadpanned. “I’m serious, Gabe. I got some…vibes between you and Devlin. You wouldn’t stop looking at her at breakfast this morning.”
“No vibes whatsoever. We’re competitors, that’s the whole reason we’re here—to take business away from the other person. She wouldn’t be here if you didn’t invite her, since this trip was supposed to be just us, but Grey couldn’t bear to be apart from Prudence for two days.”
“You’ll get it someday, bro,” Greyson promised.
They sat in silence for a few minutes until Sebastian spoke. “You know the ladies are having this exact same conversation downstairs, don’t you?”
* * * *
“You’re here because you want to be, Devlin,” Prudence insisted. “Being here with Gabe is the only reason why.”
“While I don’t quite agree with that,” Annabelle broke in, “I’d like to think that our company is stellar, I do agree that Gabe was a big draw for you coming along.”
“I don’t think it matters what you two think. Don’t forget that I agreed to this before I knew Gabe would be here.”
“But you didn’t back out of it,” Prudence explained. “Besides, I saw you wiggle that cute little butt of yours when he was looking.”
Devlin felt her face flame. “I was just having a little fun.”
“Fun is putting together a charcuterie board for dinner, not wagging your ass at a dumbstruck Gabe,” Annabelle said.
“I was not wagging it. I just gave a little shimmy, and I only did it because it was so obvious he was staring.”
“Did something happen at the shopping trip that you’re not telling us? Because it seems like you’re not telling us something.” Prudence went to the kitchen to grab the pot of coffee, snagging a snack tray from the fridge on her way back.
“Nope, nothing happened at the shopping trip,” Devlin insisted.
Annabelle narrowed her eyes. “Hmm. Did something happen at a time, say, other than the shopping trip?”
Devlin knew she hadn’t told them about the kiss, and she justified her silence by a nagging feeling that they’d meddle more if she said anything, and she needed meddling friends right now less than a Scooby Doo villain did.
“Okay, don’t be mad,” Devlin started.
Annabelle stopped midway through opening a package of crackers. “I knew you were holding out on us!”
“Last week I was looking at the art gallery. The movers had just finished emptying the place and they let me look around after I promised them I’d lock up.” She saw the wide eyes of her friends and realized that she might shock the unflappable duo with this next admission. “Gabe came in after me and I don’t remember who started it, but all of a sudden I was against the wall, and we were making out.”
“All of a sudden?” Prudence asked. “A deer jumps out at you all of a sudden. You don’t shove your tongue down someone’s throat all of a sudden.”
“You know what I mean, Pru! I wasn’t expecting it to happen. I was a ball of nerves on the day of the town council meeting, and I guess it just took the edge off.” Devlin looked over at Annabelle, who had been silent so far. Suspicion filled her—Annabelle was up to no good when she was quiet like this.
“Oh,” Annabelle said when the attention was directed at her. “I’m sure it did. Take the edge off, I mean.” She continued to nibble on a cracker. Devlin wasn’t fooled by her lack of reaction.
“C’mon, AB. What do you want to say?” she asked.
“Well.” Annabelle took her sweet time finishing her bite. “You and Gabe already have a history. I know that you both want the same shop, but why should that stop you from having some fun with him in the meantime?”
“Having some fun with him?” Devlin wasn’t sure she understood what Annabelle was getting at.
“You know,” Annabelle started to explain, “get your frustrations out. There has to be something cathartic about absolutely fucking his brains out knowing that he’s the source of your frustration.”
Prudence guffawed at this, then appeared to reconsider. “That’s a pretty good point.”
“That’s a terrible point!” Devlin exclaimed. “What happens when the city makes their decision and one of us loses? Who do you guys pick then? I meant it this morning when I said I don’t want my need to buy this building to come between any of you guys.”
“Who says we have to choose?” Prudence pointed out. “Life goes on. You guys make it work, or you don’t work, and were just fuck buddies for a while. We’re all adults.”
“You don’t believe that.” Devlin was shocked at what they were saying. “You’re telling me that if you and Grey don’t work out, we’ll all continue to sing kumbaya together as one big happy group?”
Prudence had the courtesy to appear abashed. “That’s different.”
“Pru, you know it wouldn’t end up any different.” Devlin needed to calm down. She felt like she was getting upset with her best friends every time they had a conversation about Gabe. She was better than that. They were better than that.
“I appreciate your advice, but like I said before, and what seems to be the theme of this weekend, none of this is personal.”
Even as she said so, she knew she was lying because every single thing with Gabe seemed very personal. As much as she tried not to think about her ex-boyfriend, she was thrown off guard whenever he popped into her head like he did now. He had been controlling, and she couldn’t help to bring him into the equation. She tried to tell him to leave, that it had been over a year and she was tired of putting him into her situations, still making decisions based on what she thought he’d do, or how he’d react. Like now, she knew he’d expect her to put him first, to put everything she wanted on the back burner in order to make him happy. She didn’t know how to stop this.
Get the fuck out of my head, you asshole.
Annabelle, who had the knack of knowing when a change of subject was needed, laid her hand on Devlin’s arm, indicating a cease fire. “What do you think they guys are doing? They should be coming down for lunch anytime now.”
As if manifested out of thin air, they heard footsteps on the stairs.
“Ah, here come the three wise men now,” Annabelle deadpanned.
Greyson made his way to Prudence, pulling her into a hug and a deep kiss. “I missed you, Pru.”
Prudence returned the kiss and sighed. “We’re ready to take a break for some lunch, what about you?”
“I’m famished,” Sebastian exaggerated. “What did you ladies make for lunch?”
“We’re very important businesswomen, Sebastian. We’ve been waiting for house husband Greyson to come and make us some food,” Devlin teased.
“House husband. I like the sound of that, believe it or not.” Greyson nodded his assent.
“You would,” Gabe said. “I’ll grab stuff for sandwiches. Don’t let us bother you, keep your planning session going.” He leaned over Devlin’s shoulder, obviously pretending to look at her notes.
“Hey! Eyes off, mister,” Devlin admonished, surprised but pleased at his playfulness.
Gabe winked and went to the fridge to gather supplies for lunch.