Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Gabe
“ W e’re here!” Molly yells as we walk in the door to her office. She nods her head toward the kitchen, and I follow her back, putting the take-out bags on the island. The kitchen is big and bright, with a massive white island and lots of homey touches like clusters of candles, funky glass bottles, and interesting glassware set in the green, glass-fronted cabinets.
The whole office is like this. Classy, fun, and sophisticated. I can see Molly everywhere here. There is so much I don’t know about her. How she ended up in law and if she still dances, and whether she still loves chocolate chip pancakes for dinner and a million other things too. But from what I can see, she’s happy, and she’s made a really beautiful life here.
I hope she lets me be a part of it.
“Who’s we?”
My thoughts are cut off by one of Molly’s friends, strolling into the kitchen with a tall blond guy who has his arm tossed around her shoulder. I recognize them both from the party I accidentally crashed.
“Well, who do we have here?” The brunette gives me a sly smile as she approaches. I smile back, trying to project I’m super fun and friendly! Please like me because if you don’t, I don’t have a chance .
Before I have a chance to speak, the guy next to her leans down and presses a kiss to her head. “Be nice, Hallie Girl. He’s Molly’s.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Are you? Molly’s?”
My smile turns into a grin. I like these two. “I was once. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make sure I will be again.”
Her smile spreads. “That’s what we like to hear. I’m Hallie Evans, and this is my husband, Ben Parker. He’s also Julie’s twin brother, and we’re all big fans of anyone who’s a big fan of Molly.”
“What she said.” Ben reaches out his hand to shake mine. “Good to meet you, and welcome to town. Settling in okay? Pittsburgh is a long way from San Francisco.”
Something about Ben makes me want to tell him all my secrets. “I really am. I love it here already. San Francisco wasn’t home anymore.”
I glance over at Molly who is unpacking sandwiches and stuff on the other side of the island. She looks up and winks at me, and it hits me right in the chest. When I turn back, Ben is giving me an understanding look, and Hallie has a gleeful smile on her face, eyes bouncing back and forth between Molly and me.
“Stop it! Oh, my god, Gabriel Sullivan really is here!”
I turn when I hear my name and see Asher Hansley walk into the kitchen with Julie, Emma, Jeremy Wright, and a guy and girl I haven’t met yet. Asher makes a beeline for me.
“Jesus Christ, Asher,” Jeremy mutters. “You know you’re famous too, right?”
Asher gives me an awestruck look. “I was famous for throwing a ball. He’s famous for inventing a phone that changed the world. That’s so fucking cool. You really should have made a pink one though. I have four sisters, and they all wanted a pink one. I’m Asher Hansley, by the way. I’m an early adopter. I’ve owned every generation of the Redwood, and I belong to her.” He points at Julie and gives her a wink.
“Okay, well, I’m Gabe, and I really hope at some point soon I’ll belong to her.” I point to Molly, and Asher grins at me while Julie shakes her head.
“I can’t believe there are two of them,” she mutters. “Good to see you again, Gabe. You’ve met Emma, and that’s her fiancé, Jeremy. This is Allie and Jordan. They’re still sulking because they missed the party last weekend, and they love gossip more than is probably healthy.”
“Nah, Jules, I think I like gossip just the right amount. I’m Allie Hayes, and I heard you made quite the entrance at that party.”
I shrug and smile. “I do like to make an entrance, although that may have been more than I bargained for. I didn’t mean to crash that party. I just was?—”
“Coming to track down the girl of your dreams who you hadn’t seen in ten years? It’s romantic as fuck. I still can’t believe I missed it.”
Jordan slides his arms around Allie and tugs her back into his chest, kissing the side of her head. “Baby girl, the way he keeps glancing over at Molly tells me there are lots of romantic moments in his future for you to spy on. Even if we did miss the good one,” he grumbles.
Molly is still on the other side of the island watching me talk to the whole group with an expression I can’t decipher on her face. I hope she’s not upset about all the posturing from her friends about whatever future we may or may not have because, holy god, do I want that future. With her. And these people. I’ve only known some of them for five minutes, yet I already know this is a family. The kind I’ve been looking for since my parents died.
“I hope we’ll be seeing a lot of you.” Emma’s voice snaps me back to the group, and the look she gives me makes me feel like she can see directly into my head.
Jeremy wraps an arm around her waist and drops a kiss on her head. “Don’t freak him out with the spooky mind-reading yet, Ems. I think Molly wants to keep him.”
Molly appears at my side, her stack of bracelets clinking happily as she links an arm through mine. “I might. I haven’t decided yet.”
“Holy shit, Molly, What the fuck happened to your arm?” Julie pushes past Asher and grabs the arm Molly just linked through mine. The arm that now sports a bruise in the shape of a handprint. Her hand is gentle on Molly’s arm, but when she turns to look at me, her eyes are murderous. Molly jumps in before I have a chance to say no fucking way .
“No, Jules. Not him. No way. He would never. It was Brad Randall.”
Julie narrows her eyes on the bruise. “Asshole Brad?”
“He needs a new nickname,” I grumble. “Asshole isn’t bad enough.”
Julie gives me a satisfied look, and I breathe a little sigh of relief because she’s scary when she’s mad.
“Okay, well, how the hell did you end up with a bruise in the shape of Asshole Brad’s hand on your arm, and why is he not cooling his heels in a jail cell after you pressed charges for assault?”
Molly sighs. “It’s a long story. Let’s grab food, and I’ll tell you all together.”