22
Sail
Ace
My girl is adorable when she’s feelin’ guilty. I probably shouldn’t be enjoyin’ it so much, but this shows me that she actually cares. Enough to feel bad for whatever lip lock she had with Gabe.
As if none of us knew that was comin’.
He sends us out every day to investigate the names on her list, the lawyers, and how well they know Blake. Most of that can be done in the office, and we all know it. Yet every time Jake insists on getting lunch for Amanda and Cade follows him, Mikael and I have to leave, too.
We’ve been laughing our asses off about it all week, wonderin’ when he’s gonna make his move. It isn’t like him to be so hesitant.
She barely waits for me to get into the truck before she’s confessin’.
“I kissed Gabriel.”
I don’t think she meant to say it so soon because she gives me such a guilty look mixed with enough horror I’m expectin’ someone to sneak up behind me with a knife.
“Buckle up, darlin’,” I remind her. This is gonna be fun. I’ve watched them tease each other so long I’m startin’ to get jealous. I want to play.
Her jaw drops, but her hands fumble around to click the belt in place.
“Did you hear me?” Her voice has dropped into a whisper as if she’s hopin’ I didn’t. That makes me feel good, too. She doesn’t want to hurt me, and she doesn’t want to lie. My mom would have loved her.
“Yeah. You mouth fucked Gabe.”
“What the fuck?” She cries out in disbelief. “Don’t ever put it like that again!”
“Sure,” I shrug and start the truck.
“I.. uh,” she flounders, and I let her as we take the short drive to her place.
I want her out of that complex for a million reasons. Not just her safety or the shitty security. Not because Blake knows she’s there, and the fucker has been tryin’ to woo her in the most pathetic cowardly way possible.
Because I want her drivin’ home with me to our place. I can already picture the snide comments she’ll make when she sees Gabe’s house. We all live there. We’d all get time with her away from the bullshit of the office. God only knows what each of us could get up to with her if we had her twenty-four-seven.
“I’m sorry.”
Her faint mutter comes as I pull to a stop in front of the complex.
She’s in a hurry when she unbuckles, so I lock the doors.
“Darlin’, it’s ok.”
The fierce look she gives me widens my eyes. That fire in her is fuckin’ addictin’.
“What, am I just a distraction for you too?” She snaps in a tide of rage I wasn’t expectin’.
“What?” I can’t help but feel baffled. And then I glower.
Gabe and his big fuckin’ mouth. Is there anythin’ he won’t fuck up with her?
“Unlock the door,” her voice has lowered to that threatening tone that gets me hard.
“We’re talkin’. Hold up,” I protest and clear my throat.
“The talk is over.”
I slide my eyes to hers with a glare.
“Talkin’ is done when we sort shit out, darlin’.” My gentle approach makes her turn petulant.
“I don’t want to,” she straightens to give me a haughty sniff that makes me want to smile.
“Me, Gabe, and Mik share women sometimes.”
I put it out there flat and give her time to process.
Her pretty pink lips are open, and her eyes are stunned.
“We’re all interested in you and don’t care about any of that shit. As long as we each get some affection, we’re good.”
That simplifies it a lot but I think that’s all she can handle for now. I’ve just blown her mind. The only way I can tell is because she isn’t runnin’ her mouth with accusations or questions yet.
The quiet settles over us, interrupted by the sound of the air conditioner. I watch her face twitch through different emotions with a smile: confusion, anger, curiosity, anger, hope, anger, dread, anger.
I’d tell her she needs to let the anger go, but I’m livin’ proof that it doesn’t work like that. She can be pissy right beside me. And she won’t put up with it from me at all. The knowledge is heady.
A woman that will see me lose my shit and smack me on the forehead to get me back to myself is one in a million. My girl has enough fight in her for ten men and I like it that way. I plan on makin’ sure it stays, too. No more of that meek bullshit from last week. If I see it again, I’m gonna piss her off until she’s stranglin’ me.
“Like South’s friend?” She asks in a daze.
“You mean Trevor, Max and Asher, right?”
“There’s another one?” She looks horrified again. “Please tell me he isn’t a dick too.”
“He’s the gym teacher,” I explain, trying not to laugh.
“That poor woman,” she sighs.
“Gabe’s sister has a poly relationship goin’ too.”
“I’m surrounded, and I had no idea,” she mutters with wonder. “How the hell does it work?”
“Talkin’,” I tell her bluntly. “We fuckin’ talk about shit before it gets bad.”
“Mikael, too?” She sounds like she doesn’t believe me.
“Mik can’t talk to a woman for shit. He needs the help,” I scoff.
“He does not,” she protests with a glare.
“How would you know?” I lean closer with a sly smile.
Her cheeks erupt in flames as she backtracks. “I don’t. He’s just sweet.”
I’m dazed at that assessment. Mikael. The man that she admitted could break her like she was a toothpick. A man that has broken grown men into pieces for sayin’ one insultin’ word to Gabe. Sweet.
“Oh, darlin’, he’s got you wrapped up tight, don’t he,” I grin in pure pleasure. “You be sure to let him know because he thinks he’s fuckin’ up. Not able to talk to you and gettin’ caught starin’. That’s fuckin’ hilarious.”
“Shut up,” she smacks my arm with a hand and settles in her seat with another huff.
“Jake and Cade share women, too,” I point out helpfully. Might as well get it all out now before Jake locks her in a tower and gives Cade the only other key.
“That I can see,” she shakes her head. “They’re attached at the hip.”
“You’ve thought about it with them?” I tilt my head, curiosity takin’ over. I’ve eased up on my anger with them. Whatever they were tryin’ to prove in that class backfired, and they’re payin’ the price without my interference. I don’t have to help them figure their shit out, but I don’t have to keep them from her, either. That ain’t how it works when we all want her so bad.
“Not them,” she quickly denies. At first I think it’s too quick. Suspicious. And then she looks me in the eye and I can see her reservations.
She thinks they slept with her friends. Why am I only now rememberin’ that?
“What about us?” I point out the refusal that didn’t come. Not Jake and Cade. But no mention of the three of us.
“I... I don’t know,” she mutters and turns away from me.
“You can take your time figurin’ it out,” I tell her in a casual tone I don’t feel. I want her to say yes now so I can take her home. Watch her torment Mik until he’s so tongue-tied he has to walk away or jump her bones to defend his honor.
“You’ve been expecting this,” her soft murmur says she’s talkin’ to herself. “That’s why you two were giving him shit today. I thought everything was normal, and he’s been setting it up for a while.”
“The fucker doesn’t know how to handle you.”
“And you do?” She gives me a raised brow look that makes me think twice before I answer.
“Course not. No one does. And I don’t want to. I want you in my face with rage any time you feel like I need some attitude. I want you makin’ fun of Gabe until he can’t see straight. I want to see every side of you I can and then see some more.”
Her expression goes soft and confused. It wasn’t supposed to be romantic. It’s the truth. I want her as she is. Fuck, even the meek version when it’s real and not depression. She can back down when she wants, too. As long as she stays.
“Why do you share?” She asks the first question I expected from her.
“We aren’t whole people, darlin’,” I try to explain. If I could borrow Gabe’s no-nonsense logic or Cade’s charm for a second, that would be great. Sadly, she’s stuck with me as myself here. “We each have problems that leave us feelin’ like we need to back each other up. Like we’re one person instead of three. Alone, we won’t make it. Together, we do all right.”
She’s quiet for a minute.
“I think I get it. I mean, not really, but you’re convinced, and that’s all that matters.”
I glance at her in surprise. She ain’t pullin’ punches, but she’s thinkin’ it over.
“It takes a strong woman to put up with us. Not many have measured up.”
Her cringe isn’t what I’m lookin’ for.
“I’m sayin’ you’ve passed that with extra miles to spare, darlin’. No one gets to Gabe. No one makes Mik laugh like he has been. And no one faces me on a full-on tear down of rage and yells in my face.”
“That one is stupidity,” she points out like she’s tellin’ me a joke.
“That one is you not givin’ a fuck what’s pissed me off because you don’t deserve to be treated like that,” I grit back at her. “That ain’t stupid.”
She doesn’t answer me.
I’m gonna enjoy killin’ Blake. I wish I could do it now but we need him for more answers. We’re slowly gettin’ somewhere with Amanda’s help. His ties with the judges and lawyers would make it easy to use him as an informant to find out who is controlling the police.
There’s too much crime in this town. Too much violence. The place reads off like a horror story in yearly crime statistics. If we can dig out all the corrupt cops, this place would turn around. That includes takin’ old Matthias’ cops out of rotation, too. I’m not lettin’ him get his hands on Gabe’s soul again.
Blake is a key to somethin’. We just need to figure out what. Everythin’ circles back to those properties he’s buyin’ up.
“I need to think,” she tells me with a sigh. “That’s a lot of info. I can’t imagine any woman would be ready to hear this. Except for my mom.”
I don’t want to but I unlock the door for her. I can’t walk her to the door tonight. I’m too tempted to throw her over my shoulder and take her home with me. But I gotta let her go. She’s fuckin’ fire, and the more I try to keep her hemmed in, the more she’ll fade out until she’s smoke.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, darlin’,” I keep my smile easy as she smirks and closes the door. I watch her ass the whole way to the door and groan in frustration.
A few minutes later, her light comes on. I can see her shadow passing the window.
I don’t want to leave. I’ve spent a few nights in the truck watchin’ out for her. Tonight, I’m goin’ home to jerk Gabe’s chain and tell Mik she thinks he’s sweet. It doesn’t make up for the fact that she’s not sittin’ beside me on the drive, but it helps.
Until I get home and see Gabe’s ashen face staring at his phone. Mikael is behind him with a heavy hand on his shoulder. All my humor washes out as the feelin’ of somethin’ not bein’ right washes over me.
“Gabe?” I ask in a strong tone. Mikael shakes his head in a muted attempt to stop whatever is comin’.
“It’s May first tomorrow.”
The simple observation said in a cold but weak voice has me openin’ my mouth in confusion. Before I speak it snaps shut again.
With Amanda’s whirlwind presence overtakin’ us, I forgot. Looks like Mikael did, too. Gabe is already sinkin’ deep into his memories, and there’s nothin’ any of us can do to stop it.