Chapter 29 Gabriel
“I think I can get this all done in three days if I don’t take too many breaks,” Travis says, snapping the breaker box shut in Natasha and Aly’s home.
I nod, shaking his hand. “Appreciate it, man. You’re doing me and my cousin a solid.”
It’s Monday. Which means Aly and Natasha are both at work.
My cousin gave me a key to the house so I could let my electrician in and have him take a look around, figure out what it’ll cost to get their power fixed and running again.
Not that Natasha will be paying for it. I already know that bill’s landing on me.
In exchange, he’ll get some free manual labor when he needs work done at his own place.
For what this house needs, Natasha could never afford it anyway.
And I know she already cut Aly a break on rent because she needed the help, which was a hell of a lot kinder than she had to be.
This is just what we do for family. Yeah, sometimes it burns us out.
But it’s worth it to take care of the people we love the most.
Travis smiles and tosses a voltage tester into his tool clip before shutting his toolbox.
I’ve known Travis since college. We both got degrees we hated at NYU, spent years pretending they were worth it, only to find real joy, and real money, working blue-collar jobs.
We tossed those expensive diplomas to the side like they hadn’t gutted us financially and mentally and started doing what we loved. We’ve never looked back since.
He’s a solid man. Single dad to a three-year-old with a woman he got pregnant a few years back accidentally. Made the mutual decision not to marry and they’ve both been splitting custody and time amicably from what he’s shared. No drama, no regrets. Like I said, solid guy all around.
“How was your Valentine’s Day weekend?” he asks as he heads into the kitchen to check something else that I added to his list. I follow behind him, my mind instantly flashing back to the night spent with Alessia before she ran away from me like she’d seen a ghost.
That night. That moment when I thought I had her—when she was falling apart in my arms, unraveling like maybe I’d gotten through her hard exterior and she was ready to admit her feelings. That I could finally tell her everything I was feeling and everything I wanted to have with her.
Then she said it.
‘What are we even doing, Gabriel?’
And when I said I think you already know.
It was like slamming a steel door shut in my face before I even got the chance to tell her everything.
That I’m not falling for her, I already have.
That I want to date her. Be with her. And fuck, it gutted me to hear all the hesitation laced behind that question.
Like I might be in this alone while she’s standing safely on the edge, unsure if she wants to jump in yet.
She’s not quite there yet. I know it. I shouldn’t have said that to her. I shouldn’t have pushed her. I hate to say it, but I think Roman was right all along. And that pisses me off even more.
‘She needs to date other guys to see that they’re not you.’
‘Don’t let yourself be just the rebound.’
And maybe Aly thinks she’s the only one trying to figure out how to carry all this heavy shit, but she’s not doing it alone. I’m scared too. Just not enough to not want to try.
What scares me is the other side of things. Her rejecting me. Waking up one day and realizing I’m not enough for her after all. Because I know, without a doubt that Alessia Martinez could wreck me if she wanted to. And the craziest part is… I still want everything with her anyway.
I miss hearing someone say that they’ve been thinking about me after being apart for a few hours.
I miss knowing I’m on someone’s mind. I hate that no one misses me throughout the day.
That when I’m on the train or riding my bike home, no one’s waiting breathlessly at the door, arms open wide, wanting me to arrive back safely.
I hate how much I miss hugs. It’s something so simple. I just want a fucking hug from a woman who isn’t one of my sisters on a random Tuesday.
I feel starved for affection. Starved of the attention from someone who wants to hear me talk about my day. And for a moment there, I thought she might be feeling the same way too. But now, it just feels like a cold reminder that we aren’t on the same page.
“Not much,” I answer him finally as he moves to one of the switches in the kitchen to inspect it. “Had lunch by the lake with a woman who needs some work done on her sink. Ate some oatmeal cookies.” Then Alessia’s pussy.
Travis smirks. “She hot?”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “She’s a little too old for me. She’s a grandma. And she’s got a boyfriend. Nice guy named Eduardo.”
“Ah,” he nods knowingly. “I’ve got a couple clients like that too.”
“What about you? How was your weekend?”
“Didn’t do anything.” He sighs. “Took my daughter to Chuck E. Cheese and wallowed in my loneliness. Shit sucked.”
“I hear ya.”
The front door cracks open, surprising us both. I check the time, it’s still early and neither Natasha nor Aly should be home from work yet.
“Hello? Gabriel? Are you here? I saw your bike in the driveway.”
Fuck. It’s Aly.
I could lie and say my first instinct isn’t to push her right back out that door before she sees Travis.
Because the truth is terrible. The truth is that I don’t want them to meet.
Travis is a good-looking guy, but worse, he’s a solid guy.
The kind of guy a woman could picture herself settling down with long-term.
A guy with a kid already who might be her next big love after being with me.
And I’m just the rebound guy.
I’m the guy she fucked to get over her hurt and put her back in the game.
And every single one of my insecurities that I thought I’d healed from—rejection, my divorce from a decade ago, the gnawing fear that I’ll never be enough for Aly, that I was just a one-night stand to help her trust men again and nothing more—is clawing its way to the surface.
I’d love to grab her, take her home. Or grab my keys, jump on my bike, and ride until I outrun the jealousy that’s already sinking its’ claws into my chest because I haven’t felt this way in so long and I hate every part of it. It’s not who I am. It’s not who I want to be.
Aly deserves to date. To have that chance to find out what’s out there now just like I did when my divorce was finalized.
And for that reason, I don’t do any of the immature, possessive shit I want to do. Instead, I ignore every instinct and do the complete opposite. I do what I think she needs right now. And that’s introduce the woman that I think I might be in love with to a man who might become her next boyfriend.
And I hate every second of it.
I clear my throat and force my response to sound casual. “Yeah, in here with the contractor.”
“Oh, thank God,” she sighs, stepping into the hallway and then freezes in the doorway.
Or maybe I’m the one who’s frozen.
Because holy fuck, she looks like a dream.
Tight gray biker shorts hug every inch of her hips and thighs, leaving nothing to the imagination about the shape of her body or the soft dip between her legs where that pussy I enjoy burying myself in yesterday resides.
A bright red sports bra barely contains her full chest, and her dark hair is pulled up in a ponytail that sways when she moves, strands sticking to her flushed skin like she’s still buzzing from her workout.
She’s glowing in a way that I’ve never seen before. And I can’t tell whether that’s from the sweat on her forehead or because she just looks so damn happy.
I suddenly remember I’m not alone in my staring. Travis, that motherfucker, is gazing at her like he just met his future wife.
Jealousy isn’t even a fair word for how I’m feeling.
“Oh, sorry,” she says, her voice shifting into something more hesitant. Her eyes flick to Travis, like she’s just now realizing someone else is in the room with us. “I didn’t know he was still here… I thought you’d already met with him.”
She shifts her stance, like she’s suddenly aware of how much skin she’s showing.
Her arms twitch like she wants to cross them over her chest, but it’s too late.
Her nipples are already hard and doing that would draw more attention to them.
I can see her weighing her options and deciding to leave her hands limply at her sides.
And fuck, I want to bite them. I want to drop to my knees right here in this living room and put my mouth on her pussy; make her forget about whatever the hell she came in looking for.
But I don’t. Instead, I force myself to stand up straighter, to swallow the bile that’s creeping into my voice.
“I thought Natasha might’ve told you. This was the only time he had available, and I wanted to get him in to check everything out so we could get a timeline for you. Sorry for surprising you.”
She nods, relaxing slightly. “It’s fine. I was just stopping by to grab a few things for tonight.” She steps forward and holds her hand out. “I’m Alessia Martinez.”
“Travis Breaker.”
She smiles as he shakes her hand. And I swear to God, I see the fucking fireworks between them. Like they’re in some rom com where the lighting shifts just right, and the background music swells, and it’s so obvious to everyone watching that something is about to happen between them.
I clench my jaw so hard I feel it in my temples. The filling I got at fifteen years old aches. If I don’t get out of here soon, I’m going to do something stupid, and I just got done giving myself a pep-talk about how I was going to be mature about this.
“So, yeah, I’m gonna head out,” I say, forcing my voice to stay even, leaving the door wide fucking open for her to leave with me and hating every second of this. “I’m good with what we discussed, Travis.”
Travis nods, obviously taking the bait that’s Aly’s pretty face.
“Yeah, can you take me upstairs, Alessia? I’d like to test a few things.”
She glances at me like she’s searching for something—permission, maybe. Or reassurance. Or a reason to stay.
I nod, forcing out words that taste like acid. “Do you want me to wait?”
“No, it’s fine. This is fine,” she says, convincing no one. She told me she couldn’t do this. I wanted to talk to her last night, and she told me no. She left.
She turns back to Travis, flashing him a bright, easy smile. The kind I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten. Is it genuine? Not sure. Am I reading too much into all this? I can’t tell. Does she think he’s attractive? I have no fucking clue.
“Sure. Right this way,” she says.
And just like that, I feel like I lose her.
I watch them disappear upstairs, my hands curling into fists at my sides, every muscle in my body screaming at me to do something. To stop them. To say something, anything, that will make her look back at me the way she just looked at him. I want reassurance. I don’t want this.
But I don’t do anything.
Instead, I turn on my heel and head straight for my bike.
Because I already know how this ends.
He’s going to ask her out.
And she’s going to say yes.