He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “You’re shy now? You didn’t seem to need that blanket an hour ago.”
My face went scarlet, and Landon put his arms underneath the patchwork quilt. As soon as his face was buried in my shoulder, I dropped my BlackBerry onto a nearby chair and returned his embrace.
I didn’t want to think about Gabe again tonight….
Chapter Ten
November 12, 2003
The last few weeks have been the worst in my life. Gabe has stopped acknowledging my presence altogether. Nora came over to my house every day last week asking what was wrong, but I couldn’t tell her. When I came down here to Utah, my mother reminded me that it was all for the best. But I don’t know if living with my dad and his idiot kids and crank wife is helping at all.
Flopping down on my bed the day after Valentine’s Day, I began to count the cracks in the ceiling spackle as I dialed Gabe’s number. My heart soared as soon as he picked up the phone. “Hey, Vi.”
“Gabe. Long time no talk. How’s it going?”
“Good. Just busy with work, and…you know.”
“Wedding planning?”
“Ugh, yes. If I see one more centerpiece, I’m going to punch something.”
“Wow. Sensing some aggression. So how was your Valentine’s Day?”
“Good. I made dinner for Alicia, and then we just hung out.”
“Yeah, right. Alicia isn’t the hangin’ out type.”
“She hangs out.”
“Sure, she does.”
“What about you and What’s-His-Name? Bikes and tattoos? Beer bongs and a rousing game of quarters?”
“Ha, ha. Shut up. Landon took me to his parents’ place in the mountains and cooked dinner over a fire. It was very romantic.”
“Nice. Did you get lucky?”
“Stop.”
“What?”
“I’m not discussing it with you.”
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“So you did sleep with him?”
“Knock it off, Gabe.”
“Okay, okay. So what did you need to speak to me about, Vi?”
“Well, I…”
“Were Alicia’s friends nice? They can be sort of intense.”
“Well, not really.”
“Dammit. I told Alicia that they’d better be nice. Sorry.”
“That’s not what I was texting you about.”
“Well, what was it then?”
“It’s just that…well, I…you see, when I was leaving, I…”
“Spit it out.”
“Something came up as I was leaving, and I was surprised to hear that Alicia knew about it.”
“What came up?”
“Well…actually, Cameron Hakes came up.”
Silence.
“Gabe?”
“Alicia brought up Cameron?”
“Yeah.”
Silence, again.
“Gabe?”
“So why do you need to talk to me about it?”
“Well, for starters, why did you tell Alicia about that?”
“Listen, I’m on my way into a meeting, and I’ve got to get my presentation together. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”
“Fine. Whatever. When works best for you?”
“I can meet you before work tomorrow morning.”
“Great. Where?”
“My place. Six-thirty.”
“Six-thirty in the morning?”
“I’ve got a seven-thirty meeting.”
“Okay. I’ll be there.”
“See you then. And, hey…”
“Yeah?”
“I, uh…never mind. See you then, Vi.”
…
The next day, I knocked on Gabe’s apartment door. My palms were sweating, my knees were knocking, and it felt like oxygen was low in his high-rise building. There wasn’t enough coffee in Seattle to prepare me for this conversation.
“Hi.” Gabe grinned and held out a mug of steaming goodness when I walked through his door. He looked bushy-tailed as ever—he’d always been a morning person, the complete opposite of me—and already wearing one of his tailor-made suits and a charcoal gray button-down shirt. The aroma of shaving cream lingered like an invisible cloud, and he’d nicked himself just below his jawline. I bit my lip to keep from pressing a kiss against it.
“Hi.” I gazed up at my best friend, and my eyes filled with unexpected tears. I’d missed this. I’d missed Gabe. Before Alicia came along,
My face went scarlet, and Landon put his arms underneath the patchwork quilt. As soon as his face was buried in my shoulder, I dropped my BlackBerry onto a nearby chair and returned his embrace.
I didn’t want to think about Gabe again tonight….
Chapter Ten
November 12, 2003
The last few weeks have been the worst in my life. Gabe has stopped acknowledging my presence altogether. Nora came over to my house every day last week asking what was wrong, but I couldn’t tell her. When I came down here to Utah, my mother reminded me that it was all for the best. But I don’t know if living with my dad and his idiot kids and crank wife is helping at all.
Flopping down on my bed the day after Valentine’s Day, I began to count the cracks in the ceiling spackle as I dialed Gabe’s number. My heart soared as soon as he picked up the phone. “Hey, Vi.”
“Gabe. Long time no talk. How’s it going?”
“Good. Just busy with work, and…you know.”
“Wedding planning?”
“Ugh, yes. If I see one more centerpiece, I’m going to punch something.”
“Wow. Sensing some aggression. So how was your Valentine’s Day?”
“Good. I made dinner for Alicia, and then we just hung out.”
“Yeah, right. Alicia isn’t the hangin’ out type.”
“She hangs out.”
“Sure, she does.”
“What about you and What’s-His-Name? Bikes and tattoos? Beer bongs and a rousing game of quarters?”
“Ha, ha. Shut up. Landon took me to his parents’ place in the mountains and cooked dinner over a fire. It was very romantic.”
“Nice. Did you get lucky?”
“Stop.”
“What?”
“I’m not discussing it with you.”
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“So you did sleep with him?”
“Knock it off, Gabe.”
“Okay, okay. So what did you need to speak to me about, Vi?”
“Well, I…”
“Were Alicia’s friends nice? They can be sort of intense.”
“Well, not really.”
“Dammit. I told Alicia that they’d better be nice. Sorry.”
“That’s not what I was texting you about.”
“Well, what was it then?”
“It’s just that…well, I…you see, when I was leaving, I…”
“Spit it out.”
“Something came up as I was leaving, and I was surprised to hear that Alicia knew about it.”
“What came up?”
“Well…actually, Cameron Hakes came up.”
Silence.
“Gabe?”
“Alicia brought up Cameron?”
“Yeah.”
Silence, again.
“Gabe?”
“So why do you need to talk to me about it?”
“Well, for starters, why did you tell Alicia about that?”
“Listen, I’m on my way into a meeting, and I’ve got to get my presentation together. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”
“Fine. Whatever. When works best for you?”
“I can meet you before work tomorrow morning.”
“Great. Where?”
“My place. Six-thirty.”
“Six-thirty in the morning?”
“I’ve got a seven-thirty meeting.”
“Okay. I’ll be there.”
“See you then. And, hey…”
“Yeah?”
“I, uh…never mind. See you then, Vi.”
…
The next day, I knocked on Gabe’s apartment door. My palms were sweating, my knees were knocking, and it felt like oxygen was low in his high-rise building. There wasn’t enough coffee in Seattle to prepare me for this conversation.
“Hi.” Gabe grinned and held out a mug of steaming goodness when I walked through his door. He looked bushy-tailed as ever—he’d always been a morning person, the complete opposite of me—and already wearing one of his tailor-made suits and a charcoal gray button-down shirt. The aroma of shaving cream lingered like an invisible cloud, and he’d nicked himself just below his jawline. I bit my lip to keep from pressing a kiss against it.
“Hi.” I gazed up at my best friend, and my eyes filled with unexpected tears. I’d missed this. I’d missed Gabe. Before Alicia came along,
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