Page 46 of If You Stayed

“My hope is to find one hidden somewhere in the house,” I joked. Well, half-joked. Because Rosie had made me leave my current read at home, I was certain she secretly hated me.

Gabriel’s mouth curved up, and I loved how it looked on him. “Good luck finding a book here. I doubt Brett knows what reading is.”

“Hey now, be nice,” I ordered.

He rolled his eyes. “Oh right. Your stupid crush.”

“It’s not stupid,” I argued, glancing around to see if Brett was anywhere to be found.

Ali began picking at her nails and looked around before pouting. “Gabriel, I need a drink.”

His eyes darted back and forth between Ali and me before he nodded. “Sure. Okay.”

“I doubt Kierra drinks, though. So just one for me,” Ali demanded.

I stood taller. “For your information, Iamdrinking tonight.” Ali’s jabs were growing more and more annoying with each minute that passed. I knew how to let loose. I knew how to have a good time.

It just so happened that my good time didn’t involve booze; it involved fiction. Still, I wanted to shove it in her face. Luckily for me, Rosie came over with my drink in her hand.

“Here you go, Kierra. Hey, Gabriel!” Rosie sang. Her eyes moved over to Ali, and she grimaced. “Alison.”

“Ali,” Ali corrected. “Nice to see you, Rosalina.”

“Rosie,” Rosie responded.

Gabriel chuckled slightly. If there was anyone Ali hated more than me, it was Rosie. Maybe because Rosie didn’t back down from Ali’s controlling nature. She stood ten toes down against Ali and her rudeness.

Gabriel nodded toward Rosie. “Happy birthday, Rose.”

“Thanks, Gabriel. My gift is getting Kierra out to a party. Are you as shocked as I am?”

“Stunned,” he said.

I took a sip of my drink and instantly wanted to spit it out, but I powered through because Ali thrived on witnessing others’ weaknesses. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why Gabriel was obsessed with dating the rudest girl at our school. Then again, Ali was easy on the eyes, and Gabriel did have a bit of a bad-boy persona. On paper, they made sense. Except that Gabriel wasn’t a complete monster. At least not with me.

He didn’t showcase the soft side he shared with me in private very often, though. It was his best-kept secret.

Ali grumbled. “Gabriel. My drink.”

“Oh, sorry, Ali. I didn’t even notice that you don’t have feet,” Rosie said.

Ali cocked her left eyebrow. “What?”

“Well, seeing how you are ordering Gabriel to get your drink, I figured your own legs didn’t work.”

“Oh shut up, Rosie. I’m done here,” Ali said, marching off to retrieve her drink on her own. “Hurry up, Gabriel!” she shouted over her shoulder.

Gabriel shook his head. “I’m going to get my ass chewed out for that. You know that, right, Rose?”

“Yeah, well, it might wake you up to the fact that you shouldn’t date monsters. Speaking of… I’m going to go hurry off to see Jason.” Rosie looked over at me. “You good?”

I nodded. “Yup. I’ll be…here.”

“Okay. I’ll be back soon!”

Rosie scooted off, leaving Gabriel and me together. I leaned against the staircase, and he leaned right beside me. I took another sip from my cup and made a slight face.

“You do know you don’t have to drink that, right?” he asked me.

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