Page 38 of XOXO, Valentina

“That’s great, buddy! Tell Papa better luck next time.”

She listened for a moment, her fingers twisting at the knot in her towel. Our eyes met and held, and her expression closed up. She looked away.

“Okay. See ya.” Gabriella hung up and gathered her clothes.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“It’s fine.” She straightened and hugged her clothes to her chest. “I really have to go.”

I didn’t try to argue. The moment was over. For now.

“I have Shane to think about,” Gabriella said. “He doesn’t need a parade of strange men in his life.”

I managed an easy-going smile despite my stinging pride. “What about one not-so-strange man?”

She shook her head and went down the hall toward the bathroom. When she came out a moment later, she was dressed in her running clothes with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had her boss-lady face on, but her nipples were showing through her sports bra.

“This can’t go anywhere.” She gestured between us. “This is just a onetime thing, an itch we needed to scratch.”

Ouch. Usually I was the one saying those lines. It didn’t feel so great being on the other end. “If that’s what you want.”

“I’ll never love anyone again,” she said, almost apologetically.

Tension knotted in my gut. “I get that.”

Her eyes fell to my chest, and I knew she was thinking about the tattoo under my shirt. I braced myself for her to ask, but she didn’t. A moment ticked by, then another.

“I should go.”

“Okay.”

Neither of us moved. We were standing close enough to touch, but we didn’t.

“I’m sorry, Joey.”

My heart ached at the finality in her voice. Gabriella’s world was black and white, with no room for anything in between. “Relax, baby.”

She scoffed. “Relax? How can I relax? I’m the principal of the school. You’re a teacher. And one of my students was just here.”

I used some of Chelsea Taylor’s wise words on Gabriella. “You are allowed to have a life.”

“Not with you.”

I winced at the disgust in her voice. Frustration mounted inside me, and my patience snapped. I strode to the door and closed my hand over the knob.

“That came out wrong, Joey. I didn’t mean it as an insult. I just meant we can’t be together. It would never work.”

I shrugged and pulled the door open, ushering her out. “It’s cool.” I nodded at her, flashing my grin despite the pain in my chest. “Thanks for a good time.”

She stormed out, but not before getting in the final word. She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and glared at me. “It was my pleasure.”

19

Chapter 17

Gabi

Text message from Gabi Salinger to The Blue Ridge Book Club

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