Page 50 of Just A Little Love

It simultaneously felt like we barely knew each other, and somehow, we knew all that mattered. UGH. This was entirely too much introspection. What I needed to do was get focused on my classes, help Jakob do his party, and leave the deep thoughts to someone more equipped to figure them out. For now, I needed to get the papers from the city Daddy said would be on the dining room table.

I stepped off the elevator and headed towards his apartment. With only four apartments on this floor, I expected it to befairly quiet, but not tomb-like. My experience with apartments veered toward thin walls and other people’s cooking. The quiet was unnerving. At his door, I used the code he gave me, and the green light came on exactly like he said it would. I turned the knob and let myself into what I expected to be an unoccupied apartment.

Spoiler alert. It was not unoccupied.

Instead, there was an objectively attractive man sitting at the dining room table. A steaming cup of coffee was placed on the table next to him while he perused the open laptop in front of him. He was dressed in casual lounging bottoms that pooled around his feet, but no shirt was in sight to cover his shiny, waxed chest. His light-brown hair was too perfect to actually be windblown, but that was the intent. Blue eyes peered at me in a mixture of disdain and dismissal, like I wasn’t worth his time.

Holy shit, did I get the wrong apartment? Just to be certain, I took a step back and looked at the number. Nope, it was 20D like before. I had been here before. Yes, the boring gray couches were all still here. The spectacular view was as spectacular as ever. No, I hadn’t stumbled into the wrong place with the right code.

“Uh, hi?” My voice was not nearly as firm as I’d hoped. Maybe Gabe had a friend stay over while he was gone and forgot to mention it? It seemed like a big thing to forget, but with the stress of his last-minute trip to London, it made sense. Yeah, it slipped his mind. Silly.

The man glanced back over at me but didn’t seem the least concerned about having a stranger walk into the place. He very deliberately closed the laptop, then turned to give a slow perusal up and down. “Oh, hello. Are you a friend of Gabe’s? He has so many friends who like to pop by. I tell him he should warn me so that they don’t catch me being naughty, but Daddy never listens.”

Fuck being a bunny, I’ve fallen down into a viper pit.

“Daddy? Gabriel is your daddy?”

“Of course he is! I travel for my job, so we aren’t always able to coordinate our times together. I’ve been gone for six weeks, and I miss him when he’s gone, but the return makes it all worthwhile.” His smug smile was a clear warning that one of us was the outsider, and it was definitely not him.

Christ on a cracker. What was happening here?

“I didn’t catch your name.”

“That’s because I didn’t give it.”

Oh.

“I apologize for barging in. I didn’t expect anyone to be here. Gabriel had been helping me with permits for my house. He said there were some papers for me here from the city.” The unnamed man reached across the table and picked up a largewhite envelope. Every move this guy made had the intent of being sexy. I mean, not to me, but someone out there thought this guy was the shit. His fingers trailed over the edge of the envelope and then held it out to me.

I crossed over, confirmed my name was in care of Gabe’s on the label, and tucked into my bag. The longer I stood there, the harder it was to breathe. Did the guy know Gabe was cheating on him? I didn’t like his vibe, but no one deserved to be cheated on. Damn it.

“I don’t want to start any problems, but you should know that Gabe and I have been seeing each other for weeks. Since around Christmas, actually. I didn’t realize he was already in a relationship.”

“Oh, sweetie, you boys are all the same. Gabe has his fun on the side when I’m away and then pushes them out when I return. It’s fine. They give him what I can’t, and we go on with our lives. It’s only awkward when they think there’s something to it.”

I couldn’t breathe. How could I have been so blind? There was nothing left for me to say, so I turned on my heel and walked out the door.

Once I reached the lobby, the doormandefinitelygave me a strange look when I walked off the elevators. I didn’t need the pity, so I raised my head a notch and kept on walking. The bright sunlight seemed cruel. Mother Nature shouldn’t provide nice weather when your heart was broken. The weather should fit the moment, so gray skies and a drizzle were in order. And Anders.

Rory: 911

Anders: wine or shovel?

Rory: Both. And chocolate.

Anders: Oh fuck. On the way.

***

“So there he was, just… just… fucking lounging in the apartment. He was all sultry and shit. It was weird. How is that Gabe’s type?”

I was in the so-pissed-off-I-want-to-key-his-car-but-not-go-to-jail stage of anger. Mostly, I just felt gullible. I paced across my living room, sloshing cheap wine from my plastic cup, and continued my vent.

“What’s his mom’s name? A real boyfriend would know. What’s his favorite color? No clue. What is his favorite animal? No idea. Our entire relationship was built on lies and wishful delusions. Lies from him and delusions from me.”

“AndJakob! I thought we were friends. What. The. Actual. FUCK.”

I wanted to cuddle my babies close, but I refused to let Gabriel have that satisfaction. Gabriel clearly brainwashed me intothinking I was a little. That was the only logical explanation.Brainwashing. It wasn’t fate or the universe that wanted to show me what it took for me to be well and truly happy. Machiavelli would be proud. Anders sat quietly on the couch while I ranted for a solid fifteen minutes. When I had finally exhausted the litany of curses I’d like to rain down upon him, and there was probably an app for shit like that. I need to put looking it up on my newly organized thanks tofucking Daddyto-do list. I plopped down on the end of the couch and dragged my favorite blanket over the top of me.

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