Page 31 of Broken

“Right back at you, Sunshine. Right back at you,” I tell her, meaning every word. Time with Gabby never bores me. Today, like every day, it gives me peace.

Chapter 15

King

“King,I don’t need all of that.”

“I plan on coming over for dinner. That means I need you to have it.”

“That’s insane. Besides, all of this won’t fit in my car when I go to Denver. There will be too much stuff.”

“We’ll worry about that when the time comes. For now, it will be in your kitchen where it belongs,” I counter.

We’ve been shopping for over two hours. All of that has been in one store. Gabby took forever looking at curtains and sheets. Then, she got lost picking out paint colors. I picked up her gray color she wanted, with one small caveat. I asked the woman there about paint fumes and pregnant women. She directed me to the section made especially for that purpose. It contains less VOC’s—whatever the hell that means. I know it was more expensive and when Gabby tried to balk, I put my foot down. This is where a fight ensued. Mine by being an ass, her by being silent. It was a stalemate until I tried to pay. Then Gabby turned into a rabid dog. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had bitten me. The woman got so worked up I started worrying about the baby. For that reason, I let her pay for the paint.

Since then, though, I’ve been putting shit into her cart I know she needs and have made it clear I’m paying. She thought she was being smart and tried to take it out when I pretended to be distracted. It was a strategy that was fun to thwart. Things escalated to the point where I tagged a store worker to secretly collect the items she was putting back and place them in a separate cart. Gabby will lose her mind when she sees what I’ve done, but I don’t give a damn. The only thing we’ve agreed on without a clash are the curtains, blankets, and paint for the baby’s room. I don’t know much about colors, but the pale green she chose is pretty, and the baby blanket has greens, browns, and yellows in it. I find myself hoping she’s carrying a boy, because it seems to me a little girl should be covered in pastel colors, but then what do I know?

“Are we finished, you think?” I ask when she just seems to be wondering along, lost in her own world.

“I think so. When I get paid again, I’ll come back and get those yellow curtains and sheets for my room. I don’t mind waiting. I can make do with what I have now. Yellow would definitely brighten that room, and the length of the curtains can fool others into thinking the window is bigger.”

I nod, not bothering to tell her it is already in another buggy, or to ask how in the hell curtains can make a tiny window appear bigger. For one, she can’t make the latter make sense, and as for the curtains and sheets, that’s the first thing I told the guy to collect. I also told him to pick up the gray thing she called a coverlet and the fluffy pillow covers that had tiny yellow flowers on them. Trust me, it wasn’t easy to explain what I wanted either. I’m pretty sure the guy thought I was insane until I told him I’d pay him two hundred bucks. I figure at that point he knew I was insane, but just didn’t care. “Let’s head on out then. I’m starting to get hungry. We can run by the grocery store, and you can dazzle me with your cooking.”

“I don’t cook a lot,” she warns. “I make some things good, though. Well, at least I think they’re good.”

“I’m sure I will, too, then,” I assure her, making myself a promise that I will eat whatever she fixes and act like I’ve never had anything better. It won’t matter tonight. By the time we get back the crew should be there. Dani texted me and said it was going to be potluck, but that I needed to buy a grill while I was out. She said we needed it for the steaks that Dragon and Crusher were bringing along. “Hey, do you mind if we go back to the outdoor section? There’s something I need, since I’m going to be staying here for a while.”

“You are?” she asks immediately, and I like the happiness I hear in her voice. She doesn’t want me to leave.

“Yeah. It’s a good club. I like the men. Plus, I’d like to be around when jellybean is born. It’s not every day that your best friend brings another person into the world.”

“King …” she whispers, heavy emotion in her voice.

“Friendship is a two-way street, Gabby. If you think I’m your first true friend, you should know you’re mine, too. I’ve allowed you in deeper than anyone I know.”

“That’s sweet. I doubt that, though. You were married. I’m sure Shelby knows things I’ll never uncover.”

I think about that but shake my head. “Oddly enough, not so much. In the beginning, I guess we shared. Now, that I think back, after learning where I came from, it slowly became all about her family. It seemed to be one drama after another that we had to deal with. Which was fine, but I just slowly stopped putting myself out there, you know?”

“Boy, do I,” she jokes, making me smile as I shake off the bitter memories. “What is it you’re going to buy?” she asks, and I know she’s changing the subject for my sake. I take her hand and lean in to kiss her forehead again, letting her know her efforts aren’t unappreciated.

“I need a grill.”

Her face scrunches up and I watch with a smile on her face. “Dude, the clubhouse has like five grills and one huge one with a smoker. I don’t think you need to add another to the mix,” she cautions.

“Did you just call me dude?”

“Eek,” she whispers, as if she just caught it. “It slipped out.”

“Woman, I am not a dude.”

“You kind of are.”

“Gabby—”

Her hand comes up and presses against my chest. “You’re a dude with a big dick. Is that better?” she asks with a grin.

I throw my head back and laugh. “Yeah, sweetheart. That’s better,” I finally answer, looking down at her. Gabby is looking up, staring at me with eyes that seem glued to my face. She’s wearing a wide smile that a man could get lost in. Just like that, Dragon’s words come floating back into my head.

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