Page 134 of Mr. Infuriating

“The one you stayed at when you were a kid?”

“The very same. And now my kids will get to spend their summers there, too.”

“How many more kids do you want?”

“Britt—” Gabe warned. “That’s not something you ask someone.”

“Why not? She said her kidssss,” Brittany drew the “S” out. “I was just wondering how many more she was going to have.”

I looked at Gabe, who was obviously uncomfortable with the topic, but I decided not to let it go.

“It’s a reasonable question, given how I was the one who brought it up. But your dad’s right; that’s probably not something you should ask someone out of the blue. The answer is, ideally, I’d love three more. But at my age, I’ll be happy if I can give Jake at least one little brother or sister.”

Brittany gave Gabe a conspiratorial look.

“Do you have anyone in mind to be the father?”

Gabe abruptly pushed his chair back from the table.

“All right! That’s enough!”

Both Brittany and Jake stopped eating and stared at Gabe in surprise.

I wrinkled my nose at Brittany and gently shook my head.

“Yeah, that’s definitely not something you should ask.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to be rude. I just thought maybe—” She trailed off as she stole another glance at her dad, who still scowled.

He pinned her in place with his glare.

“You thought wrong.”

I pretended it just dawned on me what she was thinking and let my eyes go big in dramatic fashion.

“Oh, you thought…” I moved my finger back and forth between Gabe and myself, then chuckled. “Oh, no. No. No. No. That would never happen.”

****

Gabe

Never?

Why the fuck not?

Wait.

That’s exactly what I’d been saying.

Except I didn’t like hearing it come out of Gretchen’s mouth.

What the hell was wrong with me? A question I’d asked myself more than once today.

“Honey, I explained this already. Ms. Kelly’s a client, and a friend, that’s it.”

My daughter’s pursed lips indicated she wasn’t convinced, but she remarked, “If you guys say so.”

I stole a glimpse at Gretchen, maybe hoping she’d look as unsure as I felt. Instead of any uncertainty though, she nodded her head in confirmation, so I steadfastlyreplied, “We say so.”

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