Page 82 of Mr. Infuriating

“Maybe he’ll change his mind about kids?”

“That’s not gonna happen. My parents brought Jake home while he and Derrick were here delivering the kitchen cabinets, and he took one look at him and practically ran to his truck. I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Ouch.” There was a brief pause before she said, “Wait. Derrick was at your house? Delivering cabinets? The cabinets you weren’t going to get?”

“Gabe said he was going to talk to his brother, Maverick, about letting me make payments. I’m guessing since he had someone else deliver the last of the cabinets on Monday, that’s probably off the table.”

“And Derrick was there?”

“Yeah, on Sunday—and Saturday. He helped Gabe unload them.”

“Did he ask about me?”

“He asked how you were doing.”

“Aw, that was nice of him.”

“Do you think there’s something there between you two?”

“No. But he was good in bed, so I wouldn’t mind the occasional hookup. But not anytime soon. That sets a bad precedent.”

“I’m so not equipped to date,” I reiterated under my breath.

“Anyway, back to you and Gabe.”

“There is no Gabe and me.”

Saying it out loud made my chest hurt.

Why was that?

Maybe it was because he’d rejected me, and my pride was hurt.

But it felt like more than pride that kept me from getting rid of the last remnants of my weekend with him.

I continued, “It was only for the weekend. We were upfront about that from the start, so even if he hadn’t freaked out and ghosted me, I knew where we stood.”

“We need a girls’ night in,” Laura declared. “I’ll be over in thirty minutes with wine, snacks, and ice cream.”

I haphazardly tossed the socks I was supposed to be organizing back into the drawer.

“See you then.”

I knew if we were drinking wine, my BFF would spend the night, and since I didn’t have a guest room set up—I’d given Troy the guest room furniture—I knew she’d be sleeping with me.

And that was the catalyst I needed to change the sheets.

I may have tucked the pillowcase Gabe used in a drawer, though.

Obviously, I had issues. Or I really was a masochist.

****

Gabe

“You want to tell me what is going on with you?” my oldest brother asked when he came by the shop two weeks after the “therapy session” with my brothers.

I didn’t look up from where I was sanding the wood for an entertainment center.

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