Page 5 of If This is Love

“He’s that,too.” Luke gave Gunner one last firm rub before standing up and leaning his elbows on the bar—so close to me that we might as well have been cuddling. “Gabe.”

“What?” I clipped, then lifted the coffee to my lips.

He lowered his voice. “I need your help, bruh. Like immediately after this meeting.” He paused to look around us and then addressed someone. “Hey, get lost! Don’t come over here.”

“What?” came Liza’s voice, laced with a light laugh. “Rude. Now I absolutelymustcome over here.”

She was now patting my back, albeit much softer than Luke had. I didn’t mind as much because it was Liza, and I liked her. She poked her head around into my line of sight, standing on the opposite side of me from Luke, and now I was fuckingtrapped. But again, I liked Liza, and I knew she wasn’t going to pester me for long.

She gave me the same big, bright smile that she always did because shepitiedme. She had a big soft spot for vets, particularly thetorturedkind like me, and it was hard to dislike a person who cared about the same things I did.

“Hi, Gabe.” Liza wrinkled up her nose, and her grin reached way up to her eyes. “Fancy seeing you here. I feel like I just saw you.”

She also alwaysmade that same lame joke when we’d bump into each other after crossing paths during our respective morning runs, and it tempted me to smile just like it always did. “Yep. Nice seeing you again,” I said, playing along.

Liza continued to smile at me like it was her God-given mission in life to be sweet to me, and then she dropped a small plastic bag of cookies on the bar next to my coffee.

That was the other reason I liked Liza. She liked giving me cookies.

“Okay,Liza,” Luke cut in. “You gave him his cookies, now please go back to your table ‘cuz I’ve got somethingpertinentto talk to him about.”

Liza poked her head farther around me to scoff at him. “Wellfinethen, I will.” She patted the top of my head, ruffling my hair.

I turned my head so only she would see my very quick, appreciative smile. “Thanks, Liza.”

She leaned close to my face just long enough to whisper like my gratitude was a secret, “You’re welcome.” She stepped away, and a microsecond later there was sound like she slammed right into someone. “Oof…sorry, B.”

I glanced behind me. She was stepping around Brennan Riley, a trust fund baby who preferred slummin’ it on the Point to society life for some reason and had joined the impromptu yet expected crowding of my space.

“It was my bad, L., I wasn’t…” Brennan started to respond, but she was out of earshot before he could finish, and his words trailed to nothing as he watched her for a second. He turned to me, offering his hand. “Hey, brother. Glad you’re here.”

I shook with him. Brennan was a good guy. He’d done time in the Corps and was solid and loyal just like the oath we’d all taken, and he was one of the few people I marginally enjoyed being around. Nevertheless, right then I really wished all these people would just let me sip my fucking coffee—and hide while nibbling on the cookies—in peace. “Glad to be here.”

“Okay,youcan stay,” Luke cut in again, dropping his elbows on the bar and leaning way too close to my face again. “Gabe. Ineedto talk to you about something.”

I brought the coffee to my lips and stared in front of me. “Then fuckingtalk, Luke. Jesus.”

“Okay.” He leaned even closer, and then Brennan leaned inalso, andugh. These people. “Bruh, I’m gonna friggin’keel overif I don’t do it soon.”

Brennan stood on my other side where Liza had been just a second ago, and then he leaned around me to address Luke just like she’d done, too. “Dowhat? Or do I have to ask?”

“You don’t have to ask,” Luke said in a low voice. “You already know.”

“Then quit twiddling your thumbs and do it already, Corporal.” Brennan flashed a wide grin. “In fact, I’ll help you do it in the middle of this meeting.” His eyes lit up just as he lifted his hands like he was a magician about to pull a rabbit out of his ass. “This would actually beperfect. She’s got that friggin’ camera set up and—”

“But I don’t have a ring yet,”Luke whisper-hissed, then poked me in the shoulder. “So, as soon as this meeting is over, I need you to go with me andmake mebuy one.”

“Oh,” Brennan cut in before I could say anything. “You should let me take you to my family’s jeweler. I’ll get you a meeting with Mr. Mason, and he isbrilliant.”

Luke scoffed. “Yeah, I can’t afford your…” His eyes darted, and he dropped his voice again. “…family jeweler.”Speaking at a normal decibel level, he added, “Evenyouwouldn’t be able to afford that if all you had was your salary and commissions, and that’s all I’ve got.”

I rolled my neck in a circle as I picked up my coffee and the cookies and pushed away from the bar, giving a quick, high-pitched whistle to Gunner. I was about three paces away when Luke hollered at me.

“Gabe!Gabe-Gabe-Gabe, bruh!Are you going to—”

“Yes,” I clipped, cutting a sharp glance at him over my shoulder. “You don’t need to ask five hundred times, Luke.Jesus.”

Gratefully, Luke turned his attention to Brennan, and they hunched over the bar, speaking in low tones for another few seconds before parting and stepping away. Luke went to the front of the room to kiss Chloe and then sat on a barstool off to the side from where she was standing. Brennan returned to the table he was sharing with Skye, his new wife of only a month or so, Connor, and Liza. She was sitting next to Connor with her head resting against the side of his shoulder. Brennan sat down next to Skye, grabbing her chair and sliding it across the rickety floor so he could wrap his arm around her waist and kiss her temple. And all of them were justso adorable.

---