Page 127 of Every Broken Piece
Gabe has become my walls.
He watches me patiently, with the aching heat of his hunger burning like the bluest flame.
“I want...”
He tips his head to the side, waiting.
“I want you. All of you.”
A grin starts slow, crinkling his eyes. “You’ve got me, Spitfire. You’ve got me.”
Chapter fifty-six
Tess
It’s weird, living here without Gabe.
I keep expecting him to walk around the corner or hear his voice coming from his office. I thought him being gone would be no big deal. A few days isn’t that long. I’m a big girl who’s lived alone practically her whole life. I crave solitude—or at least I used to.
I sorely underestimated how much I’d miss him, especially now after I tore down every barrier to be with him in every sense of the word. But I don't feel vulnerable like I thought I would. I feel love, cherished, protected, even from afar. Gabe is not here physically, but in every other sense of the word he's invaded my world and I love it.
I'm still scared of the future and what my mother might do, but Gabe keeps assuring me that he's got this for the first time in my life I hand it all off and trust.
We talk daily, text all the time, but it’s hearing him in his office or the home gym, seeing him walk around the corner, sleeping in his arms, that I miss the most.
Maybe making love the night before he left wasn’t such a good idea because now I want more of that sense of connection that goes way beyond physical.
Pax has been splitting his time between school and the apartment. I told him he didn’t have to, but he said he didn’t mind. We live parallel lives. I do my thing—which is look for jobs—and he does his.
I also spend a lot of time thinking about that non-compete and the possibilities it opens up for me.
When Pax isn’t here, Jack pokes his head in occasionally. We spent Sunday night watching Disney movies. I had no idea Jack knew the words to every song in Frozen and it made me laugh to hear him sing along while I was huddled in my blanket cocoon.
Before he left Friday morning, Gabe left me a credit card and a note telling me to buy what I wanted. I left the card on the counter and purchased an outfit on clearance, but I did use his car and driver. Baby steps.
This morning, was my interview. It went well, but my heart isn't in it. I know what I want but I needed to go to the interview to make sure my mind is in the right place.
I’m sitting in a chair, facing the mountains and the darkening sky, contemplating my future when Pax walks in and drops a large, white bag at my feet.
“Dad wanted me to get these for you.”
I roll my eyes. Gabe’s gifts are always so...different. It could be another blanket, or it could be a whole company. One just never knows.
I ignore the bag and turn to Pax. “I have a favor to ask.”
He falls into the matching chair next to me and scootches all the way down until his butt’s almost off the edge. “Yeah? What’s this favor?”
I take a deep breath because once I say this it’s out in the universe and that makes it real. That’s what I want, right? Iwant my future to be real. “I’m thinking about starting my own business.”
If I expected super excitement from Pax, I don’t get it. He merely raises an eyebrow. “That’s cool. What kind of business?”
“Virtual assistant.”
He frowns. “But aren’t you already a virtual assistant?”
“I was. Before I lost my job.”
“But Dad got your job back.”
