Page 61 of Pick Me
“Way too short,” I agreed. “But I enjoyed what there was of it.”
“Yeah,” Gage agreed, his eyes dancing. “Same.”
He threw a load of laundry in the machine haphazardly, grabbed the Hannabury sweatshirt I’d lent him a few weeks ago, and declared himself ready.
All the way across the shadowy gravel parking area, Aiden kept up a nonstop stream of chatter about all the thingshewould see and do ifhewere in Boston, most importantly a Red Sox game.
“I’ll take you to a game next year if you want,” Gage said distractedly.
“But… will you still be here then?” Aiden’s forehead puckered.
“Well, Boston’s only a couple hours drive. You can come down and visit me. Maybe your Uncle Knox can bring you for a visit.” Gage knocked his arm into mine and grinned up at me.
I smiled back. He didn’t know it, but by then I’d be in the city, too, and Gage and I could…
Whoa.
Hold the phone.
One night of fucking, and I was allGage and I?
There was noGage and I.Certainly not by the time the Red Sox season started up again.
The way this worked was as a short-term thing. Trying to make it into something beyond that would be… dangerous. Feelings might get involved, and that wasn’t what this was.
“What’s wrong?” Gage asked too softly for Aiden to hear, and I noticed I’d begun rubbing my palm absently over my too-tight chest.
“Hmm? Oh. Nothing.” I dropped my hand and smiled, which wasn’t hard to do when I looked at Gage, even if I still couldn’t quite draw a deep breath. “I was just realizing that I really am hungry.”
Gage’s expression cleared. “I made you late for breakfast at the hotel, didn’t I?” he whispered. “I’ll make it up to you later.”
I shivered and let him walk ahead with Aiden, while I hung back and took a few deep breaths to compose myself before I went inside.
By the time I got in, Webb had already set platters of chicken and steak in the center of the wide wooden table along with the side dishes. Gage sat in his seat talking with Hawk. Em and Aiden chattered back and forth about Halloween costumes. Jack helped Uncle Drew into his seat and laughed at something he said while Marco got Sally Ann.
I stood by the door and watched them for a moment, as I often did, enjoying the chaos and beauty of them, but my gaze kept flicking to Gage as it did more and more often these days. There was something torturous but kind of fun about keeping our closeness a secret from my family. It felt like the two of us were tied together. Connected in a way.
“Knox!” Gage beckoned me over. “Come tell Hawk that I amnotdressing up as Happy Smurf with him. There are some lines a man will not cross.”
I snorted and unfroze from my spot, ducking over to the sink to wash my hands. “The problem with Goodman being Happy Smurf is that people might not know he was in costume,” I called, and everyone including Goodman chuckled.
I headed for my seat near the top of the table, but Webb stopped me with an outstretched hand. “Knox, why don’t you sit at the far end of the table tonight. Swap seats with Marco.”
I raised one eyebrow. “What for?”
“For a new perspective,” he said with the same unspoken “obviously”in his tone that Aiden used. “A new seat will give you a new perspective on life.”
Ordinarily, I’d have told him exactly what I thought of him declaring himself Seating Czar and where on his anatomy he could shove his “new perspective,” but since Marco’s seat was next to Goodman, I just rolled my eyes, exchanged a shrug with Marco, and swapped seats without protest.
“Mind if I sit here, Goodman?” I asked as I took my new spot.
He inclined his head regally. “I’ll allow—”
“Gage, why don’t you come up here and take Knox’s seat, since we’re changing things up?” Webb called. “That way you can talk to Uncle Drew about Florida. Marco’s always wanted to go to Florida.”
He had?
“Oh.” Gage’s disappointment was so cute I had to fight to hide my smirk. “Yeah, okay—”
