Page 66 of Monsters, Vows, and Growls
I didn’t answer.
Gabe came closer and leaned against the bar beside me. For a long moment, we just stood there—like two ghosts haunting a party we weren’t invited to. Finally, I commented, "Well, you don't look all that happy either."
He sat down next to me. "Yeah, but it's not my wedding night."
Surprised at the tone in his voice, I looked up. It suggested… regret? "You almost sound like you wish it were."
"Would that be so strange? You're not the only romantic in the family," he brushed his hand through his unruly hair.
I arched an eyebrow, "Romance? You? You've been living the dream we both had since we were kids and chasing tail all over the United States."
"Not by choice…" he trailed off. Something was different about him. Something that didn't add up with all the parties he had been attending over the years, or all the pretty girls hanging off his arms.
"What are you talking about?"
"I messed up," he confided, getting up and pouring himself a glass of whiskey. Silence enveloped us. My curiosity was aroused, but I knew better than to press him. Over the past ten years, we hadn't spoken much.
“We used to talk all the time,” I said finally.
Gabe glanced at me. “Yeah. When we were kids.”
That made me think. He was right. For some reason, I had associated our silence with my injury, but now, thinking about it, I realized it had been longer. “I thought… I thought it was the accident that tore us apart."
He frowned. “You thought I bailed because of your legs?”
I shrugged. “You disappeared. You got drafted. I was in rehab. I figured…”
He shook his head. “Jesus, Pat. No. That’s not it.”
I studied his face. “So what was it?”
Gabe swallowed the contents of his whiskey glass. “Carol.”
I blinked. That was the last thing I had expected. “What?”
“I thought you two would end up together. You were close. Everyone said so. And I…” he trailed off, then let out a harsh breath. “I’ve always known she was mine. My mate. Ifeltit. ButI didn’t want to stand in the way of whatever was happening between you two. So I stepped back.”
Thorne huffed.That makes two of us. I figured we were just down one brother. Glad to know it was over a girl. Less tragic.
“You’re not helping,” I whispered under my breath.
You’re not asking me to.
I stared at my brother, stunned. “You thought I was in love with Carol?”
“You weren’t?”
“No! I mean—not like that. Carol’s… Carol. She’s like a sister.”
He let out a dry laugh. “Well, that's just great. Cheers.”
He raised his glass and drank it dry before pouring another, nodding at me in question, and I held mine up for him to refill in answer. "I think I need a bit more of an explanation here."
He sighed, "I imprinted on her the first time I saw her. Admittedly, I was five and didn’t understand what the hell I was feeling, but that's why… it doesn’t matter. She hates me anyway."
“She doesn’t hate you,” I muttered. “She just… wants to set you on fire most days.”
He raised a brow. “That’s comforting.”
