Page 15 of The Best Friend's Billionaire Brother
A light elbow to his side brought him out of his thoughts. Gabby’s dark eyes were trained on him, and she looked concerned. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He smiled. “This is pretty good, huh?”
For a breath, she held his gaze, and he wondered if she was going to press him. She pulled her gaze from his and fixed it on her plate. “I’m enjoying it.” Something in her voice hinted at sadness.
“Areyouokay?” Wyatt asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“Just the way you said it. You sounded sad.”
Shaking her head, she smiled, but he knew her well enough to know it was forced. “I’m not.”
That bothered him to a puzzling degree, the kind that wasn’t little-sister’s-best-friend troubled. He moved closer, whispering, “You’d tell me if you were, right?”
She nodded, but her body language screamed a different answer. Talk about a mystery he needed to solve, but there were too many people around. He needed to get her alone and find out why she was hurting. If it was something he could fix, he would.
How would he get her alone, though? It was cold outside, the house was filled, and there wasn’t a nook or cranny that would be safe from listening ears. If it was something deep that she needed kept secret, he wanted her to have the freedom to talk.
After getting a little more than halfway through her sandwich, Gabby wiped her mouth. “Um, I think I’m going to go to my room for a little while. I need to call work and see if I can get the time off for the wedding planning.”
She stood, and Wyatt jumped up. “Uh, yeah, I need to….” He should have thought through the rest of the sentence before opening his mouth. “Unpack.” Unpack? Well, he did. Now that he was changing rooms.
“You were here yesterday, weren’t you?” Carrie Anne perked up. “Didn’t you already unpack?”
Everyone at the table stopped talking and stared at Wyatt. His brain fritzed. Good grief, how could he get out of this mess. “Well, I had, but I decided to change rooms. I don’t like that first bedroom, so I’m taking the one across from Gabby. There’s too much noise with people coming up the stairs.” Whoa. Now he was thinking on his feet.
Carrie Anne’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Ohhh-kay.”
Gabby tapped his bicep with her elbow. “You told me you were in the room across from me. You mean you weren’t?”
“Uh…” Sheesh, he was digging himself a hole so fast that dirt was getting in his eyes. How was he supposed to fix this? “We were arguing, and I was going to pester you for being so stubborn.” There. That was the truth.
Gabby rolled her eyes. “Really? What is this, junior high?”
“Sorry.” Oh man, what a mess he’d gotten himself into.
Hunter crossed his arms over his chest. “Why would I want to switch rooms with you? I don’t want to listen to all that noise either.”
If they were alone, Wyatt would thump him. “I’m switching. That’s all you need to know.” He growled the last few words as a warning to shut up about it.
“Whatever.” Hunter rolled his eyes.
Gabby set her silverware on top of her plate and then grabbed it and her glass. Wyatt followed her lead and did the same. They stopped by the kitchen and put their dishes in the sink and were quiet until they reached the top of the stairs.
“I can’t believe you planned to switch rooms just to bug me.”
He scratched the back of his neck as heat raced to his cheeks. “No, not totally. I’d…wanted to switch rooms.”
“Whatever. I guess I’ll see you later, then.”
She started to walk off, and Wyatt took her hand to stop her. “You seem sad. Is there anything I can do? I mean, that’s what family is for, right?”
Heartbeat after heartbeat pounded, her gaze staying trained on his hand. Slowly, she shook her head and pulled her hand free. “No, I’m fine. I just have some stuff to take care of.”
He could hear the tremble in her voice, and she wouldn’t meet his gaze. Before he could respond, she briskly walked down the hall and disappeared behind her door. For a second, he was dumbstruck. When his brain caught up, he strode down the hall and knocked on her door. “Gabby?”
Silence.
