damn thing wild about Alan, so I wasn’t holding out hope for their happy ever after.
“Sit,” my mother ordered, nodding toward the table.
I followed Paige around to the far side, slowly sliding into the chair, trying to gauge what was going to happen. A storm was brewing, I could tell.
“So, how’s the book?” Paige asked, her words spoken louder than necessary, but I understood what she was doing. Providing a topic was probably the only way to salvage the evening.
“It’s almost finished.”
“Yeah?” Her eyes lit up. “That’s a good thing, right? This girl must’ve done something right.”
Presley had done everything right, but I didn’t say as much. “Let’s just say I’ve been inspired.”
“Too bad real life’s not like fiction,” Deborah mumbled under her breath before flopping down into the chair.
I noticed that Alan hadn’t joined us, and since this was the second month in a row that I’d come for dinner where he didn’t participate, I knew he was about to be kicked to the curb.
I briefly wondered whether or not they would even make it to Valentine’s Day next week.
“Well, we all know it’s definitely not like fiction,” Paige noted, spooning stew into the bowl in front of her.
I’d grown up with two women, and I knew when not to contribute to the conversation. These two were in a mood tonight, and the last thing I wanted was to have their ire directed at me.
I’d much rather let Alan deal with that.
After all, since he still didn’t have a job, he was bound to have more free time on his hands than I did.
Chapter Sixty
Presley
When I’d suggested that Blaze and Gavin meet me at Lucky Lounge tonight, I hadn’t expected either of them to agree, but I couldn’t deny that I was glad they had.
Or I had been right up until the two of them took a seat at the table I’d secured.
Something was going on between them and I knew this wasn’t good.
“How was your weekend?” I asked Blaze, trying to spark conversation since I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her at all since Jake and I had gotten back from the cabin. I had been coming into the shop at the same time she’d been leaving yesterday, and then today, she’d taken a personal day for some reason.
I was beginning to think that reason was sporting a man bun and a scraggly goatee.
“Fine,” she said, sipping her beer and glancing around the nearly empty bar.
“And you?” I asked Gavin.
“Same.”
Okay, definitely something going on. Was I supposed to pry it out of them? Or leave it alone? I opted for the latter.
“Well, my weekend was perfect,” I said, inserting an annoying amount of saccharine in my tone.
Both of their heads snapped toward me, as I’d expected.
“Kidding!” I laughed, lifting my beer bottle to my lips. Only I wasn’t really kidding. The weekend had been perfect. Too perfect.
“Oh, my God. You’re not kidding.” Leave it to Blaze to call me to the carpet.
“It was good, sure,” I told her, now wishing I’d kept my mouth shut.
“Good as in multiple orgasm good?”
“Maybe.” I felt my face heat as I glanced between the two of them. “Okay, spit it out. What the fuck is going on with you two?”
“Nothing,” Blaze said, her tone full of innocence.
“Liar.” I glanced at Gavin. “Was there an orgy at the condo?”
“No,” he said gruffly, sounding somewhat disappointed.
“So, what the hell’s going on?”
Neither of them said anything and that’s when I realized what had happened. It made perfect sense, the way they were acting strange, not at all like the fun-loving people I knew them to be.
“Oh, shit,” I muttered.
“Oh, shit, what?” Gavin frowned.
“Y’all had sex.”
“Uh…” Blaze nearly denied it, but I knew she didn’t have it in her. She was a lot of things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. The smile that curved the corner of her mouth told me I was right.
I took a swig of my beer, then gently set it on the table. “So, you had sex and what? Realized it was a mistake?”
Gavin’s dark blue eyes lifted to meet mine. “Actually, no.”
“No, you didn’t have sex? Or no, it wasn’t a mistake?”
“The second one,” Blaze said, her gaze avoiding me at all costs.
“And that’s a bad thing?” I asked, suddenly incredibly confused. If they’d had sex and enjoyed it, why the hell did they look so glum?
“Isn’t it?” Gavin asked, planting his elbows on the table, his blue eyes pinning me in place.
“Why would it be?”
“Shit if