sending swirls of excitement through my body. I returned his affection, holding him by the back of his neck and tilting my face to his. After a few heated moments against his bike, Landon pulled away, offering me a crooked smile with his swollen lips. “Where to now?”
Shoving all thoughts of Gabe to the back of my mind, I looked at Landon through heavy eyelids and purred, “Your place.”
Chapter Fifteen
September 15, 2003
Gabe took me to the movies before we went to Cameron’s party. We bought popcorn and sat in the back of the theater. Every time his fingers brushed mine in the popcorn bucket, my heart would race. When we pulled apart, he brushed my hair back from my face and told me playing ball with his friends at Safeco Field was the only thing that could come close to kissing me. I miss that. I wish so badly we could go back to those times…
I heard back from Gabe the morning after I professed my love to Landon. Gabe seemed to have a knack for that. Showing back up whenever things were starting to go really well with my new boyfriend. And then…
Whammo. An e-mail like this from Gabe:
“Hey, Vi,
Sorry I’ve been so busy lately. I’m swamped at work. You know how it is.
I got your message(s) and want you to know that I will make sure we have some time to talk this Saturday. We really left our conversation open-ended, and it’s sort of driving me nuts. I wish Alicia hadn’t walked into the apartment when she did.
I hope you’ve got something really cool planned for my bachelor party. All of my other friends are worried that since my best man isn’t a dude, we’ll be sitting around eating finger sandwiches and crap like that. I’ve defended your taste for weeks now and promised that they’ll have fun. What I’m saying is: We need strippers. Lots of them.
Don’t let me down. Miss you, Vi. Can’t wait to see you.
Later, Gabe.”
Once I found out—through Nora—that Cameron wouldn’t be flying to Seattle until the week of the wedding, thus missing the bachelor party, I’d set out to plan the best night of Gabe’s life. The fact that he was acting as wishy-washy as a teenage girl didn’t take away from the fact that I wanted to give him the best party ever, even if he did call the whole thing off after I told him what a liar his fiancée was, and what a sick bastard Cameron was. And, boy, oh, boy did I plan on telling him both of those things.
So I set out to be the greatest best man I could be. I wanted to create an event that he would never forget. After much thought, I came up with the perfect plan. I had to call in a few favors. Well, actually, more than a few…try a boatload of favors. I made call after call, promising my hairdressing skills to everyone from my mother’s wealthiest client all the way down to her niece’s poodle. I’d created the fulfillment of a dream Gabe had told me about in a darkened theater years ago.
On the evening of the party, Nora greeted me at her door, grinning widely. “Come here and hug me. I haven’t seen you in ages. How are you doing? Are you eating? Is your job going well?”
I set down my box of supplies on the porch and melted against Nora’s softness, letting her cradle me for a few moments. I’d almost forgotten how good it felt to be in her arms. “I’m good. Everything’s great.”
She held me at arm’s length, glanced at my long raincoat, and gave me a toothy grin. “The boys are going to love this.”
“Are they all here?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“There were a few stragglers, but they’re all here now.”
“Vi.” Gabe came around the corner and eyeballed my overcoat. “What are you wearing? It’s sunny out.”
I grinned smartly. “Are all of your friends here?”
He nodded. “Yup. And they’re pissed there won’t be strippers.”
He laced his fingers through mine and squeezed my hand. I stopped and looked down at our hands for a second, our fingers bound together like the laces of a shoe. Feeling my skin tingle, I let go reluctantly, and Gabe sighed quietly.
Nora swept between us with a sly wink. “There better not be, young man.”
We entered the family room where there were eleven men, including Guthrie, Curtis, and Uncle Roy, waiting anxiously. As soon as I walked