down and made her way back to me, her cheeks flushed. “I’m so sorry, but I didn’t want him to leave!”
“Him?” I pointed to the guy, who was about five foot seven and half bald. “You didn’t want him to leave? That guy?” Was she drunk?
“Yes!” Gabs waved at him and then turned red again as though he made her nervous. What the hell? “He’s only, like, the most amazing musician. He opened for Ed Sheeran before he hit it big, and I’ve been following him on Instagram for the past year! I can’t believe he gave me his number!”
“What?” I shouted, nearly inhaling bits of tortilla chip from my throat up into my nose. “He did what?”
“He’s in the area for a while, and when I told him what a fan I was of his music and how long I’d been following him, he said he’d love to hang out sometime while he tours the area. Amazing, right?” She was literally jumping around in her seat.
I scratched my head and looked back at the guy.
There was seriously nothing impressive about his slight build or black-rimmed glasses that looked eerily like something I’d wear. Bastard.
He was like me, only nerdier.
And shorter.
And dare I say possessing only half the amount of hair I did?
“Sorry.” Gabs grabbed a chip from my plate. It was dripping with cheese, so she leaned under it, licking her fingers as she popped the whole thing into her mouth, including the very hot jalapeno. Her eyes didn’t even water. “You were talking about something . . . Go ahead.”
“Actually . . .” I pulled out my phone. “I have a date. A real date.”
Her face fell a bit before she cracked a smile. “Okay, well, I may stay then and hang with Eugene.”
I burst out laughing. “That’s his name?”
“What?” She looked hurt. “He’s a genius.”
So am I! I wanted to yell.
“Plus . . .” She stood. “I thought you said you had a date.”
Well, yes, I had . . . but I’d been lying. I just needed to get away from her. Something was shifting, changing. I did not do well with change.
Chameleons should all burn.
Anything that could roll with the punches pissed me off.
Damn lizards.
“Yeah.” I stood, joining her. “But remember, we still need to go over some training and have you sign the company consent form before you start this weekend.”
I glanced down at her, then fired off an e-mail with the correct forms. “Fill them out ASAP, and I’ll text you in the morning.”
She nodded and hurried off.
“Hey, Gabs?”
She turned, her dark hair whipping around in perfect slow motion. Maybe I’d mistakenly had a pot scone, because my world wasn’t feeling the same; it hadn’t since that morning.
“Be safe.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Mom.”
I clenched my phone so tightly it should have bent, or at least melted inside the palm of my hand.
Instead, I quickly sent out a text to a random chick I’d met last weekend and asked her to meet me at the restaurant bar.
It wasn’t jealousy I was experiencing.
It just felt like it.
And when Musician Eugene hugged Gabs for the second time right in front of me, it was heartburn, only heartburn, that made my chest feel as though a knife was getting twisted and then caught between my ribs.
Apparently, Sunshine didn’t just have kissing down.
She knew exactly how to make a man feel like the superhero and the sidekick, all within the same breath.
Chapter Six
Gabi
Lex was acting weird.
Weirder than normal.
Less mean.
But I knew it was only a smoke screen. Eventually he’d be an ass again and remind me why I hated him in the first place. I’d let him in too many times to count, only to get burned—twice.
Two times I’d fallen for that sexy smile, buzzed head, and six-pack. And twice I’d been singed. I was so done being that girl, the stupid one who thought, “Aw, maybe he likes me . . .” I mean, it wasn’t that I wanted him to confess undying love, but anything would be better than the constant game of verbal Battleship we had going on a daily basis.
“So . . .” Eugene pulled back from our hug and patted the barstool next to him. “Tell me, what’s your favorite song?”
“Song?” I echoed, as my eyes zeroed in on a tall, lanky Asian girl making her way toward Lex. Her legs went on forever, no exaggeration, and she could probably wrap them around his waist twice with ankle