like beer at all, he tasted like . . . cinnamon, almost like he’d been drinking tea at his own party or something.
His tongue met mine in a whisper of a kiss. I let out a moan.
And then the doors to the outside burst open.
“What the hell!” Ian shouted.
Lex shoved me away so hard I collided with a chair, and my butt was nearly numb from getting hit so hard.
“Drunk,” Lex blurted, and then the asshole winked at me with a dopey smile. “Thought she was Ashley.”
My eyes narrowed. “Lex—”
“Ashley does have brown hair.” Ian seemed to accept his excuse.
“You guys are both assholes and idiots!” I yelled.
“Aw, Gabs.” Lex tried to reach for me. “Don’t be mad, you’re hot too.”
Ian cleared his throat.
“In a flat-chested type of way.”
Tears burned my eyes, and my mouth wouldn’t work. Just like my brain couldn’t come up with a nasty retort, something that would make him hurt just like he’d hurt me.
So I stomped off, to Lex’s laughter, and swore I’d never let him in again.
I touched my face as tears streamed down in rapid succession. Ugh, I was a complete and utter failure. I needed to find a guy, one who actually knew how to treat a girl.
And stop whatever fantasy I had with Lex.
He wasn’t for me. He would never be for me.
Over it.
Damn it.
My phone rang.
“Yeah?” I answered as I wiped my face with the back of my hand.
“Mija!” My dad’s voice was just what I needed to hear. “How is your new job?”
Visions of me dancing around a pole, then riding Lex, hit me full force as a prickling shame crawled up my arms and settled in the center of my chest. “It’s good, Dad.” My voice cracked. “Really good!”
“Gabrielle?” He lowered his voice. “Are you alright? Have you been crying?”
“No, no!” I forced a laugh, and it sounded horrible, like a cross between a hiccup and insanity. “Just so tired, you know?”
“Okay, well, you take care of yourself, and your mother and I thank you.” He sighed. “Mija, you shouldn’t be giving us more money.” His voice was a combination of relief and stress. I chose to focus on the relief. I was young, I would bounce back from being tired. He wouldn’t.
“Well, we need to keep the house, so . . .” I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me. “Besides, I’m getting paid really well.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” My stomach chose that moment to grumble. It was so loud that I was afraid he’d hear it. “I’m fantastic. Gotta go, though!”
“Okay! Love you, and thank you, mija. Your mother and I are so proud!”
Uncontrollable sobs escaped me as the phone went dead.
What was I doing with my life?
I sniffed back more tears and wiped my eyes with the backs of my hands.
It was just a bad day. Everyone had them; this was mine.
At least I had chocolate at home and a bottle of wine, thanks to Spider-Man.
I pulled into the driveway and quickly let myself into the house.
Serena hopped off the barstool. “Oh good, you’re home!”
Why was she so happy about that? She was rarely even there!
“Yup.” I dropped my purse onto the counter and went in search of my Spider-Man basket.
“So . . .” Serena followed me through the kitchen. I located the basket and tore into it, only to find all the chocolate gone. “I’m moving out.”
“Did you eat all my chocolate?”
“Oops.” She lifted her shoulders into a guilty shrug. “Were you saving it?”
“YES!” I roared.
“Yikes. Maybe it’s good we’re breaking up.”
“Wait, what?” What had I missed?
“Moving out. Me.” She pointed to her chest. “So yeah, I’ll give you rent for the month, but you’re going to have to find another roommate.”
Chapter Fifteen
Lex
What crawled up your ass and died?” Ian asked as we parked in front of Gabi’s house for dinner. It had been a week.
A week of pure hell.
A week where I had stalked her like the creepy insane person I’d officially become.
The only time she and I talked was when I sent her more info on Steve or when I needed to check in with her progress. Ian had never filled out progress reports, but since Gabs was new and we needed to know how the program was going with guys, she had to fill out a date sheet every time she went out with Steve.
So far they’d gone on two dates.
Both had been fine.
That’s all I had.
Because Gabs refused to put anything other than “He was fine.”