When I was sick, he took care of me.
When I needed him, he was there.
He’d always been there—maybe not emotionally, but physically, he’d been there every single time I needed him—and I was lying to him.
I turned the key again.
Nothing happened.
“Come on!” I tried again. Nothing. Not now! “Come on, baby, you can do it.”
But it couldn’t.
My car was dead.
No lights.
Nothing.
How was my car worse off after coming back from the shop?
I was just about to call Lex when someone banged on my door.
With a curse, I looked out the window and saw Lex, hands in pockets, staring at me.
And the minor tears trickling down my cheeks suddenly turned into a deluge as full-fledged sobs began.
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
Lex
It’s not stalking if you just happen to be strolling by the same restaurant, walking your imaginary dog, or, you know, trying out a new bar in the exact neighborhood the maybe girlfriend is in.
Right?
“Idiot.” I’d never been that guy. Hell, I’d always openly mocked that guy. Clearly, Gabi was tying me in knots. I wasn’t even spying to see if she was doing a good job.
Somehow trying to get her not to work for Wingmen Inc. had turned into me wanting her to be such a blinding success that even Ian would be impressed with her skills.
I’d given her all the coaching I could.
And now she was sitting with Dickface while he leaned in way too close and pressed his fingers against the table, nearly grazing hers.
If I had a knife, I would throw it.
At his shit-eating face.
Instead, I was stuck watching them together.
The only bonus was making her laugh with my texts and then being able to see that he did, in fact, have a slightly small problem with getting his body to pay attention to his mental signals.
“Down, boy.” I chuckled, then about died when he stood and saluted the entire freaking restaurant. That shit should have been on TV.
Gabi looked like she was trying not to laugh, and then it looked like they started fighting after he sat down. Whatever he said, it pissed her off enough for her to throw water in his face.
Twice.
She stormed out of the restaurant without looking to her left or right and made a straight shot to her car.
Which didn’t start.
If I could buy her a car and not have her get pissed off at me, I would, but where would I even find a basket big enough to stuff a car in? And what would I do, put it right next to the Pirate’s Booty like, oh, just saw this at Costco, thought you might need it?
Not only would Ian have me by the balls, I figured she had too much pride to take a gift that big.
And guys didn’t just buy their girlfriends cars.
Right?
Holy shit. She was my girlfriend. Girl. Friend. When did that happen? And why wasn’t I freaking out? Instead, my reaction was the exact opposite. I was elated, ready to sprout little Red Bull wings and take flight. Well, shit.
The car refused to start. With a smirk, I jogged over to her and knocked on her window, only then noticing that she had tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Gabs?”
The window was rolled down. I unlocked the passenger-side door and let myself in, only to have her start sobbing as she launched herself from her seat into my arms.
“Aw, Sunshine,” I clung to her as tight as I could while the scent of her strawberry body wash floated into the air. “He must have one scary dick.”
This only made her cry harder.
“Too soon?” I mumbled against her hair while the heat of her body started making me sweat. “Sunshine, look at me.”
Finally, she pulled away, her eyes swollen. “I just . . . He’s a complete jackass.”
“I know those types well,” I said softly while wiping the still-flowing tears from her soft cheeks. “I’m pretty sure I used to be their president.”
“Used to be?” she teased, hiccupping out another sob.
“Yeah, well, the rule of jackasses goes like this.” I tucked her against my chest, pulling her feet across the console so that she was fully in my lap. “You have to be an ass at least three times a day. I won’t bore you with more numbers, but there’s graphs and a very technologically advanced computer system that ranks us against one another. Looks like Mark just weaseled his way to the top, hmm?”
“Yes,” she hissed. “He just . . . caught me at a low point without my armor on, you know? Like if you’re prepared for the jab, you block it, but he caught my chin and then got in a few good left hooks.”
“Did you—?” I pulled back and stared at her. “Did you just use a boxing reference to explain life?”
Gabi frowned. “Weird, but yeah, I think I did.”
“Kinda hot.” I brushed the hair out of her face. “And just what type of jabs and hooks are we talking about? The typical insult to a girl’s self-esteem, or low blows?”
“Low blows,” she huffed. “Ones I wasn’t ready for, ones about me not putting out in high school and how I probably spread my legs for everyone now, but you know, especially athletes. He was always jealous of my relationship with Ian, but he was just so mean about it.” She sagged against me, her hands curling around my neck as they started making lazy circles against my chest. “I threw water in his face and then basically told him we didn’t need his business.” She sighed louder. “He threatened to sue.”
I choked out a laugh. “I’d like to see him try. We had a very expensive lawyer draw up our paperwork. He’s an idiot if he thinks he can sue us.”
“That’s what I said, but what if he exposes your and Ian’s identities? Or worse, exposes me? What we do? The whole reason Wingmen Inc. works is because it’s a secret.”
“While you do have a point,” I said slowly, careful to choose my words so they wouldn’t scare her, “what’s the worst that could happen? We still have the app, and we’d just stop offering Wingmen services.”
“But!” Gabi pulled away. “You and Ian love being wingmen!”
“Ian’s busy making babies with Blake,” I pointed out while she made a face. “And if you haven’t noticed, I don’t necessarily appreciate kissing other girls anymore.”
“No?” Her lips quirked into a tiny smile. “Why’s that?”
I offered a casual shrug. “I’m gay.”
“Lex!”
Chuckling, I hugged her tighter. “There’s this really hot girl who dressed up like a sexy elf one day . . . She kind of had me at hello.”
“Did I say hello?”
“You really think I remember that shit? I saw boobs, which is not exactly the most romantic story if you look at it my way, Gabs. I wanted to have sex with you, not share secrets and paint each other’s toenails.”
“Aw, too bad. I would love to paint your toenails. It’s my sexual fantasy.”
“Oooo . . .” I licked the side of her face, causing her to burst out laughing and squirm in my lap. “Tell me more.”
“Lex!” She shoved my chest. “You suck.”
“Don’t you forget it.” I kissed the top of her head. “Also, your car’s a piece of shit. You’re driving mine from now on, and I’m taking my bike.”
“You ride a bike?”
“When I say bike, I mean my Ducati.”
“Oh.” She blushed. “I didn’t know you had one.”
“It sits in the garage a lot because let’s just say I’ve seen way too many motorcycle accidents. Besides, what villain drives a moto
rcycle?”
She squinted. “The Riddler?”
“Nope.”
“I’m thinking.”
“Let me know when you have the answer.” I sighed. “Until then, grab your shit. I’ll take you home and draw you a bath.”
“Really?” She perked up.
“Sorry, I can’t lie to you with that face.” I opened the door and helped her out. “I have no intention of letting you in a bath until I’ve been inside you and erased every last Mark memory you’ve ever had.”
Her cheeks reddened.
I glanced up just as Mark made his way out of the restaurant.
“But first.” I moved away from Gabi and stomped toward Mark. I had at least four inches on the guy and could probably kick his ass drunk. “Hey, Mark.”
He glanced up, his eyes narrowed. “Do I know you?”
I smirked. “Well, you’re about to.”
“What the—”
I punched his face so hard that my knuckles hurt. He went down in one giant heap, while blood trickled down his nose.
With a sigh I leaned over him. “You disrespect my girl ever again and I’m going to make sure you have to pee through a bag for the rest of your life. Mm’kay, pumpkin?”
Mark’s eyes watered, but he said nothing.
“Come on, Gabi, he’s not worth your time. Oh and Mark? Erection!” I screamed it as loud as I could and reached for Gabi. “Now, hopefully every time he has an erection, his face will remember the sting from being punched. One can only hope this experience is traumatic enough to condition his psyche.”
I pulled Gabi into my arms and kissed her head. She smiled up at me and whispered, “Hero.”
“Twice in one week. Does that mean I get extra hours of sex? Should we start a chart? Just in case? You know, so we don’t lose track.”
She punched me in the stomach.
Funny how some things changed, yet others stayed exactly the same.
Thank God for that.
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
Gabi
Lex claimed his hand didn’t hurt, but bruises don’t lie. When Ian asked, Lex told him in graphic detail about Mark and also informed Ian that he was going to rewrite the entire program that involved male clients. He didn’t want to take a chance that some guy like Mark could use Wingmen services and try to get a girl he didn’t deserve.
He worked on it all week. I barely saw him.
Unless I was bringing him food, which he ate without even looking at.
Finally it was the weekend, and he was taking time off from writing code so that we could all go to my family’s dinner in Bellevue.
Ian drove, which left me in the front seat and Lex in the back. It would have been fine except that I kept catching him staring at me through the rearview mirror.
Luckily, Ian was in a bad mood because Blake had an away game, so it seemed the only things he was able to focus on were listening to the game on the radio and how many days until she was home so they could be together.
He’d gone from being a player for life to some guy I didn’t even recognize. That morning he’d asked me about wedding rings, causing Lex to choke on his cornflakes and almost need the Heimlich.
“So,” Ian said as he took the turn down my parents’ street. “How’s the new program coming along, Lex?”
“Good.”
I turned around so I could face Lex. He looked exhausted. I hated how much I missed being in his bed, but he needed to concentrate, and my absence was good—good because Ian kept checking on him throughout the night.
“I’ve hit a few snags, but it will be fine.” Lex’s voice was deep and gravelly like it always was when he got tired, but man, even exhausted he was still beautiful. “Give me two more days, tops.”
“Good.” Ian let out a breath. “Gabs?”
“Hmm?” I jerked my body back toward the front seat but stayed half turned so I could see Lex in the corner of my vision.
“You’ll be happy to know that Mark hasn’t tried anything.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Probably helps that Lex almost killed him.”
Ian grabbed my hand. “Had I been there, I would have done worse.”
Did Lex just growl from the backseat? I stole a glance in his direction. His fists were clenched at his sides, a slow tick starting in his jaw.
“Um, well.” I pulled my hand away from Ian. “Lex handled it. You know how super villains are . . .” It was my try at killing some of the tension in the car. It didn’t work. If anything, it made things worse as Ian clenched the steering wheel harder and Lex suddenly found great interest in the passing trees. Had something happened between them? Suddenly nervous that Lex had gone back on his promise and mentioned something to Ian, my stomach heaved. “So,” I tried again. “My parents will be so happy to have everyone.”
“Can’t wait for real food. There better be tamales or I’m walking,” Lex said in a strained voice.
“Her mother only makes tamales for the holidays,” Ian corrected. “Trust me, I tried to get her to make them for me last time, and she said they were only for special occasions.”
“Their anniversary is special,” I pointed out, sensing that it was more of a pissing match than anything. Was Ian jealous of my relationship with Lex? Was he finally seeing that we weren’t fighting? Oh no!
“Tamales or I can’t go inside. Sorry, Gabs!”
I rolled my eyes. “Lex, stop being a child. I already told her to make them.”
“What?” Ian pulled up in front of their house. “For Lex? You called in a food-related favor . . . for Lex?”
“It’s because Lex is awesome,” Lex said, his huge trademark smirk firmly in place. “Come on, Ian, I tell you every day how awesome I am, now someone finally recognizes it and you’re angry?”
Ian slammed his door and glared at him. “You’re pissing me off more than usual.”
“You always say that when I’m on my best behavior. It’s confusing.”
“That’s actually true,” I agreed.
“Stop!” Ian held out his hands between us. “What the hell is this? You said you had a freaking peace treaty, but to be honest it’s scaring the shit out of me! Stop . . . smiling at each other!”
“We aren’t!” I said defensively.
“She’s still, er . . . stupid,” Lex said lamely while I tried not to groan out loud and give him a what-the-hell look.
“And Lex is an ass, he’s always an ass.”
“I really am.” Lex nodded. “She told me so this morning.”
When he caught me in the hallway and gripped my ass, but not the point!
“Hell,” Lex said as he fell into step behind us, always the third wheel. How had I never noticed that before? “She’s screamed my name more in the past three weeks than . . . well, ever.”
I told my cheeks not to heat.
Thankfully, my mom was already at the door, throwing it open and jumping out to pull Ian in for a hug. “Oh, mijo! You’ve grown!”
Ian hugged her back. She’d always been like a mom to him, the only mom he really knew. “Ha-ha, you said that last time!”
She pulled back and pinched his cheek. “It was true then too, my handsome boy. Where’s Blake?”
Ian hung his head. “Stupid volleyball game.”
“Oh.” My mom’s long black hair was pulled back in a braid. She tossed it over her shoulder and held open the door. “You need food. Food will make you feel better.”
Ian trotted off in the direction of the kitchen, leaving Lex and me on the porch.
My mom held up her hand, stopping both of us. “What’s going on here?”
Eyes wide, Lex stared at my
mom, then at me. “Uhhhh . . .”
“Gabrielle Francesca Sava!”
I hid behind Lex.
“Coward!” he hissed, trying to get me off him.
“You.” She thrust a finger at Lex. “You have been . . .” She leaned in and sniffed the air above us.
“Mom!” I wailed.
“You . . .” My mom’s eyes narrowed. “You have been with my daughter.”
Lex gulped. I felt it. Was he trembling? “Yes, ma’am, but nobody knows . . . and we haven’t told Ian yet. I will tell him. But your daughter asked for time. I care about her. A lot. And I care about him too. I want to do this right, so please don’t say anything until we’re ready.”
She leaned back and smiled. “I’m happy you are doing the right thing by both Gabi and Ian. My lips are sealed. Now run along into the kitchen, young man, and find your tamales.”
Lex bolted away from me before I could stop him, leaving my mom and me staring at each other on the porch.
“Gabrielle.” She sighed, then opened her arms. “You don’t just ‘care about’ him, do you?”
I hadn’t realized how much I was holding in until I was able to sag against her. Tears flowed freely. “I really, really like him. I’ve liked him since—”
“Oh, mija. I still remember when you stormed into the house four years ago yelling about him. I know.” She patted my head a few more times, then stopped. “Ian. He will not like this.”
I stiffened up again. “I know, Mom.”
“Okay, you’ll need to be careful.” She pulled away from me. “Is Lex worth losing your best friend?”
I didn’t answer.
How could I?
It wasn’t a fair situation. Part of me was so angry that Ian had that much power over my relationships, yet another part knew it made total sense. He was, in all essence, my brother. Nobody would be good enough, and he had firsthand knowledge of how much of a whore Lex had always been.
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