Page 14 of Gabriel's Salvation

“That spineless, good for nothing asshole!” she growls. “Just you wait till I get my hands on him.”

“He's not worth it.” I say, grabbing her before she moves to leave.

“He doesn’t get to treat my sister like this and get away with it,” she huffs, sounding furious.

“Maybe he did me a favor,” I admit as I wipe away the tears.

“You'll find someone better, your prince charming will be around somewhere. You might just have to kiss a few frogs along the way.”

“Well, I may have already kissed one frog,'' I giggle.

“What? When? Who?”

Now that I'm sure it's over between me and Justin and I no longer have to hide the truth from her, I tell my sister all about the night I went out with Lexi. About the handsome stranger I met in the bar. About the exciting day we spent together today and then finally how quickly he’d brushed me off at the end of it.

“Well, he might not be Mr. Right, but he’ll definitely do for Mr. Right Now,” I laugh.

“Tell me what he looks like,” she says with a giggle while poking me in the side.

I squirm away from the offending digit. “He’s dreamy,” I coo, picturing him today and wishing I knew what he looked like without a shirt on. I bet he’s ripped with hard abs and a six pack. Damn, I bet he's even got those sexy little V dips.

“That doesn’t tell me anything!” she pouts.

“A girl has to have some secrets,” I tease back and laugh at her attempt to give me the stink eye.

“There's keeping secrets, then there's joining the next level, CIA secret keeping. You gotta give me something to work with; hair color, eye color, name, age, something at least.” I can't help but giggle at the frustration on my sister's face. Ever since we were kids she’s always hated feeling like she's missing out on something.

“You're not giving up are you?” I sigh as I reach for a cushion to prop myself up.

“Nope,” she replies with an accomplished grin as she flops onto her tummy and places her hands under her chin, preparing to hear the ‘latest gossip’.

“Fine, so he’s tall, not basketball player tall, but tall enough I have to lift my chin to look at him. His eyes are green, but not like a pale green. More like a bright green that stares into your soul.” I wish I was with him right now staring into those eyes.

“Damn you’ve always been a sucker for nice eyes,” she coos as she wiggles her feet back and forth in the air excitedly.

“Guilty.” I smirk.

“So what else? Where did you meet him? When can I meet him? Does he go to our school?” Fucking hell I love my sister, but this is starting to feel like a bloody inquisition.

“That's all you're getting for now,” I laugh, “you’ll know more when I know more”

“So, you really aren’t going to give me anything else?” she huffs before she finally relents and gets up.

“I told ya, a girl has got to have some secrets!” I look her straight in her eye and wink, letting her know I’m done.

“Whatever,” she snarks, “I’m going upstairs to study. Oh and I found this on the doorstep,” she says, pulling my phone out of her pocket. It must have fallen out of your bag when you were looking for your keys.”

I didn't have a bag, last time I saw my phone it was… in Gabe’s jacket. Did he bring it back for me? He must have. But why not ring the bell then? Why leave it on the doorstep? All my unanswered questions race through my mind.

I reach out and take the phone from her, desperately wishing I'd been clever enough to have gotten Gabe’s number. Even if it was just to say thanks for returning the phone to me.

I open the cover of my phone ready to pass the time with some endless scrolling; if nothing else, it will pull me out of my funk. Videos of random dogs doing silly things might just help. Then I notice a small piece of paper poking out the side of my case. How did that get there?

I gently remove the paper and unfold it. Hmm, it's just a receipt for beer and snacks at a gas station. That's odd.

I almost crumple it up, thinking it’s worthless trash, until I spot Gabe's name and number at the bottom and my heart skips a beat as a flurry of butterflies fly around in my tummy.

Eeeekkkk he left his number!!!

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