Page 129 of Love for a Lifetime

Gage tensed his jaw and looked away. Most people got the hint when he stonewalled them.

“I see you, and I know what you’re doing.” Lyric’s whisper held an edge he hadn’t heard from her before.

Granted, he kept his interaction with her and everyone else to a minimum. So he knew as much about her as he knew about the vegetation on the Rock of Gibraltar.

Nothing. And he didn’t care to know either.

Without looking at her, he whispered, “I know what you’re doing too, and I’m not interested.”

“Who isn’t interested in friends?” Lyric whisper-screamed.

Gage turned slowly, and Lyric met his disgruntled look with one of her own.

She had guts, he’d give her that.

“Me. Now go pester someone else.”

Lyric folded her arms and straightened her shoulders. “No one else needs pestering. You, on the other hand, need a kick in the pants.”

“Watch your language. There are kids around.” Gage jerked his chin toward Jacob, who was getting licked on by Olivia’s little ankle-biter. It had an old lady name that Gage could never remember.

“I’ve bent over backward trying to include you in things for months, and I haven’t heard a thank you.”

“Why am I thanking you?” Gage asked.

Lyric took a moment to compose herself before huffing. “You’ll get it one day. You’ll see what you’re missing here, and you’ll thank me. Until then, can you at least fix your face so that scowl isn’t memorialized forever in the photos?”

“I’ll talk to my plastic surgeon about it as soon as possible,” Gage snapped back.

Lyric didn’t back down like he’d expected. Instead, she held his gaze a little longer. “There has to be something you care about.”

“What makes you think that?” Gage asked.

“Because everyone cares about something. Or someone.”

“You’re right. I do care about something. What is up with the prices at Sticky Sweet’s? A cupcake–a single cupcake–is two dollars. Sometimes, a man just wants to enjoy a tiny cake without having to take out a second mortgage.”

Lyric checked her phone, completely unfazed by his off-the-wall rambling. “She’s here.” Turning around, she announced to the room, “She’s here!”

Everyone in the room started moving around. The buzz of excitement hummed in the air.

Gage slowly moved away from the door. After Lyric’s warning about photos, he wanted to be as far away from the paparazzi as possible.

Everything quieted as they waited for Olivia. Gage ducked his chin as the click of heels tapped up the hallway.

“Surprise!” The whole room erupted into a shout as Olivia jerked back and pressed a hand to her chest.

“What are you doing? It’s not my birthday!”

Dawson Keller, wearing a suit without the jacket, stepped forward and knelt in front of Olivia. She gasped and covered her mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the cupcake Dawson held.

Gage caught a glimpse of it before the room got crowded. A tiny crown was squashed into the pink icing with a diamond ring resting in the middle. He’d overheard Lauren talking to someone about it. Apparently, it was a princess cut.

How precious.

Dawson wasn’t Gage’s favorite person in the world, but he was mildly tolerable as long as Olivia was around. At least the guy didn’t glare at Gage as much when she was present.

Did it count for nothing that Gage had been on his best behavior since he started working at the garage five months ago? No, not to Dawson, at least.

---