Page 38 of A Little More Forgiveness

“Until you do.”

“No, I’m done.” I turned to Gabe and realized how close our faces were to each other. His hair, messier than usual and without the product he used to tame it, gave him a softer, more tousled look. His sexy, day-old stubble was long enough for me to easily imagine the short hairs grazing along my shoulder as he nuzzled into my neck.

His eyes, half closed and sleepy, did crazy things to my heart, which he must be able to hear as the organ thumped so loud in my chest. Even rumpled, he was the most handsome and sophisticated man I’d ever met, which depressed me, and only confirmed how leagues apart we were. I was a washed-up lawyer forced to return to my hometown in order to pick up the smallest morsels of work, while he’d become a self-made millionaire, probably billionaire, and owner of a hugely successful construction company. Everything about him screamed money and success, while I barely whispered average.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked, lifting his arm from my waist to tap a couple of fingers on my forehead, his sleepiness gone, replaced by narrow-eyed focus.

“Nothing much, except thinking we should probably get up.”

His lips quirked and I wanted them to kiss me again, forcefully, not gentle like yesterday. “Really, that’s what you were thinking?”

I nodded a couple of times, not trusting myself to speak in case I incriminated myself further.

He raised himself on his elbow once more and looked down at me. I held my breath in anticipation as his gaze dropped briefly to my mouth and up again. “Because I suspect you were thinking something else entirely.”

A sound behind the sofa had me jerking my head up to see Mitch’s upside-down face glaring at me.

“Here,” he thrust the water and tablets at Gabe.

Again, shit.

Did he not approve of two men together? No, that can’t be it, as he hadn’t flinched while Gabe had his arm draped over me, though he had watched him a bit oddly. Crap, had something happened between them last night when I’d passed out? Is that why he’s so awkward around me now? Is he actually attracted to Gabe, after all, and I’m getting in the way?

I scrambled to sit up, knocking Gabe’s arm in the process, sending the glass tumbling onto my belly, and making me flinch when the cold water splattered everywhere.

“Christ, Leo,” Gabe moaned.

“I’m sorry.” Sitting up, I ripped off the T-shirt I’d been wearing and tried mopping up the mess, only succeeding in making things worse.

“Relax, okay?” Gabe said, trying to calm me. “It’s only water, it’ll dry.”

I wasn’t worried about the water, only Mitch. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die. I needed to get out of this room as fast as possible and leave them to it.

“I-I’ll go get ready.” Untangling my legs from the sheets, I scooted off the sofa bed and scurried out of the living area. Safely locked away in the bathroom, I leaned my forehead against the door, letting the cool wood soothe my hot face. I stood there for ages, trying to calm down, but Mitch’s glare was stuck on a loop at the forefront of my mind. Turning to the sink, I flicked on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face, before dragging my gaze up to stare at my reflection in the mirror. Jeez, I looked a mess. Puffy-cheeked and red-faced again, but now with the attractive addition of bloodshot eyes.

Fucking excellent.

No wonder I’d annoyed Mitch. What possible reason would someone as fucked up as me have to expect someone as put together as Gabe, to ever notice them? Mitch being big, broad, and muscular, with his sexy midlength beard, hairy forearms, and from the peeks I’d seen, likely a thick hairy chest, I was no competition. Add in his dedication to this place, and he’d prove to be the better option time and again. I had no chance with my career in tatters and begging for scraps from my stepdad. God, I sounded so juvenile. I may outwardly appear like an adult, but underneath the layers I’d cultivated since leaving home for university, I was still the same pathetic excuse for a kid looking for approval but never doing anything right.

Staring at my face, water dripping off my chin, the same deep-seated belief I’d never amount to anything, never achieve anything, swirled in my gut. Too under the thumb and squashed down to ever get away, to ever succeed at anything apart from being a loser.

Malcolm was right. I would screw this up, was screwing it up, precisely as he predicted. Once I left here, I’d be lucky to get any work at all by the time he’d finished trashing the remnants of my reputation.

The knock on the door made me jump, the sound far too loud.

“Leo?” Mitch.

“I won’t be long. I’m about to jump into the shower.” I hoped the fact I’d not run the water wouldn’t give away my lie. I needed to get away from here. Needed to take the punishment Malcolm would dish out for my failure and disappear into oblivion, leaving Mitch and Gabe to it.

“Open the door, Leo.”

No.

“Hey, you’re not seeing me naked like you did Gabe.” I tried to joke, but my reply fell flat, realizing he’d be exceedingly unlikely to ever want to see me naked. Period.

“Please, Leo.”

“I’ll be out shortly, okay?” No way would I let him in. I didn’t want to see the disdainful expression on his face or the look of disappointment in his eyes. I’d had enough of that to last me a lifetime.

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