Page 39 of A Little More Forgiveness

He sighed loudly, but a few seconds later I heard him retreat, making me feel worse for some reason. He’d only done as I’d asked, so why did I feel as if I’d let him down? What the hell was wrong with me?

“Get a fucking grip,” I ordered my reflection in the mirror. Forcing myself into action, I brushed my teeth and tongue…yuck. Actually turning the shower on, I stepped into the tub, pulled the curtain, and slid under the hot water, letting the spray rain over my head and shoulders and wash away my depressing thoughts and the last of my dignity. I didn’t want to get out, feeling safely cocooned at the far end of the cabin, away from them both. I would have been perfectly happy to stay there all morning, but after embarrassing myself earlier, I refused to appear even more of a coward by not facing them, so reluctantly finished and dried off.

My underwear, soaking wet from the water spill, meant I had to wrap the towel around my waist and run the gauntlet past them both into the living room to get some clean clothes out of my weekend bag. Girding myself, I opened the bathroom door and stepped through the mud room into the kitchen. Both Mitch and Gabe were seated at the table and turned my way as I made my way through.

“Leo,” Mitch tried again.

“Can I use your bedroom?” I asked, ignoring him. “I need to get dressed.”

“Sure,” he replied. I didn’t wait and, refusing to look at either of them, disappeared out of the kitchen to grab my bag and retreat to Mitch’s bedroom.

Chapter Sixteen

Gabe

“Give him time,” I said to Mitch as he tracked Leo’s departure.

“Why do I feel so bad when I think I’ve upset him?” he asked. “When it’s you, I don’t feel anywhere near as guilty.”

“Wow, thanks, man.”

“You know what I mean.”

Yeah, I did. When the two of us argued, we urged the other on, pushing our boundaries as far as we could, a relief to get out what we’d been holding in. The dynamic worked well enough for us to hash out our issues and clear the air.

But Leo had taken on the role of peacemaker, and upsetting him felt genuinely wrong, so this must be something big for him to withdraw from us instead of talking the issue through.

“You want to explain to me what happened?” I asked Mitch. “Because so far, I’ve no clue.” Which may not be necessarily true. I had a pretty good suspicion but was interested in what Mitch would say, if he said anything at all. He shifted in his seat a couple of times and focused on the mug of coffee in front of him, the one with the words Plaid Prince printed along the side. The slogan was pretty apt, as I’d not seen him wear any other type of shirt the whole time I’d been here.

He took a sip of the steaming coffee before placing his mug on the kitchen table.

“Mitch?”

He shrugged and wouldn’t look me in the eye.

“Mitch,” I repeated, more firmly this time.

“Fine,” he huffed. “I might have gotten…” He shifted again.

“Gotten?”

He stared hard at me.

“Now where have I seen that look before?” I tapped my chin a few times. “Oh yeah, it’s the same one you gave Leo. C’mon, spill.”

He let out a tortured groan, his body slumping in his chair. “I got jealous, okay? There. Are you happy now?” Seemingly uncomfortable with his admission, he hastily stood, and taking his mug, tipped the contents into the sink, before turning on the tap to rinse it out.

Well, I’ll be damned.

I got up and walked around the table to stand against his shoulder, making sure to see his face. Clearly, a battle raged inside his head, but I had no idea how to help him.

“Why were you jealous?” I asked gently, resting my hand at the base of his spine. He straightened at my touch, but a moment later he relaxed against me.

“I’m not sure.” And from his tone, I realized he wasn’t.

“Of him or me?”

He swallowed, and his breathing sped up. “What?”

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