Page 104 of Hitting the Gap

Bailey gasped at the dig like he’d intended. Good, he hoped that hurt because Jesus, she’d fucking decimated him. Without waiting for her to reply, he slammed the door behind him. He punched the elevator button. “Fuck,” he cursed when he saw it go from G to 2 and stop. He stormed to the stairwell. It would probably do him some good to take the stairs.

The entire way down the stairs, he ranted to himself. By the time he hit the parking garage, he’d almost convinced himself he was better off without her. Almost. He clicked the button on the key fob and his trunk opened as he walked up. Bailey’s jacket lay on the floor of the trunk. He fingered the fabric. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t even close to feeling like he was better off without her.

Jesus, how could he have been so stupid? He’d known it was a risk getting involved with his best friend, but he’d honestly thought when they finally crossed that line it was because what they had meant something. That they had what it took to go the distance. Apparently not. He’d been working so hard to prove he was more than his reputation and in the end, that’s all she’d wanted him to be. Fuck.

He chucked his bag in the trunk. Needing the satisfaction of slamming the door, he reached up and pulled the trunk. The door resisted. Fucking technology didn’t even let you do a good rage slam anymore.

With a growl, he pushed the button on the trunk and watched the trunk slowly shut. Holy shit, that was unsatisfying. He opened the driver’s side door and slid behind the wheel. He pulled the door closed roughly. Then opened the door and slammed it shut again. Slightly better.

Maybe he could convince the guys to see if they could find some kind of bar that let you wreck shit when they landed. It was New York, after all; they had everything, so there had to be some place like that. One more reason not to cross it off his list of potential places to move. If Bailey and he broke up, he sure as hell was going to need to move some place where he could wreck shit. It was either that or curl up in a ball, and that wasn’t an option.

Chapter 24

The next morning, Bailey groaned as she rolled over in bed. She’d tossed and turned all night long and still was no closer to an answer. Several times throughout the night she’d picked up her phone to text Gonzo, but what was she gonna say? Were you serious about me moving out? She couldn’t ask that. Nor could she ask if he couldn’t just stay in San Diego.

As much as his dig hurt, after she’d cooled off, she’d known he hadn’t meant the comment about her getting her own place. That wasn’t Gonzo. But knowing that didn’t make it any easier for her to know what to do next. How the hell was she supposed to even think about uprooting her life again when everything in her body recoiled at the thought of it? What if she moved and lost him anyway, just like Brad?

But not moving guaranteed she’d lose him. Damn it. She looked up at the ceiling and screamed. What was she supposed to do? And how were they supposed to figure it out when he wasn’t even here to talk to?

After several minutes, she pushed herself upright on the bed. She couldn’t just sit around here all day. Grabbing her phone, she pulled up Kia’s number.

BAILEY

Hey, what are you up to today? I need to get out of the house.

KIA

Max and I are hitting the beach. Wanna come?

BAILEY

Definitely.

KIA

We'll wait for you to get over here.

BAILEY

On my way.

Hanging with Max would be the perfect distraction. It was hard to be depressed around that kid.

Bailey quickly threw on her bathing suit and covered it up with shorts and a T-shirt. She threw a towel and underwear in her beach bag, dropped in a book and sunscreen, and headed for the door.

As she got behind the wheel of Gonzo’s SUV she’d been driving for the past few months, she sighed. She’d become so dependent on him since she moved here. Their lives were totally intertwined. She relied on him for a car, a place to live. Her entire friend group was made up of his friend’s partners. She hadn’t made a single friend of her own since she moved here. Sure, that hopefully would change once they got into the swing of fall semester and she was actually working regularly and meeting people, but at the moment, her entire life revolved around him.

This was exactly what she’d said she didn’t want to happen. When she’d been with Brad, he’d controlled everything. What she wore, who she hung out with, what she ate and now look at her, she’d let herself do the same thing.

Bailey pulled up in front of Smitty’s beach house. While Gonzo’s place was amazing, there really was something about a house on the beach. The location wasn’t nearly as convenient as Gonzo’s, but the view…unbelievable.

She rang the bell. A moment later, the door swung wide. Kia answered in a pair of shorts and a bikini top. Bailey stared at the tattoos covering the other woman’s body. She’d known Kia had a lot of tattoos but seeing them like this was eye opening. “Wow,” Bailey said.

“Not for the faint of heart.” Kia chuckled.

Bailey forced herself to stop staring. “Sorry, that was rude. My little sociological brain kicked into high gear there.”

“What?”

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