Page 57 of Hitting the Gap

I’m sorry. If anything you’re the bubble man, not boy.

BAILEY

Now can I use your tub?

BAILEY

Please.

GONZO

I suppose. But that’s King of the Bubbles to you.

BAILEY

Got it. Guess I’m going to have to go back to calling you Ram instead of Gonzo.

BAILEY

Gotta go. I’ve got a steaming tub of bubbles to jump into.

Shit. Now he was picturing Bailey naked in his tub. Not good.

“What’s that look for?” Smitty asked as he dropped into the seat beside him.

Gonzo closed the text thread before looking up. “What look?”

“I don’t know? That goofy look on your face. Who you texting?”

“No one, just Bailey.”

Smitty shifted in his seat. “Bailey, huh? How’s that going?”

“So far, so good.” Surprisingly good, actually. Sure, it had only been five days, but after two he was ready to kill his siblings when they came to visit.

“Not weird living with a girl?”

“Not yet.”

“That’ll change once her stuff starts taking over everything. What was once your half will now become your quarter.” Smitty shook his head.

“Little different when you’re sharing a closet. I’m not too worried about it since we both have our own space.

“Just wait.”

“Yeah, not gonna happen.”

Chapter 13

He needed to get laid, and fast. Maybe then he could stop thinking about his best friend. What she looked like, what she smelled like, what she’d feel like underneath him.

Damn. Gonzo banged the back of his head against the elevator wall as he waited for it to ascend to his apartment. He was just gonna drop off his bag and head out to meet Sims and Hernandez. No matter how badly he wanted to stay home and hang out with Bailey, he wasn’t going to do it. He was meeting the guys, finding a willing woman, and fucking her brains out. Ever since Bailey had moved in, he’d been feeling all weird and confused. Over the past few weeks, it was just getting worse. He kept choosing to hang with her instead of going out like he normally did. It was ridiculous. He’d been acting like they were a couple or something instead of just friends. It was fucking with his head and he didn’t like it. Tonight, that stopped. And the best way he could think of to stop thinking about one woman was to fuck another.

He pushed open the door to his apartment. It was quiet. No sign of Bailey in the main living area. His stomach fell. The fact he was that disappointed not to see her solidified how badly he needed to fuck her out of his system. He wandered toward his bedroom. Bailey’s bedroom door stood open as he walked past. He glanced inside. Her bed looked like a tangled mess. The sheets were half-on-half-off the bed like she’d been thrashing around in them. Instantly, a wave of jealousy gripped his chest and he clenched his jaw. Was she having sex? The idea of Bailey having sex with anyone but him made him want to hurt someone. That was exactly why he needed to go out tonight and find someone else.

Suddenly, he heard the telltale sound of someone being sick coming from Bailey’s bathroom. He dropped his bag on the floor and rushed toward the sound.

At the bathroom door, he paused briefly when he saw Bailey slumped over the toilet, her head resting in her arms like she was too tired to move.

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