Page 30 of Tangled with the Tight End

“Gabriel….” Norah’s father steps into the room and grins. “Don’t let them get to you. I’m rooting for you.”

“Thanks,” I mutter, but without any steam behind it.

“Don’t worry.” Cordelia follows behind him. “Norah has a fiery temper as well.” Her eyes dance. “Every time we tell her to marry Sawyer, she has a hissy fit.” She chuckles. “And when we told her expanding at the lodge was too soon and a mistake, she slammed the door and didn’t speak to us for a week. She’s far from a weak woman.”

I roll my shoulders. That sounds more like the feisty hellcat I met rather than the meek woman who just walked out the door. But her disappointment in me was palpable. Shit. I deserved it. I acted like a child in front of her and her family.

Once they leave, Marco stands in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. “You’re an idiot, but I still love you.”

“You’re an asshole, but I still love you.”

The corners of his mouth arch upward. “The offer still stands when you decide to stop being pigheaded.” He presses his lipstogether. “Actually, us working together? That would be a mess. Of course, I’d be the boss as the younger but wiser brother. You’d have to lean on me to understand the basics of running a business and cooking. Actually, you’d be a total liability. I should probably reconsider my offer.”

“Dude, I’m not working for a pussy like you.” I amble to him and punch him in the gut as he grasps my head in a headlock and draws me to his chest. “I’m going to make you, my bitch. Just like always.”

I reach back, hooking my arm around his head, and yank. Seconds later, we’re wrestling on the ground, and my heart skips a beat as my knee hits his. Fuck. I cringe inwardly, but I ignore the pain. The last thing I need is for him to think I hurt my knee again.

“You two are ridiculous.” Eden stands in the doorway, shaking her head. “Kitchen. Dishes. Now.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” We scrambled to our feet, following behind her.

Marco slings his arm around her shoulder and kisses her temple. “Babe…”

She elbows him in the ribs. “Don’t, babe, me. You’re sleeping in the doghouse tonight.”

“Babe….” I smirk and hit Marco in the back.

“Gabriel.” She spins on her heel and stabs my chest with her index finger. “Don’t you start, or I’ll let him finish you.”

“Please….” I roll my eyes.

“Don’t test me, pretty boy.” Eden tips her chin out. “You two made a mess of my Thanksgiving dinner, and you’ll both pay for it. That I can promise you.”

fourteen

NORAH

After takinga shower and putting on comfortable clothes, I hop on the sofa with a warm blanket wrapped around me and grab my Kindle. Dealing with fictional men is easier than real men. If they do something stupid, I swipe pages until they get their heads out of their asses.

Real men? Not so much.

On the way to take my parents home, they kept reminding me that I had a hot temper as well. And brothers will be brothers and all that. I agreed with them but didn’t feed into their conversation. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was he’s on his way back to Kansas City, and I’ll never see him again. That’s what’s wrong. The fight? Not that big of a deal. The topic of the fight….

I sigh and drop the Kindle to my chest, staring up at the ceiling. What’s wrong with me? Why do I keep doing the same thing repeatedly? Falling for unavailable men is like a sickness, or maybe all men are unavailable. At least as far as I’m concerned.

When my phone rings, I snatch it up, eager to avoid feeling sorry for myself.

“Hey, Norah.” My best friend’s tentative voice fills the air. “I’m sorry for today.”

There’s a rustling sound and Marco’s voice breaks in over Eden’s. “It was all my fault. I should’ve never confronted Gabriel in front of an audience.”

“Don’t you think you should apologize to him, not me?”

“I’ve apologized to everyone. Including my brother.”

“It’s fine.” I rotate my neck and massage the muscles between my shoulders and neck. Actually, I enjoyed the banter between the brothers. As an only child, I didn’t get to experience that growing up. I just didn’t enjoy the words Gabriel was saying.

Somehow, I’d already managed to weave a story in my head that Gabriel would retire after the season, decide he adored Evergreen Lake, come back or never leave, and profess his undying love for me. Yeah, I’m pathetic and a hopeless romantic. It’s stupid.

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