Page 8 of This Thing of Ours

His nostrils flared, his jaw tensed, and his eyes hardened. She took another hasty step back, admitting to herself thatmacho thugmay have been a bit too far.

His left eye twitched, and she saw him take a deep breath—hopefully calming himself. “I forbid you from seeing him again.”

Andthatwas the word that broke the proverbial camel’s back. “Youforbidme? You’re not my father. You’re not even my brother. Hell, you’re nothing to me.”

“Nothing? You’ve got a lot to learn, little girl.”

“Don’t call me that.” Yes, she’d stupidly accompanied that declaration with a stomp of her foot.

“Then stop acting like one. Rules are put in place for specific reasons. So you don’t get hurt.”

She turned her back on him, done with the conversation. She could talk until she was blue in the face, and he still wouldn’t hear her. “Just go, Marco.”

“We only ask that you wait until we check the guy out, then you can go out with him.”

And there it was. He really didn’t care. She curled her shoulders forward, back to hugging herself, trying to keep the pieces of her shattered heart somewhat in the right spot. Sighing in defeat, she repeated in a small voice, “Please, just go.”

“Promise you won’t do anything stupid.”

She gave him a small nod, leaving her head in a bowed position until she heard the front door close. Drained of energy, she dropped to the floor, tucking her legs to her chest, and wrapping them with her arms. Resting her cheek on her knees, she closed her eyes and mourned a relationship that had never even been real.

Chapter Four

Gabby was alreadysipping her third latte by the time she spotted Derek walking through the door of The Grind. He looked handsomely preppy wearing a light-pink Polo shirt—that went great with his coloring—and a pair of dark, crisp jeans. The weather was unseasonably warm and sunny, and a pair of shades hid his eyes.

He spotted her and smiled, removing his sunglasses while walking her direction. Sliding into the seat beside her, he leaned in, kissing her cheek.

He looked down at her half-empty cup. “Am I late?”

Tipping her lips up, she shook her head. “I’m early.”

She didn’t mention she’d been sitting at the coffee shop for the past three hours. That would raise questions she didn’t want to answer. Like that she had to sneak out of her own house before the sun was up, walk two blocks before calling a cab, then promptly disable her phone—pulling out the battery to be on the safe side—so she couldn’t be tracked. The last thing she wanted was Marco showing up, breathing his doom and gloom theories all over her date.

Ever the observant one, Derek scanned the shop, then asked, “No entourage?”

She smirked into her cup. “I’m living dangerously.”

He gave her a boyish grin. “Then let’s make the most of it. There’s a fair happening just outside of town. What do you say?”

She returned his grin. “I say, I can eat my weight in cotton candy, and you’d better kick ass at carnival games because I want a giant stuffed animal.”

“Ready to holdup your end of the bargain?” Gabby asked, stopping Derek in front of a penny-toss game that had giant stuffed teddy bears on display.

They’d spent the whole day at the fair, and the sun was just setting. Gabby couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun. The rides were old, rickety, and probably not very safe, but they hadn’t hesitated to get on them—not a single one. They had eaten their weight in junk food—hot dogs, popcorn, and her beloved cotton candy. Hours had gone by too fast and while she was enjoying the one she was with, Marco, as usual, was never far from her mind. She wished that weren’t the case. Wished her heart would forget him and open itself to other possibilities.

“I think this game is rigged. Plates everywhere and I can’t get a penny to land on any of them.” Derek had his game-face on. Eyes squinted, head tilted, a look of concentration lining his features, he raised an arm, lining up for his next shot.

Gabby laughed. “Aw, come on, I saw a little girl carrying one of these bears earlier. It can’t be that hard.”

He gave her a dirty glance before letting the penny fly. It hit the edge of a plate with a ding before falling to the floor. “Shit.”

Gabby giggled.

“You sure you don’t want something else.” He looked around and pointed over her shoulder. “Over there. I’m good at basketball.”

Gabby looked behind her then gave Derek a mock pout. “Those aren’t as big.”

Without missing a beat, he leered, “So you like ‘em big?”

---