Page 12 of Marry Your Best Friend

I grab my beer and stand up. “Roger, this is Gabe. Gabe, Roger.”

Roger just nods his head at Gabriel. I can see Roger judging his long hair and the tattoos on his arms by the frown on his face. The fact that he’s a snob makes me feel even better about what I’m about to do. “Roger, I think we can both agree that this isn’t going to work. Since you asked me out to get a job with King and I’m not going tohelp with it, I think we can go ahead and call it a night.”

Gabe literally growls when I mention why Roger asked me out, but to his credit, he doesn’t say anything.

Roger leans forward and says, “Chrissy—”

But that’s all he gets out. He looks up at Gabe, and Gabe must be giving him a look because Roger’s tone weakens. “Yeah, okay, sure.”

Gabe puts his arm around my shoulder and leads me away. He doesn’t stop until we’re across the bar and he pulls out a stool, picks me up by the waist, and lifts me up to put me in the chair.

He then walks around the small table and sits down across from me. I look to where his fireman friends are all sitting, and I gesture to them. “You don’t have to babysit me, Gabe. You can go back to your friends.”

He gives me a look like I’m crazy. “Yeah, that’s not happening. But if you want to give me permission to kick in the doctor's teeth, I’ll be happy to do that.”

I shrug. “He’s not worth it.”

He grits his teeth. “It would make me feel better.”

I reach over and wrap my hand around hisforearm. “It’s fine, Gabe. It’s not a big deal. This isn’t the first time someone has asked me for a favor or befriended me to get close to one of you guys.”

He rears back in surprise. “Excuse me?”

I shrug like it’s no big deal, but I’m obviously bothered by it. “Yeah, I have nurses that suddenly become friendly because they want to date you.”

He frowns. “You’ve never told me that.”

I nod. “Yeah, well, I never fixed you up with one of them. I assumed you wouldn’t appreciate that kind of behavior, but I mean, I can always—”

He holds his hand up. “No, I don’t want any part of that. I’m sorry, Chrissy. Roger is a dumbass. He doesn’t know how bad he screwed up.”

I laugh at that. “Yeah, he does because he’s not getting a reference from me to King.”

Gabe reaches across the table and puts his hand on my chin. “Look at me.”

I blink my eyes and look into his. I’m trying to hide it, but there’s no hiding anything from Gabe. Sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself.

Gabe smiles softly. “He screwed up because he had a date with the most beautiful, the most special, the most big-hearted woman in Whiskey Run, andhe fucked it up. You were right there in front of him, and he didn’t see it. Fuck, he has to be blind.”

My heart is racing, and I take a deep breath because I can feel the flutters in my stomach. Sometimes the things he says to me make me think he feels more for me, but I have to remind myself that this is Gabe. This is who he is. He knows I’m hurt, and he’ll say and do anything to make me feel better. I try to make light of the situation. “Fine, you’re forgiven.”

He releases his hold on me, but he doesn’t go far. He wraps his hand around mine. “What do you mean, I’m forgiven?”

I laugh. “You’re forgiven for showing up at yet another one of my dates.”

He laughs with me. “Well, first of all, I told you I was coming, so it should be no surprise, and second of all, don’t do that. Don’t make light of this, Chrissy. You deserve better from people.”

All of a sudden, I’m exhausted. It’s been a long day—and night—and I’m ready to go home, get in my pajamas, and call it a night. “I think I’m going to get out of here. I have to work in the morning.”

He stands up and throws some money on the table. “How much did you have to drink?”

I point at the beer bottle I carried over with me. “I’ve nursed the same beer since I got here.”

He looks at the half-full bottle. “Okay, I’ll follow you home.”

I hold my hand up. “No, you will not.” I point to his friends. “You had plans, and I’m not letting you change them because you feel sorry for me.”

He sounds aghast. “Feel sorry for you? I don’t feel sorry for you. I just want to make sure you make it home safely.”

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