Page 118 of Vegas Heat

FLYBALL

VEGAS HEAT: THE EXPANSION TEAM

BOOK THREE

CHAPTER 1: GABBY

He’s kissing me, and I never want it to stop, but the key sliding into the front door lock fills the silence in the kitchen.

I pull back and rest my hands on his chest. Confusion swirls all around me. He tells me one thing then does another, and I’m getting freaking whiplash from the constant change in direction. I push him back out of my orbit because I can’t think straight when he’s this close to me, but one thing rings true. “I never meant anything to you, so why do you care who I’m sleeping with?”

If Ididmean something to him, if this wasn’t just a fling to him…wouldn’t he fight?

But he won’t. He’s just laying down and dying, and my only choice here is to lay it all on the line.

“Goddammit, Gabby, you know that’s a lie.” His tone is fierce, and I see some exasperation there at my words. Maybe hedoeshave some fight left in him, or maybe he’s back together with his ex.

We both hear the front door open.

He gets a few more whispered words in. “I don’t know what to do. I fucking love you so much, but we can’t be together.”

I don’t know what to do.

I fucking love you so much.

A piece of my broken heart latches onto those words.

If there’s still love there between us, then that means we still have a chance.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” I say, our eyes locked when my dad walks into the kitchen.

My dad turns the corner and pauses as he sees us standing there facing off. He freezes a beat, and I swear he eyes me with a bit of suspicion.

Does he know?

Does he suspect something?

My heart races.

Cooper turns away first, breaking the connection, and I have no idea where we stand right now.

“Good morning,” my dad says as if he didn’t just interrupt one of the most intense moments of my life. He whistles a little to himself as he moves toward the refrigerator and grabs the carton of orange juice, and maybe that look of suspicion was all in my imagination.

Enough space must span between the two of us not to clue my father into what’s really happening between us, but I just went from hopeless to hopeful in a matter of seconds.

“Isn’t today a big day for you, Cooper?” my dad asks.

Oh, shit. It’s his birthday, and I haven’t even wished him a happy one yet. I keep my mouth shut, though, since I’m probably not supposed to know details like that about our houseguest.

Cooper nods, his eyes bouncing over to my dad.

“Any big plans?” my dad asks, and I grab two glasses from the cabinet so my dad can pour me some juice, too. I nod toward Cooper as if to ask if he’d like one as well, and he shakes his head.

“I’m meeting some buddies at Caesars Palace tonight.”

My dad is facing the refrigerator, and Cooper’s eyes fall to me again. He raises his brows, and I’m not sure if he’s inviting me or if he’s making some other sort of comment with those brows.

Either way, I know we need to talk.Happy birthday, I mouth to him without making a sound.

---