Page 84 of Lotus

Gabe makes a hissing sound. “Ouch. Something happened, didn’t it?”

“Something, yes.”

“Goddammit,” he curses, swinging the towel against the corner of the wall, where kitchen meets hallway. He makes a growling sound, frustration pouring off of him. “I told her not to go there with you. I could wring her neck.”

“I’d prefer that you didn’t,” I sigh, collapsing back onto the sofa.

“She promised she wouldn’t hurt you.”

I feel Gabe come up behind me, leaning forward on the arm rest, his features taut. His concern is evident, and it’s a good feeling, knowing that he cares for my wellbeing. “I don’t believe she means to. Her intentions are pure, but her execution leaves a little to be desired.”

A chuckle greets me as Gabe paces the few steps over to where I’m seated, plopping down with a heavy breath. “That’s a classy way of saying she’s a hot mess.” I can see him trying to get a read on me out of my peripheral. “So, what happened? Did you guys… hook up?”

“If that’s an intercourse reference, no. Not exactly.”

“What, then?”

Flashes of Sydney writhing between my thighs, my fingers inside of her, moans and gasps and explosions, all slam into me, causing my neck to burn. “It’s private,” I force out.

Gabe raises one eyebrow, a question and a complaint. “Shit, fine. But I’m going to assume it’s sexual because that’s Sydney.”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, she’s a sexual person. She doesn’t exactly lack confidence in that department. It’s all the other stuff that has her running the other way.”

“Commitment,” I gather.

“Commitment. Emotional attachment. All that mushy love stuff.”

I wonder why that is. Did someone hurt her? Break her trust? It appears Sydney has a deep-rooted emotional complex when it comes to matters of the heart, and I don’t know how to fix that. I lean back into the cushions, one hand on each knee. “We haven’t spoken in four days. It’s a troublesome feeling.”

Gabe commiserates next to me with a long sigh. “Well, now that you realize I was overflowing with really good advice, maybe you’ll use some of it—find a distraction. Out of sight, out of mind, you know?”

“She is always on my mind.”

“Not when you’ve got another pretty face in your bed. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be about sex. Go on a date. Talk and laugh over fucking Italian food or something,” he tells me, his words almost pleading. “You need to, Oliver. This thing with Syd… it’s not going anywhere. You’ll be in this soul-crushing, back-and-forth limbo forever. Get out there and enjoy yourself.”

My instincts want to resist his words, tell him to mind his own business, argue that I enjoy myself themostwhen I’m with Sydney.

But I don’t because his words ring true.

Heaving in another sigh, I nod my head. “You may be right. There is someone… a woman I met at the library recently. She’s quite lovely.”

“No shit, really?” Gabe slaps me on the back so hard, I wince. “There you go, buddy. What’s her name? She hot?”

“Tabitha. She’s very beautiful and good-natured. She was one of the surviving victims of a serial killer investigation that occurred not long ago,” I explain.

Gabe is immediately fishing through the pockets of his shorts for his cellular phone, pulling up the search application. “I know who you’re talking about…” he says as his thumbs swipe away at the digital keypad. “Tabitha Brighton. Yeah, this chick.”

Glancing over his shoulder, I nod. “Yes, that’s her.”

“Goddamn. Where can I get one of these?” he jokes, eyeing the photograph with approval.

“The library, apparently.”

A sharp laugh. “She’s a knock-out. Well done, man.”

I clear my throat of the uncomfortable tickle. “We had coffee together on my work break last week. It was mildly cumbersome, considering what we share in common isn’t exactly lighthearted coffee discussion, but I did enjoy her company.”

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