Page 86 of Forbidden Harmony

Gideon was right, but Preacher wasn’tgiving him the satisfaction of agreeing. He hadn’t really talked to Gideon aboutthis because he wanted advice on how to not be jealous. He’d talked to himabout it because the way Addison had looked at him this afternoon was eatinghim up inside. What if she was so pissed that she never wanted to fuck himagain?”

The little bit of appetite he had leftimmediately departed to parts unknown and he pushed away his steak and hissalad. “She’s pissed at me because of how I acted this afternoon.”

“What exactly did you do?”

“Lucas asked to see her tattoo and I toldhim no.”

Gideon winced. “Yeah, telling a woman whatshe can and can’t do with her own body is not a great idea, buddy.”

“I know,” he said. “It just fucking shotout of my goddamn mouth before I could stop it. I lose my fucking mind when I’maround her now.”

“I can tell you how to stop being jealousaround her,” Gideon said.

Preacher stared at him and Gideon set hisfork down. “End this thing you have going on with her. Stop giving her lessons,stop being with her. I know you like her but now’s the time to end it. Becausetrust me, the longer this goes on, the harder it’ll be when it’s finished.”

Preacher didn’t reply and Gideon leanedcloser. “Addison is a sweet girl and I’ve no doubt she doesn’t mean to hurtyou, but she’s also not over Harrison yet. She can’t be. You don’t get overthe person you loved for over a decade in just a few months. And you deservebetter than being the rebound guy. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Preacher said.

“You’re not going to stop, are you?”Gideon said.

He shrugged. “I told her I’d give herlessons for a month. That isn’t that long.”

“Preacher -”

“Look, you’re right. She isn’t over herdick ex-fiancé, and when she is over him, I’m not the man she’s going to belooking at. I just needed to hear someone else say it.”

“That isn’t what I said,” Gideon said.

“But it’s the truth,” Preacher said. “I’llgive her the month I promised and that’ll be it for us. And if she wants tostart dating that fucking gamer dude or some other guy before the month is up, morepower to her.”

“So, your little jealousy problem is finished.Just like that, huh?” Gideon said.

“Just like that,” Preacher said.

* * *

Just like that, his fucking ass.

He walked toward Addison’s building. Hisstomach was still churning, and the sip of beer, bite of steak, and mouthful ofsalad were all bobbing around in his stomach acid and having a grand fuckingtime doing it.

He stared at the panel above the door, atthe neatly typed ‘Moore, A’ next to number 427.

Go home, Simon.

Yeah, he would. This was a mistake. Goinghome and getting some sleep before the niggling headache became a migraine wasexactly what he needed to do.

He reached out and pushed Addison’sapartment button. His hands were sweating, and he wiped them on his jeans. Itwas almost six and still hot and muggy as shit. More sweat beaded up on his templeswhen Addison’s voice came out of the speaker.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

When she didn’t reply, he said, “It’s Preacher,”and then winced at how fucking stupid he was.

“What do you want?” she said.

“Can I come up?”

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