Page 102 of Faking It with the Firefighter

“Good,” I replied, but realized that was a dead lie. Shoving a hand through my hair, I admitted, “That’s not true. I’m… I’m hanging in there.”

“I hear ya,” he said, and cleared his throat. “Hey—why don’t you stop by Sullivan’s today? I’ve got some hot wings with your name on them.”

It was like things had gone back to normal. Like the whole confession and me sleeping with his sister behind his back never happened. Was it real? “Hot wings, huh? I thought you were pissed at me.”

“I was. But I’m not anymore.”

“Really? Just like that?” I doubted Gabe would make allowances even if he was my best friend.

“Sort of. I’ll explain when you come down here. How’s lunchtime?”

A breath sighed out of me. I hadn’t realized how much Gabe’s silence was weighing on me. The loss of his friendship on top of the loss of Abigail felt like a little too much to reckon with. But now, hope bloomed. “Sure, I’ll be there.”

Just before noon,I walked through the door at Sullivan’s the same way I had for years. Gabe was standingbehind the bar in his usual button-down with the collar open. He looked up and smiled, waving me over to my regular stool. I took my usual seat, and he circled the bar and sat next to me.

“I thought you said there were wings?” I joked, giving him a sideways glance.

“In a minute. I have some things I need to say.” There was a seriousness to his tone that made my chest tight. Maybe this wasn’t a friendly meeting after all.

“Okay…”

Gabe leaned one elbow against the bar and met my gaze. “I gotta be honest, I don’t like being kept in the dark. If there’s something going on with you and my sister, I need to know about it. We’re supposed to be friends.”

“That’s fair,” I said, convinced the verbal beating was coming. But I wasn’t going to take it, even if we were old friends. “But you didn’t exactly make it easy for me to tell you.”

“You’re right. I’m beginning to see that I’m kind of a dick when it comes to Abigail.”

“Yeah, you are. And Abigail is her own person. A smart, independent, successful woman. She doesn’t need your permission to go on a date.”

Gabe seemed taken aback, and I knew it was because he wasn’t used to me speaking so honestly. “I know. I need to back off. Abigail’s an adult, and I don’t give her enough credit.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Dude, I’m trying to apologize,” he protested.

“I don’t remember hearing I’m sorry,” I shot back with a little smirk. It was time we were all called on our bullshit.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being such a jerk aboutyou being with Abigail, and I’m sorry I went after you and believed you kissed Blair. I should’ve known something more was going on. I just got caught up in all the drama.”

“So you believe me now?”

“Yeah, you’ve always been a great friend to me. That and Sophie found the video on YouTube. Some rando reposted it.”

“Really?” I asked, and he nodded. “Did Abigail see it too?”

He lowered his gaze. “I don’t know. She hasn’t been speaking to me.”

“Damn.”

Gabe chewed his lip. “She wasn’t even this bad after her divorce.”

I leaned against the bar and stared at the wood grain. “That’s because I fucked up.”

“We both did.”

We were silent for a beat. I let out a long breath and said, “I’m in love with her, Gabe.”

He met my gaze. “Yeah?”

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