Page 87 of Between Now and Forever
“Forget it,” she says, trying to take her hand from mine. “I don’t even agree with myself right now.”
“Stop it.”
She huffs with a heavy dose of hesitation in her eyes.
“I didn’t think it needed to be said, but no, I hope this thing between us doesn’t stop either, Gabrielle.”
She grins. “Okay. Good. Then what I was going to say, if you would’ve just cooperated from the beginning, is that if we’re planning on keeping this up, then maybe we start easing the boys into the idea of us. What do you think?”
“I think this is absolutely your call.”
“So you would be okay with it? Because I don’t know what that looks like, and I don’t know how they’ll take it—specifically Dylan. It could get ugly.”
“Yeah, it could. And you have to be ready for that.”
“I am ready for that. I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time, and I don’t want to hide it from everyone. I don’t want to go to lunch with you at Betty Lou’s and fear that it’ll get back to the boys. Sneaking into your house in the middle of the night has been fun ...”
We exchange a knowing smile.
“But I want to be able to come over in the evening,” she says. “And I want you to be able to come over without walking on eggshells during daylight hours too. Like a normal couple.”
Gabrielle has no idea what her words mean, and it’s a whole lot more than what meets the eye. She’s offering a reality I never thought was possible. She’s proposing a life I decided long ago wasn’t an option.
She’s suggesting that I’m the man she wants included in her children’s lives. That she believes I’ll care for them as much as I’ll care for her.
What a fucking concept.
“So what do you think?” she asks.
“I want all of that too.”
She starts to speak when the door opens from the house. We both turn our attention to Dylan as he walks onto the deck. He spies the two of us sitting on the swing and scowls.
“Hey, buddy,” Gabrielle says. “I thought you were in bed.”
“I thoughtyouwere in bed,” he says.
“Jay brought me a glass of tea.” She smiles in a futile attempt at disarming Dylan. “What’s up?”
He side-eyes me. “I wanted to ask you something, but I can do it later.”
“Are you sure?” she asks. “Because I can go inside and we can talk, if you want.”
“I’d hate to interrupt your date,” he says, his jaw flexing.
This is going nowhere, and it’s getting there fast. In a few seconds, Gabrielle will respond, and then Dylan will fire something back to get under my skin. We’ve done this dance before.
How can I make the boy see we aren’t enemies?
“Have you dated before?” I ask him.
“What’s it matter?”
“Dylan, please don’t be rude,” Gabby says, sighing.
I shrug, my gaze pinned on the boy. “I suppose it doesn’t.”
His brows pull together, clearly pissed. “How did you know?”
