Page 22 of When We Breathe
Damn, he loves me so fucking well.
And until last night, I would have said our family was complete and that I was perfectly content with Gabe.
But now that’s changed, and I need to have a serious talk with my man to make sure we’re on the same page.
I find him outside in our screened-in patio, sitting at the table with a sweaty beer bottle by his elbow. We’ve only been home for about thirty minutes, and we haven’t said much to each other since we left Alex’s shitty apartment.
I need to get her out of there.
Sitting next to him, I pick up his beer and take a sip, then set it back on the table.
“Hey,” he says, reaching for my hand and linking our fingers.
Something I had to get used to with Gabe is that he’s a toucher. He’s the definition of physically affectionate. I’ve always been the opposite because my parents didn’t hug. There was no affection in my home growing up at all.
And that’s something else that I didn’t know I needed until I met him. His touch soothes me like nothing else in this world. He’s my drug. My addiction.
Gabriel Blackwell is the love of my fucking life.
But a certain Princess is quickly wiggling her way into my heart.
I reach for his chair and pull him closer to me, palm the back of his neck, and draw him in for a kiss. Then I tip my forehead against his and simply breathe him in.
“Are you okay?” he whispers.
“Yeah, but we need to talk.” I sit back in the chair and link our fingers again. “I wasnotexpecting her.”
“That makes two of us.” Gabe sips his beer, watching me. “We’ve said a couple of times that we want to pursue something serious with her, but that was in the heat of the moment. So now that our dicks aren’tengaged in the decision, I need to know what you’re thinking.”
I smirk and bring his hand up so I can kiss it. “You were the best surprise to ever come into my life. I love you so much, my heart aches with it, and I fall more in love with you every day.”
My man’s eyes soften.
“So it feels ungrateful to say that I want her, too.”
“It’s not ungrateful,” he says, shaking his head. “Because I’m in the same fucking boat. It’s been twenty-four hours since we met her in the bar, and it already feels odd to be here without her. She fits like a puzzle piece we didn’t know was missing. It feels natural. I don’t feel like I’m competing with her for your love and attention, and I hope you don’t feel that way either.”
“I don’t.” I shake my head and sip his beer. “I’m not in any way jealous of her when we’re all together. She’s the first woman we’ve shared since we got serious.”
He nods slowly. Twice before Gabe and I moved in together and became committed to each other, we shared a woman for sex. But once this became permanent, we put a stop to that.
Until Alex.
Just thinking about her makes my stomach clench. She’s so sweet, so soft. But she has a spine and a sense of humor as well, and every fucking inch of her is absolute perfection.
I want to burn her childhood to the fucking ground.
And I want to protect her with my life. I want to protect them both.
“I can tell she doesn’t favor one of us,” Gabe continues. “She’s totally into both of us.”
“Agreed.”
He nibbles his lip, and I reach out to tug it free with my thumb.
“We live in a small town,” I remind him. “So if we pursue Alex, if we make her ours, we’ll get looks. People will talk. I hate that we have to think about that, but we do, Gabe. I want to protect both of you from any kind of bullshit that might hurt you.”
“Same goes,” he says, pulling his hand down his face the way he does whenever he’s agitated. “My family wouldn’t have an issue. They might raise an eyebrow at first, but as long as I’m happy, they’re happy.”
