Page 50 of Lavender and Lightning

“Trust me, he’s going to do it again.”

Both Gabby and I snap our gazes to where Caleb is sitting near the door, tipping his chair back onto two legs as he scrolls through his phone. He looks casual, but I’ve seen how quickly he can spring into full protective mode.

“What do you know about it?” Gabby snaps.

“I’ve been around enough assholes to know that if they do something shitty once with no real consequences, they’re going to do it again,” he returns, completely unruffled.

“You don’t know him. He’s—”

“He is an asshole, Gabby. You know that just as well as I do,” I interrupt.

“I thought you liked him!” Gabby whines.

“I liked him because you liked him, and I wanted to support you. But the minute he fucked around with your heart, he was dead to me,” I say with all seriousness.

“So we going to talk about the Maserati in the room, or…” Gabby trails off.

I blink at the rapid change in subject before blushing. I’d hoped Gabby wouldn’t notice how I’d gotten to work over the last few days, mostly because she’s usually still asleep. But of course, nothing slips by her.

Despite Caleb’s presence, Alexandra has been waking up around the same time I do, and she’s been the one to drive me to work. We make our travel mugs of coffee together before Caleb follows behind us as we commute into the city. We don’t talk that much, at least not about anything we’d done. I want to ask if that was a onetime deal, or if there is a chance of us doing that again… and maybe even more. I haven’t been able to get that feeling of peace out of my mind, and I’m almost desperate to feel it again. Rhett hasn’t agreed to any intense play since our fight, and I miss it. But I haven’t been able to work up the courage to say anything yet.

“There’s not much to tell,” I mumble at last, picking at a chip in the table.

“Not much to tell? Babe, I’ve seen the way you look at each other, but you have the lady balls to tell me that there’s nothing going on between y’all,” she whisper-shouts at me.

“I didn’t say that, but it’s just… not a lot,” I admit, face overly warm.

Gabby scooches her chair closer, the legs loud on the stained linoleum. Once she’s thoroughly invaded my personal space, she leans her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her fists as she bats her eyelashes rapidly at me. I roll my eyes with a laugh, nudging her with my shoulder.

“Have you kissed? She seems like she’d be a great kisser,” Gabby asks.

“What? No, we haven’t—wait, what do you mean you think she’d be a good kisser? You can tell that just by looking at someone?” I ask, cutting across myself as I fully absorb her words.

“Some people you can. Like, take your Siberian shadow here—”

“I’m not from Russia,” Caleb interrupts in a monotone.

Gabby plows on, not even acknowledging him. “He’s got an okay mouth, lips a little thin for my taste, but he seems like the type to do everything by the letter. So maybe a six out of ten?”

“My mate would disagree,” Caleb retorts, shaking his head a little.

“She’s biased,” Gabby drones, turning back to me. “But Alexandra St. Clair has that look, like she definitely knows what to do with her mouth. You’d enjoy kissing her whether you wanted to or not.”

My mind immediately spins into overdrive, and I have to count my inhales and exhales to stop myself from imagining all the things I’m sure Alexandra could make me enjoy. Gabby laughs at my silence, and Caleb lets out a soft, exasperated sigh.

“If something happens, I’ll let you know if your theory holds any water,” I say after I compose myself.

“I’m holding you to that. Do you think Gran would mind if we took advantage of the open bar?” she asks brightly.

I chuckle and shake my head. “Like she’d have any room to judge us. Remember the Dickerson wedding last year?”

Gabby sits up with a gasp, then throws her head back and cackles. I can’t help but join in; my best friend’s laugh is always infectious. Wila tried the house wine at the Dickerson wedding last year and ended up liking it so much that she drank two bottles by herself before it was time to pack up and go home. Gabby and I ended up letting her sprawl out in the back of the truck on the ride home.

“Let’s go find something to drink. Maybe there’s a single billionaire waiting to sweep me off my feet,” Gabby says, jumping to stand.

“You need to stop watching so many movies,” I say with a sigh, following behind her.

Without missing a beat, Caleb falls into step silently behind me. It still makes me jump to see him move without making a sound, but I think that’s a good thing. I would rather be jumpy than oblivious.

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