Page 70 of Second Shot

He smiles as if he needed to hear that. “Thanks. So, should I book a hotel room or?”

“No. You can stay here.”

“Yeah?” He grins. “Thank god. The hotels around here are so fucking expensive.”

I study him. “It’s the least I can do after you flew all the way here just to check on me. That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

He shrugs. “Just because we’re not together doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. I’m sure you’d do the same for me.”

“Yeah, I would. Thanks for coming, Tam.” My eyes tear up and Tam looks surprised.

“I’ve never seen you this emotional. You really must be drunk.” Tam stands. “You need to eat something.” He heads into the kitchen and glances at the menus stuck to my fridge. “Obviously, no miracle has occurred and I still don’t cook. I’m going to order delivery. Chinese okay?

“Anything is okay,” I mumble, wiping at my eyes. I feel like I’m going insane. The stress of the last few days and the heartbreak I’m feeling, it’s almost too much.

“Can you believe we’re finally going to eat a meal at home together?” His tone is sardonic.

“Don’t pick on me, Tam,” I grumble. “I can’t take it right now.”

He laughs. “Sorry. I went for the low hanging fruit.”

Tam orders the food and then he comes back to me. He reclines on the couch, looking a bit like a cat. His slender body is muscular without being bulky, his legs long. His eyes are a honey-brown, and his blond hair messy. He looks even better than when I was with him. I suspect that’s because he’s happy.

“What do you want to happen with Gabe?” he asks quietly.

I hang my head. “I don’t know.”

“Are you angry at him?”

I nod. “If he truly was in cahoots with Freddy, yes.”

Resting his head on his hand, he asks, “Do you believe in your heart he was?”

Do I? All the evidence seems to say yes, but then I remember Gabe’s stricken expression. He wasn’t gloating, he looked devastated. I want desperately to believe he wouldn’t do what Freddy said he did. But the text messages between him and Freddy are very damning.

“I don’t know what to believe,” I whisper.

“I’m not asking you what your brain thinks.” He tilts his head, his gaze assessing. “I’m asking you what your heart says.”

My eyes burn again with unshed tears as I picture Gabe’s face. “My heart says Gabe would never hurt me like that.”

Tam’s smile is gentle. “Then maybe you should trust your heart.”

I shake my head. “No. I can’t. It’s not that easy. If Gabe’s so innocent, why hasn’t he come out publicly to denounce the lies Freddy’s telling? If our roles were reversed, that’s the first thing I’d have done.”

Tam looks thrown by that. “I guess I see what you mean.”

I say bitterly, “Despite what my heart is telling me, his actions make it clear he doesn’t give a shit about me and he never did. I just have to accept that.”

Because that’s the cold, hard truth, isn’t it? If Gabe wasn’t in this with Freddy, he wouldn’t have just said that to me outside the bus that day. He’d have said it to the world by now.

But he didn’t.

And that tells me everything I need to know about Gabe’s innocence.

Chapter Seventeen

Gabe