Page 14

Gabby

I connect the phone to the speaker and recline back against the headboard.

King should be here soon. I actually thought he’d be here before now.

They must have had a backup at the pizza place.

Moon Doggie Pizza is the best place in town.

They do coal fired pizza, and it’s divine.

You can choose between almost fifty toppings.

Although, I go with the simple three toppings, because I’m not big on a lot of gunk on my pizza.

I’m a purist. Pepperoni, sausage, and onions are my favorites.

Every now and again I’ll add mushrooms, but that’s basically it.

I will probably have to pick half the toppings off whatever King orders, but I don’t mind.

I recline back on the bed as I listen to Etta James crooning about a Sunday Kind of Love.

I downloaded her At Last album after King introduced me to her.

The bad thing about this is that it seems me and Miss Etta have way too much in common.

Most of her album can be considered the soundtrack of my life.

When I hear the lyric— I’d rather go blind, boy.

Than to see you walk away, see you walk away from me —I instantly both cringe and fall in love with the song, because it reminds me of me.

Ditto with Anything To Say You’re Mine and My Heart Cries.

Still, you can’t deny her brilliance. She’s much better than Ambrosia—not that I would ever tell King that. His ego is big enough, thank you very much.

I let out a sigh as I rub my stomach. Truth be known, I’m kind of lonely here.

At the club, there’s always something happening.

I never truly felt like I belonged, but I didn’t feel lonely either.

They were all nice to me. I know I’ll get used to being alone again.

It will just take a little time. Besides, soon my jellybean will be here, and life will be anything but lonely.

That thought makes me smile, and I rub my tummy gently.

I jerk when there’s a knock on the door.

“Pizza time,” I murmur to myself. I jog to the door.

My big slouchy socks padding softly across the fake wood flooring.

I put on my pajama shorts and matching top with my almost completely past the knee, hand knitted black and gray tub socks, made of the softest yarn I’ve ever felt in my life.

I found them in a store and had to have them—even if I shouldn’t have wasted the money.

They made me smile and few things do that these days, so I splurged.

My hair is damp from a quick shower. I pulled it back into a ponytail and left my face devoid of makeup.

The old Gabby would be in a panic. The new one doesn’t give a fuck.

I have no one to impress. I don’t think I ever will again, and I like it that way.

I look through the peephole and smile as I see King.

I open the door quickly, grinning at him.

“I was wondering what happened. Moon Doggies must have been packed,” I laugh.

“Take the pizza and the six-pack, Sunshine. I got a few things I picked up for you in the truck.”

“What did you pick up for me?” I ask, confused.

“It’s a surprise. Go on. Set us up. I’ll be right in.”

“Okay …” I murmur, feeling weird. I hope he didn’t do something stupid I will have to kill him for.

King has a constant need to fix things for people.

I’ve seen it up close and I don’t want to take anything from him.

I’m grateful for his friendship. He’s so gentle with me.

He doesn’t know it, because I can’t find the words to explain, but there are times he keeps me going.

King is the perfect reminder that there are good people in this world.

I carry the pizza to my bed that I’ve covered with a beach towel.

In all of my great planning, I forgot that the only sheets I’ve been using have been owned by the club.

I’ll have to pick some of those up tomorrow as well.

I’ll grab some cheap ones at Walmart. Tonight, I can make do with my comfy throws.

I have three. One can be over the mattress where I lay and the other two will be a pillow and a cover. It’s not perfect, but it will work.

I’m pulled away from my thoughts when I hear this weird noise coming from the living room area. I walk back quickly. It sounds like an air pump. Though why King would need one of those, I can’t guess.

I stop when I see what King’s doing. He’s blowing up an inflatable … couch. He bought me a couch. “King?” I whisper, feeling like I can’t breathe.

“You needed someplace to sit—other than the damn floor. It’s not spectacular, but it’s wide and a pretty good size.

It will hold two of me, which is like forty of you, even with growing another human inside your belly.

It’s big enough so you can stretch out if you want to and before you ask, it was damn cheap.

Which means I still owe you another housewarming gift. So shut it.”

“I don’t want a housewarming gift. You bought pizza and beer.”

“Oh shit. Be right back,” he says, then takes off for the front door.

“What in the world?” I question, watching as he disappears back outside. It takes a few minutes, but he comes back in with three bags of groceries. “Oh my God! What did you do?”

“It’s not much. I grabbed some paper plates and towels.

Then, I thought you’d need some bread and lunchmeat.

I got ham. Everyone likes ham. Also, mayo.

You need that for a sandwich. That led to some lettuce and tomato, which kind of led to bacon, because BLTs popped in my head.

Then you liked banana pudding, so I bought you the snack pack ones in that flavor.

It probably won’t taste anything like Nicole’s, but if jellybean gets a hankering, it might work in a pinch. ”

“What’s the milk for?” I ask, as I watch him unload all his crap. I’m kind of surprised he got it all to fit in three bags.

“It helps develop healthy bones and shit. It’s good for you. I got you some Pepsi, too. Cause I saw you drinking that the other day. Though, woman, that’s not exactly healthy.”

“Neither is trying to take away my caffeine. Remember that, or our friendship won’t survive.”

“So, noted,” he says, his lips tipped up into a half smile that looks really good on him.

“I can’t believe you did all this.”

“Does this mean you aren’t pissed?” he asks, sounding hopeful.

“I probably should be, but I can’t find it in me to be. Truly, King, thank you for thinking of me.”

“You’re more than welcome, Gabby. Our friendship is special to me. I hope you know that.”

“It’s special to me, too. You know?”

He smiles at me, but it deepens as his eyes twinkle. “Since you’re not mad, I think it’s safe to reveal this!”

“Oh my God! You got me a Keurig?” I squeal.

“It’s only the general single cup one. Not one of the fancy, frou-frou shit girls normally love. I started to get that one, but I didn’t want to hear your bitching if I did,” he complains, making me laugh.

“Frou-frou?”

“Don’t start,”

“I didn’t even know that word was in the badass-alpha-biker lingo book,” I joke.

“It was just added,” he quips. “We’re trying to expand our horizons.”

“Good thinking,” I snort.

“I know coffee might not be good for you, but I bought you some decaf. There’s also some hot chocolate shit in there and tea. I don’t know if you drink tea, but some girls do. So, there you go. There’s a lavender tea. I think the girl said it was supposed to help you sleep.”

I’m feeling overwhelmed. I walk toward him and wrap my arms around him and hug him. “Thank you, King.”

He pulls back to look at me. “Anytime, Sunshine. Now, where’s our pizza? I’m starved.”

“Well, I didn’t know I was going to have a couch, so I set it up on my bed. There’s a kitchen island but no stools, sooo …”

“The bed is fine. It seems to be a theme for us,” he jokes.

“True, but no heartfelt stories tonight, please? I’m kind of exhausted.”

“Works for me,” he says, following me back into the bedroom.

“You’re playing Otis Redding.”

“It’s a great movie, King.”

“It’s a great song, Gabby.”

“Potato, Po-tot-o,” I grumble, doing my best to make the same word sound even more different than normal. It has the desired effect of making King give a full-belly laugh.

“A beach towel?” he asks.

“I forgot to buy sheets and stuff. I’ll worry about it tomorrow. This will work tonight.”

“You could stay in the place that’s become your home. There are sheets there.”

“Let it go, big guy. Don’t ruin my pizza,” I demand, as I open the box. I look over the lid at King. “Um, King?”

“Yeah, Sunshine?”

“Pepperoni, sausage, and onions?”

“Only on half. My half is meat lovers. Why? Did I make a mistake? I could have sworn that’s what you told me you liked on your pizza.”

I think back to the silly conversations we had when I was doing my best to think about anything other than losing my brother. “I can’t believe you remembered,” I whisper.

“When things are important, you listen, Gabby,” he instructs.

I swallow and nod, because for the life of me, I don’t think I could say a word right now.

King must sense that, because we eat our food quietly.

Eventually, he asks me a few questions and the easy flow between us comes back.

I somehow managed to sock back three pieces of pizza and a whole glass of milk—that King demanded I drink over the Pepsi, and I didn’t even care.

It was a great night, but it was made even better when King cleaned up the mess and took it to the kitchen, after demanding I don’t move.

I didn’t—and again, I didn’t even care he got bossy.

That wasn’t what made it better, though.

As he come back in, Ambrosia began playing on the speaker.

King grabbed my hand and pulled me off the bed.

I thought he was getting ready to leave, but instead, he pulled me to the middle of the floor and began swaying to the totally awesome song.

I laid my head on his chest and hummed along, thinking Etta James was the bomb, but this song was definitely the best of the best.

I, however, didn’t tell King this … I didn’t need him to lose his mind and lecture me on music again.