Page 13 of I Do, or Dye Trying

“WHAT HAVE YOU GOTTENme into, Gabe?” I asked out loud before I pocketed my phone. I couldn’t imagine what prompted the debate between him and John, but I was glad that I would finally get to meet the man. I didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to either of us to invite the Dorchesters sooner. I acknowledged that their first visit to our home might be the last since I was going to humiliate Deanna when she entered her pie in the contest.

Before Gabe texted me, I had called Chaz and asked him to come over for brunch. I felt like we hadn’t spent any quality alone time together in ages and I missed him. At first, he sounded suspicious of my call, and then he acted like he was too busy to come over for an hour. I won’t lie, it hurt my feelings to the point that I almost told him to forget it. There were other ways I could spend my time that didn’t involve me forcing myself onto my so-called best friend.Yeah, I totally pouted until he got there.

When he arrived, he was all smiles and happiness to see me; it was the tale of two Chaz Hamiltons. “I have to admit I was suspicious when you called me,” Chaz said.

“I could tell,” I replied. “Have a seat and let’s eat while this is hot.”

Chaz began shoveling frittata in his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in days, which I knew wasn’t true since we fed him the night before at the barbecue. Maybe he was in a hurry to leave or perhaps he worked himself into a big appetite, but he wasn’t known for a lot of exercise, unless…

“Oh my God! You’re bumping uglies with Dr. Dimples!”

Chaz spat his orange juice all over my dining room table, earning a death glare from me. It wasn’t just any table; it was my great grandmother’s that I lovingly restored and maintained. You couldn’t find quality furniture like it anymore.

“I’m so sorry,” Chaz sputtered as he began mopping up the OJ with a paper towel. “You just shocked the hell out of me.”

I rose from my chair and got a damp towel to wipe away the sticky residue left behind. I smiled inwardly when I recalled the time Gabe fucked me to within an inch of my life on that same table, and I nagged at him to make sure he cleaned every drop of jizz.

“I guess that’s a resounding no then?” I asked.

“Yes,” Chaz said absently while he checked his phone.

“Yes, I was right thatyou’re nothaving sex with Dr. Dimples, or yes,you arehaving sex with Dr. Dimples?” I asked. “Which is it?”

Chaz released a frustrated sigh and set his phone down. “Josh.” Chaz said my name in a serious tone I hadn’t heard since he told me he was gay, like the fact I had caught him a month prior beating off to a picture of Ricky Martin hadn’t been a big enough clue. “I honestly appreciate that you think Kyle is interested in me, but it’s simply not true. Yeah, he thinks I’m cute and given a chance I’m pretty sure he’d tap my ass.”Crude much?“I don’t want that.”

“You don’t want him to ‘tap your ass’ even a little?” I asked in disbelief.

“I want what you have… what you and Gabe have,” Chaz amended. “I realize that I don’t want to be someone’s hookup anymore. I want to be ‘the one.’”

“I didn’t know that Gabe was ‘the one’ until after we’d hooked up,” I told him. In actuality, it took a while for me to stop running scared from Gabe. “I took a chance, and for once it didn’t blow up in my face.”

“You found your lobster,” Chaz said. I smiled at hisFriendsreference and thought to myself that it was apropos he used it since he and Dr. Dimples shared a love for the sitcom.

They shared a love of video games, had the same favorite television show, and they had mutual friends in common. Relationships were formed and lasted with fewer things in common than that, but I didn’t bring him over to lecture him on his love life.

“Believe it or not, I didn’t invite you over to talk about Dr. Dimples. I just noticed the aggressive way you attacked your food and thought maybe you worked up a good appetite doing something sexy. It was wishful thinking for you on my part, and I apologize.”

“Why did you invite me over?” Chaz’s tone turned suspicious again. “Did something go wrong with the salon while you were on vacation? I wasn’t aware of any issues.”

“The opposite, actually,” I told him. “Everything went right with the salon while I was gone and I realized that maybe I’m not employing you to your fullest potential.”

Chaz squinted as he thought about what I said. “You’re not?” he asked.

“I’m not,” I confirmed. “I’ll need to relinquish some control as the salon grows and my attention is diverted to filming segments for Channel Eleven, or risk burning my candle at both ends. There are things Gabe likes to do to both my ends and hot wax isn’t one of them. Yet.”

“Wow.” Chaz’s shocked expression at hearing me talk about giving up some of my ironclad control of the salon was comical.

“Yeah, I know.” I smiled broadly at him. “How would you like to become the salon manager?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you!” I rolled my eyes at his response. “Once I move the spa area upstairs, I’ll be able to open more stations and…”

“Move the spa area?” Chaz asked.

“Oh, that’s the best part,” I said excitedly. “Gabe and I decided to buy a house and live away from the salon. I’ll free up some space for expansion, and we get to make a home together that neither of us lived in prior to meeting each other.” My eyes lost focus as I thought about remodeling parts of the mansion, the wedding in the yard, and future little Gabriels running all over the house with Buddy close on their heels and Savage… My fantasy came to a screeching halt. Oh man, Gabe and I had serious work to do with that bird before we brought kids into our lives.

“Jazz, that’s awesome!” Chaz leaned forward and hugged me as best he could with the corner of the table in the way. He grabbed my hand and ran a finger over the sparkling diamonds in my ring. “You deserve every bit of happiness you’ve found with Gabe and all the moments you haven’t lived yet.” Chaz dropped my hand and sat back.