Page 21 of I Do, or Dye Trying

“Did you crush on Rhett?” I asked him. I mean, who didn’t? Ashley was a horrible weasel.

“I sure as hell didn’t crush on that loser Ashley,” he scoffed.

“That’s my man,” I said approvingly, giving his hand a squeeze. “How’d your meeting go with Prosecutor Buxton?” Gabe’s laughter at my question caught me by surprise. “What’s funny about Pamela Buxton? She seems kind of kick-ass.”

“There’s nothing funny about Prosecutor Buxton,” Gabe said. He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “She and Dorchester used to date. He got all flustered and pink-cheeked around her this morning. It was hilarious.” Then Gabe told me about how his teasing backfired when he fell for a bullshit story that Dorchester made up. “He didn’t like it when I razzed him at the station later in front of Adrian and Whitworth.”

We had arrived at the hospital cafeteria by the time Gabe finished his story. “You’re not the only one with gossip to share. In fact, mine is juicier than yours,” I boasted proudly.

“Are we still talking about gossip or have you moved onto how juicy your…” I covered his mouth with my hand. No one around us wanted to know about my load of joy juice chilling out in my sac just waiting to be sprayed all over my man. I felt Gabe’s lips curve into a smile beneath my hand.

“Behave now, and I’ll tell you all about it. You’re not going to believe it,” I said, using our familiar phrase.

“Try me,” Gabe said, using the familiar response.

“ItwasChaz thatwasplayingWorld ofWarcraftwith Kyle,” I told him.

“What? That’s great!” A deep V formed in his brow as his happiness gave way to confusion. “Why are we acting like this is a secret. They haveFriendsandWoW. I’ve seen people with less in common give it a go.”

Like us, I thought. “I know, Gabe, but Chaz feels pretty inadequate compared to Dr. Delicious.”

“Will you quit calling Kyle those names?” he asked with a hint of aggravation. “I’d like to pretend that you don’t notice things about other men and I’m the only one you see. Let me have my delusions for a little while, okay?”

I narrowed my eyes at Gabe but decided not to address his absurd remark right then. “Anyway, Chaz created a false identity to go undercover for the book that he wrote and he happened to run into Dr. Dreadfully Ugly in the process. They struck up a friendship then Chaz bolted when he got the impression that Kyle wanted to take things further.”

“Kyle was ready for that step,” Gabe said. “Wait a minute,” he said after a brief pause. “What book?”

“Oh! That’s the best part. Remember that book I read Easter weekend about the guy who fell in love with another gamer he met online.”

“The one where the love interest turned out to be a serial killer?” Gabe asked.

“Yes!” I told him. “That’s Chaz’s book. He’s C.B. Hesterson!” I said excitedly.

“Really? Wow!” Gabe tilted his head to the side, and I could tell he was rolling the discovery around in his brain. “That book was really hot. Do you think he based any of it on real activities between him and Dimples?”

“Art imitating life kind of thing?” I asked.

“I think the saying is ‘life imitating art,’ but I guess what you said applies more in this instance,” Gabe said. He pulled me to him and smiled down at me. “Just what are we going to do about this new development?”

“We’renot going to do anything about it,” I told Gabe. “They’re both adults who are capable of making decisions on what’s best for them.”

“What you’re saying is that you haven’t formulated a plan yet,” Gabe replied.

“Yeah, pretty much,” I agreed. “How about you buy me some of that fancy chocolate cake and a cup of coffee so I can start my plotting and planning.”

“Or, why don’t we use this time to pick up where we left off this morning. I want to make an offer on that house before it gets away from us,” Gabe said.

I doubted that anyone would wrestle us over the mansion, but it probably was best not to take that for granted. For all I knew, Rocky was trying to find a way to get that house back for himself. Georgia would love for kids to live in her home, but probably not the ones that came from his loins.Little rat bastard.“I haven’t given it too much thought yet, but I …”

“Josh?”

I turned to see who interrupted me and found myself face to face with a man I hadn’t seen in a very long time. “Trent! Wow, I didn’t expect to run into you here. I’d heard you’d gone to Ohio State University to medical school.”

His eyes moved appraisingly up and down my body before he answered me. “I did, and now I’m doing my residency here.” Trent’s eyes flickered to Gabe as if he just realized he was standing there. “Hi, I’m Dr. Adamson,” he said, extending his hand to Gabe. Trent winced slightly when Gabe gripped his hand.

“Josh’s fiancé,” Gabe said sharply.

“Ahhhh,” Trent said, and wisely took a step back. “Well, it was good seeing you again, Josh. Nice to meet you, Josh’s fiancé.” He chuckled then walked away.