Page 27 of I Do, or Dye Trying

She laughed and slapped me playfully on the arm then walked over to where I had my pies sitting on the counter. She released a shaky breath as if she was about to uncover a rare, ancient artifact before she removed the foil off one of the pies. “Oh man,” she said when she revealed the perfect, golden lattice crust. She breathed deeply, inhaling the spice of the cinnamon and the bourbon. “It’s what I get for deceiving my husband all these years.”

It’s not what she deserved at all. So, after we feasted on Gabe’s delicious grilled chicken and enough side dishes to feed a battalion, I did the only thing that felt right. I told the group that I had dropped my pie on the kitchen floor before I could slice it into slivers for the contest. I saw the disbelief in Gabe’s eyes, but he wisely didn’t point out that there was a second pie. I knew my lie would go unchallenged because he wanted that pie all to himself. I apologized profusely, and we all fussed over Deanna’s pie and Emory’s cobbler before we started the cornhole tournaments.

That time, Mere and I were split up and put on different teams. We decided to pair up with our guys since they showed real promise when we beat them the previous week. I did notice that Kyle and Chaz remained a team and looked even cozier than the last time they teamed up. Like the week before, Mr. Best Seller and Dr. Dimples were my final opponents.

Gabe pulled me close and lowered his mouth until it was pressed to my ear. “Do not throw the game like you did last week and the pie bake-off today. I’m onto you, Sunshine.” Fine, so he busted me both times, but I had good reasons. I wanted to see Chaz and Kyle hug since it looked like they’d been working up to it as the game progressed. I had been right, and I hoped the connection would spark something amazing between them, but that decision was up to them. I couldn’t throw Deanna to the wolves like Gabe wanted me to, and I’d give him my reasons later—after I annihilated the budding lovebirds at cornhole.

Halfway through the tournament, a surprise visitor arrived. “Hey, everybody. Sorry I’m late,” Jonathon Silver said, waving awkwardly.

It was hard to say who was surprised the most between Emory, Gabe, and me. It was easy to see who Emory held responsible for his discomfort when he looked at Gabe suspiciously. He wasn’t the only one either. Gabe mentioned that he would check in with Jonathon but not until after the party because he knew how uncomfortable Emory was in his company. Yet, there he was as if someone conjured him out of thin air or sneakily called him. Gabe shook his head to say it wasn’t him. It sure as hell wasn’t me, and I could tell by the shocked expression on Emory’s face that he didn’t call Jonathon either.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have dropped in on you guys,” Jonathon said, sounding embarrassed and very uncomfortable. His eyes searched the gathering like he was looking for someone and I knew who when his eyes locked on Emory. “What the hell did you do to your beautiful hair?” Jonathon asked as if he had the right.

Emory narrowed his eyes, sat straighter in his chair, and lifted his chin proudly. “Josh cut it for me.” Jonathon looked at me like I’d given top secret information to a hostile government rather than finish a service I’d been hired to provide.

“Hey, I do what my clients ask. Emory wanted the Bieber special, and that’s what he got,” I said defensively.

“Not that it’s your business,” Emory said icily. Jonathon made a beeline for Emory, ignoring his standoffish tone and demeanor. He sat in the vacant seat beside the man and kept looking at him until Emory couldn’t ignore him any longer. “What?”

“It makes your eyes look even bigger and greener,” Jonathon answered.

“I don’t have to sit here and listen to this,” Emory replied as if he’d just been insulted instead of complimented. He rose to his feet and practically stomped across the yard in the direction of his house. Unfortunately for him, Jonathon was right on his heels.

“What’s your problem?” I heard Jonathon ask, but couldn’t hear the rest he said to Emory. It was clear by his body language that he was as confused as hell.

“Gabe, maybe we should…”

“No,” Gabe said, wrapping his hand gently around my bicep to prevent me from following them. “Let them handle it.”

I looked into Gabe’s warm gaze and melted a little. “Okay.” He would’ve been the first person to intervene had he thought trouble was brewing, so I went with his lead. “Ready to finish kicking some cornhole ass?”

“Yes, so we can get these people out of here, and I can go upstairs and eat both pies.” He rubbed his nose behind my ear. “Did you buy that vanilla ice cream I love so much?”

“Does your dick get hard when I spin on my pole?” To me, his question was just as absurd. Of course, I bought him the ice cream he liked.

Gabe’s eyes darkened with a desire for more than pastry, apples, and ice cream. “Let’s get this show on the road then.”

We beat Kyle and Chaz so bad that they couldn’t believe it. They wanted a rematch, but Gabe rudely told them to go home instead. He wanted pie, ice cream, and sex. No one else seemed to find his behavior odd when they said goodbye, so perhaps I was the only one who noticed.

The look on his face was priceless when he ran up the stairs and didn’t find his beloved pie waiting for him on the counter. “Someone took the pies home with them by mistake,” he said. “Who takes home two whole pies?” He was disturbed by their selfishness.

“Gabe,” I said his name calmly to stop the tirade I saw brewing. I opened the oven door to reveal the two pies I’d hidden inside. “I couldn’t leave the pies out in the open for our guests to see after I announced I had dropped and ruined them.”

The relief on Gabe’s face was sweet and comical. You know what was better than eating pie and ice cream? Eating it buck-ass naked while straddling Gabe with our hard cocks pinned together between our abdomens. It was hard to tell if the groaning and moaning was due to the delicious dessert or the sensations we were building inside one another. Either way, we got sticky in all the right places and for all the right reasons.

JOSH PROVED TO MEon more than one occasion that he was a better man than I was, even though people might argue that point. Sure, he was bristly and abrupt at times, but there was always a good reason for it. I never had a good explanation for the stupid shit I did, like entering Josh into a bake-off without his permission. Hey, at least I wasn’t as clueless as Dorchester, who’d been eating frozen pie for over a decade and didn’t know it. What did Josh do when he found out? He faked dropping the pie to prevent Deanna’s feelings from getting hurt. I’d like to think I would’ve been as kind.

I had no intentions of breaking the news to Dorchester either, no matter how annoying he was the next day. Not even when he said, “Could you have been anymore obvious that you wanted to have a go at your guy last night? Jesus, you were packing us up and sending us home before the final bag cleared the cornhole. Wow, man, I was embarrassed for you.”

“Whatever, Dorchester,” I said, rolling my eyes. I had hoped that I wasn’t as obvious as Josh said I was, but apparently my motives were transparent. See, I could’ve let loose with Apple Pie Gate right then, but I kept my mouth shut.

“Or was it Josh’s apple pie you were after?” Dorchester asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” I said, grateful I was driving and not looking him in the eye.

“It’s okay, Gabe. Deanna told me the truth last night. I think Josh is sweet for what he did. I guess it’s also kind of nice how you didn’t just throw it in my face right now,” he added.

“It was harder than you might expect,” I confessed. “So, how do you think it will go with Lucy Williams today?” I asked Dorchester, switching our conversation to the interview we were about to conduct. Rylan’s receptionist had been on vacation when we first went to her home to talk to her.