Page 149 of I Dreamt That You Loved Me

This whole scenario felt eerily similar to those months when Gabriel was with Annika, and I was the odd man out getting serenaded by rhinestone jumpsuit Elvis.

I shoved a nacho into my mouth and washed it down with the margarita in my hand, trying to drown out my dark thoughts.

“Did Gabriel mention his gig next week?” Maya asked.

A perfectly innocent question. Nothing nefarious about it. But my mind went straight to those condoms in the drawer and now my imagination was running wild.

Maybe Gabriel was with Maya when I called him last Saturday. Maybe that’s why he didn’t call me back until after midnight.

I nodded. “Yep. Can’t wait.” I sounded about as enthusiastic as a five-year-old being forced to eat their vegetables.

Gabriel’s hand landed on my thigh under the table, but I shoved it away.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up even more than it already was. I glared at him. With a shake of his head, he threw up his hands and stood from the table.

“So how did you two meet?” I asked Maya when Gabriel went inside to change the music and get his cigarettes.

“This house used to be my grandparents’, so my mom asked me to stop by and meet the new owner to ensure it ended up in good hands,” she said with a laugh. “When Gabriel answered the door, he told me his name was Jimmy. It was embroidered on the shirt he was wearing.”

Of course. The shirt he wore to that summer party at the cabin a million years ago.

I checked to make sure Gabriel wasn’t within earshot and pumped Maya for information. “What was he like back then?”

How sad that I had to get my information from outside sources.

Maya looked over at the doorway before scooting her chair closer to mine. “He looks like a different man now. He was really thin,waytoo thin, and completely paranoid.”

“In what way?”

“He thought I was stalking him. He thought I was the one leaving all those gifts and letters.”

“Gifts and letters?”

“Yeah. Turns out it was a girl from New York whose family has a house out here,” she said, gathering her hair into a ponytail and securing it with the elastic on her wrist before leaning in conspiratorially. “One day she saw him on the beach and started screaming and crying because she thought he was dead. I guess she held a vigil in the city for him and everything.

“We found this all out later. But she followed him home and knew where he lived so she started leaving presents for him. Luckily, she turned out to be perfectly harmless. Just a superfan. But he was really freaked out about it for a while.”

God. Who could blame him? That was a level of fandom no one would ever want, especially not Gabriel who had always guarded his privacy.

But what struck me most was Maya’s use of the word “we.”

Wefound this all out later.

I picked at the cuticle of my thumbnail until it bled. “Does she still leave gifts?”

Maya shook her head. “No. He had a talk with her and told her it wasn’t cool. She was really young. I think she’s headed to college now.”

“Well, I’m glad it all worked out,” I said faintly.

I tried to tell myself that it was no big deal. Gabriel and I had been apart for three years so of course, I wouldn’t know every little detail about his life any more than he would know mine. But it stung that Maya knew so much about his life, yet he’d never once thought to mention her.

“Yeah, he’s a good guy,” she said with a smile I didn’t return.

“So…do you two hang out a lot?” I asked. I was aiming for a casual tone but failed.

“I wouldn’t say a lot, but—” She cut herself off and put her hand on my arm. “Oh, no. You think we’re together?” I shrugged. “No, no, no. It’s not likethat,” she assured me. “We’re just friends. Nothing’s going on. At all.”

Despite her reassurance, I only felt slightly better.