Page 80 of Loving Wild

“Do you never see yourself in a long-term relationship again?” Lou asks as I lean forward and take a handful of nuts Jo set out to replace the platter.

“I’d never say never, but it’d take someone really special to make me give up my independence,” Jo replies.

We all watch, each of us looking for signs that she’s not telling us the truth.

“I’m not sure there’s a man out there strong enough for Jo,” Jemma adds.

“Is that why you always go for the younger ones? Are they safer because you know you’re never going to meet your match with a younger bloke?” Lou asks.

Jo sips her wine, then sits further back on the sofa before answering.

“I’ve never really thought about it like that. I don’t do it consciously; I just like how uncomplicated the younger ones are.”

I make a noise that’s somewhere between choking, gagging, and snorting. A choggort?

“Not in my experience, Gabe’s probably the most . . .” Realising thatI’mthe one who’s finally bought up the elephant in the room, I trail off.

“Oh, for fucks’ sake, you’ve started so you might as well finish. At least now the rest of us aren’t gonna feel awkward if we trip up and mention him,” Jo pokes me with her toes and says.

I let out a sigh and shake my head. “Gabriel Wild is the most complicated man I’ve ever met,” I tell them.

“Complicated how?” Jemma asks.

I close my eyes as I consider my answer. I’m on my third, very large glass of wine, and my belly is full of cheese, crackers, warm bread, pâté, and olives. After laughing with my girls, it’s probably the calmest I’ve felt since I left Gabe’s on Sunday. Opening my eyes, I look around at my friends and shrug.

“He’s kind of bossy, and Alpha, but he’s also sensitive and has a really gentle side. He’s very attuned to me and how I’m feeling, he can already read me like a book. He doesn’t pull me up on it immediately, but if I lie to him about how I’m feeling, he’ll give me time to work things out for myself and come back to him with the truth. If I don’t, that’s when he’ll somehow wheedle it out of me.”

“He sounds too good to be true,” Lou says, adding a wistful sigh.

“He is—it was—otherwise I wouldn’t be sittinghere.”

“Why are you?” Jem asks.

I consider where I should start with my story. Jemma and Lou are unaware of what went on between Gabe and his step-mum, so I decide to leave that part out.

“After spending a great Saturday day and night with Gabe’s family, I had a run-in with his ex-wife when we dropped Ava off . . .”

“A run-in?” Jem questions. I nod.

“Ava got her first period over the weekend. I sorted her out with some pads and basically explained to her what to expect from here on out. Gabe was at the front door, and I climbed out of the truck to help Ava with her bags and to say goodbye . . .” I trail off as the hurt from Lena’s dismissal hits all over again. I’m raw right now, my heart a little battered, which is probably why I’m being oversensitive.

“I was telling Ava to talk to her mum about swimming while on her period, or to call me or Dani, or whoever she felt comfortable talking to, when Lena came over and basically told me to stay in my lane,shewas her mother, and she had it covered from there.”

I pause and swallow, my eyes on the bowl of cashews, not on my friends.

“No introduction, no, hey, I’m Lena, good to meet you, just straight in with the attack.”

Taking another pause, my eyes come up to meet each of my friends, and I shrug. “I probably took it a little harder than I should,” I admit. “But I’d spent a great weekend bonding with Ava, and I felt . . .” I pull my shoulders up to my ears and hold them there, letting out a long breath as I try to come up with a word. “Dismissed? Excluded? I’m not sure, but it hurt, and because the woman’s nine months pregnant, I just took it on the chin and kept my mouth shut.”

“You didn’t say anything back?” Lou asks in wide-eyed disbelief.

“I wanted to, believe me, but I wasn’t going to start a bitch fight, with Gabe’s ex, in front of his daughter,onthe drive of their house. So, I saved it all up and gave Gabe a spray for not stepping in when we got in the car.”

“Gabe didn’t say anything? Didn’t pull her up?”

“Nah,” I say with a head shake. “He just stood at the front door talking to Lena’s husband, didn’t even bother to come and make a proper introduction.”

“Wanker,” Jo says quietly.