Page 52 of Mr. Infuriating (Mister #1)

Gretchen

What the hell am I doing? I reprimanded myself as I picked out what I was wearing to school tomorrow in order to put it in my overnight bag.

The bag that I was taking to Gabe’s house.

Because Jake and I were spending the night there.

Because apparently, I’m a masochist.

“Or I don’t have a backbone,” I muttered out loud while I carefully folded the dress I’d selected.

But I knew that wasn’t true. I’d never been a doormat. I wasn’t going to Gabe’s house because he’d told me to.

No, somewhere deep down, I wanted to go. Why I wanted to was fodder for my next therapy appointment, but for now, I was going with the masochist angle. It’s the only thing that made sense.

Why else would I willingly put myself through the yo-yo of emotions that Gabe wrung out of me?

I’d always considered myself drama-free, but maybe I secretly got off on it.

Whatever it was, one thing was for certain. Gabe Mitchell had turned me into a hot mess.

****

Gabe

Brayden looked over at me from the passenger seat of my truck.

“So, Mrs. Wainwright is staying at our house. ”

“It’s Ms. Kelly, and yes. I mean, I did break her water valve, so it seems only fair. Is that all right?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I just hope no one at school finds out; that would be weird, having a teacher staying with my dad but they’re not dating.”

Brittany piped up from the back. “I like her. And her little boy.”

“They’re nice,” I concurred.

“And she’s pretty, don’t you think, Dad?”

She’s fucking gorgeous.

I glanced at Britt through the rear-view mirror and lied to my child’s face.

“I hadn’t noticed.”

Brayden whipped his head around to glare at me.

“You said she was pretty.”

“When did I say that?”

“When you texted me last month and asked me who my English teacher was because you’d met Ms. Wainwright. And I told you Britt and I would be okay if you asked her out.”

Shit, I remember that.

Brittany eagerly agreed. “You should ask her out, Dad.”

“She has a little boy!” I protested.

“So? You have us. Lots of families are blended these days,” Brayden said, sounding way too mature for my liking.

Brittany put in her two cents.

“You’d be a good dad for Jake, too.”

Because I hated the idea of my kids ever having a stepdad who thought he could replace me, I wanted to point out that Jake already had a dad. But that wasn’t necessarily true .

Biologically, yes. But what kind of man willingly gives up his parental rights?

The fucking asshole kind.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be jealous of anyone who could take up my time?”

They were quiet as they mulled over my question. Brayden spoke first.

“Maybe if they were our age. But Jake’s so much younger, it’s not the same. Plus, he’s pretty cute.”

“Soooo cute!” Britt agreed. “He reminds me of Bodhi.”

I felt my spine stiffen. Bodhi was a lot like Bruno from the Disney movie, Encanto : we don’t talk about him.

Maybe that needed to change.

“Oh yeah? How does he remind you of Bodhi?”

“The way he walks. And how he can’t say my name. He kept calling me Bit-nee . That’s how Bodhi used to say it.”

I smiled at the memory I seemed to have forgotten.

“Does it upset you to be reminded of your brother?”

“No, it’s kind of nice to remember,” she said wistfully as she looked out the window at the passing scenery.

I glanced at Brayden for his opinion.

“What about you? Does Jake remind you of Bodhi?”

He shrugged. “A little. Especially the way he says Britt’s name, like she said.”

“And does that bother you?”

“Not at all.”

It was obvious my kids were one hundred times more well-adjusted than I was. We’d been right to put them in therapy after Bodhi’s accident. Begrudgingly, I had to credit Becky for that one. She’d insisted they keep going after the divorce, too .

“I’m glad you can think about your brother with good memories.”

“So, are you going to ask her out?” Britt asked with wide eyes and an eager grin.

“I don’t think so, kiddo.”

My daughter’s face fell.

“Why not?”

“She’s a lot younger than me. We don’t have much in common.” I was totally talking out of my ass. “Not to mention, she’s a client. Uncle Mav would nail my hide to the wall if I dated a client.”

Britt pointed out, “Uncle D dates customers from his bar all the time; what’s the difference?”

“How do you know that?”

Brayden rolled his eyes.

“Everybody knows that, Dad.”

“Everybody? Who do you know who knows your uncle besides your mom and me?”

“Uncle Beau, Uncle Maverick, Nick…” he sassed.

“And when was the last time you talked to any of them?” Before he could point out the obvious, I quickly interjected, “Besides today.”

“We see Uncle Derrick at Brayden’s games,” Brittany observed. “And Uncle Beau was at the game yesterday.”

Dammit, I forgot about that.

These dang kids had me all discombobulated with their “date Gretchen!” talk.

“I can’t ask her out, she’s a teacher at your school.”

Brayden rolled his eyes again.

“So? She’s not one of our teachers. ”

“She’s just a friend and client, and that’s the end of the subject!”

“Dad?” Britt’s voice was small from the backseat.

I felt bad I’d gotten worked up, so I tried to soften my tone.

“Yeah, honey?”

“You know how Mom likes that Shakespeare quote? ‘ The lady doth protest too much, methinks’. ” Her face broke into a big grin. “Well, substitute ‘the lady’ for ‘the dad’.”

Brayden snorted.

I scowled.

The only response I could think of was, “You’re both grounded.”

My daughter was completely unfazed, because she added, “You should order Instacart so you’ve got food at the house they like.”

“They’re only staying one night. We can order delivery for dinner, and I have plenty of stuff to make breakfast.”

Britt sounded a lot like her mom when she sighed and said, “Okay, if you think that’s a good idea…”

“It’s fine!”

At least I hoped it was.

I found I wanted to make Gretchen and Jake’s stay as comfortable as possible.

I’m so fucked.

Luckily it was only for one night, right?