Page 13 of Scoop Me Up (Love in Maplewood #7)

Sam

Gabe’s gaze seemed fixed on my mouth as he took a deep pull of whiskey from his glass.

I had to be imagining things, right? The idea of it, though, heated my skin and made my breath catch in my chest. I sipped my Doctor Maple, trying to remember to pace myself.

I wasn’t as much of a lightweight as Gabe, maybe, but I didn’t want to get drunk and say something stupid. I could be the responsible, sober one.

As we finished our drinks, we continued to chat.

Gabe transitioned the conversation from relationships to my job, for which I was eternally grateful.

I didn’t want to think about Jennifer and him.

I knew they had a past, but being reminded of his apparent straightness just made me sad.

Sad, frustrated, annoyed with myself. I always fell for the straight ones. I was glad for the conversation change.

“So what are you teaching the kids next week? In addition to reading skills, I mean.”

I laughed. “Reading skills aren’t good enough for you?”

Gabe shook his head, face turning redder. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“It’s okay,” I said, holding up a hand to stop him. “I’m just giving you shit. We’re talking about dinosaurs.”

“You know what pisses me off?” Gabe blurted. “Pterodactyls.”

“I’m sorry—what?”

“Pterodactyls. They piss me off.”

I put down my glass of beer. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s with pterodactyls?”

“They’re not dinosaurs.”

“That’s correct,” I said, giving him a slow nod. “Is that something that upsets you?”

Gabe took a swig of his whiskey. “Hell yes it is. Pterosaurs deserve dinosaur status, too.”

“Okay…”

“They lived at the same time as dinosaurs. I mean, I know they didn’t have holes in their hip bones or whatever the hell it is, but,” he gestured widely and shook his head. “Everyone knows they’re dinosaurs.”

“Technically—” I started, but he cut me off.

“No. Don’t technically me. Technically nothing. They deserve the same status and everyone knows it. It’s just paleontological bullying at this point.”

I couldn’t suppress my laughter. “Paleontological bullying?”

He pointed at me and sipped his whiskey again. “Don’t argue with me, Mix.”

A flush of pleasure washed over me at hearing him use my title correctly. It wasn’t often that outsiders accepted my nonbinary identity so quickly, but Gabe had taken to it with ease. It made me feel seen. “Finish your drink,” I said with a soft chuckle, shaking my head.

“ You finish your drink,” he shot back, before downing the rest of his glass and putting it on the table with a thunk. “Happy?”

“As a clam.” I took one last sip of my half-full beer and scooped up his cup before taking both of the glasses to the bar, thanking Conall, and paying our tab. We stepped out into the cooling July night and Gabe hummed once, softly, a happy sound. “Yeah?”

He nodded and looked up at me, his cheeks flushed from the alcohol. “I’m really glad I met you.” His tone was soft and sincere.

I chuckled and ducked my head with pleasure as heat rose inside me. “Thanks. Same.”

“Your turn,” Gabe said after a few quiet moments. “Tell me your scar story.”

I bit my lip and thought for a second. “I don’t know if I have any scars to tell stories about.”

“Bullshit. You’ve got to have something. Broken bones maybe?”

“Actually, I don’t. I was always a careful kid. Careful enough not to break anything, anyway.”

“Broken hearts, then.”

My own heart skipped a beat. Did I want to get into this? “Only if you promise to tell me yours.”

“You already know mine. Even though it was, you know, mutual, the divorce still broke my heart.”

My chest ached for him. “I think I understand. I don’t have many of those either, though.

” I thought for a moment, searching my brain for anything that would be safe to tell him.

I didn’t want to risk tipping my hand and showing my crush, so I had to be careful.

“Okay. There was this guy in high school.”

Gabe glanced my way. “You broke his heart?”

I snorted and shook my head. “Hardly. Senior year, we were hooking up. Classic story. You know how it goes—the straight jock messing around with someone in secret. That someone happened to be me. It was great for a couple of months, until one of his jock buddies caught us together. We’d been so discreet, but we were in his bedroom, supposedly for a math test, when the basketball captain walked in.

After that, he didn’t want anything to do with me.

” My stomach churned, acid rising in my throat as I recalled the day we stopped seeing each other.

“It wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. He didn’t bully me after or anything.

Just… disappeared from my life. Entirely, without warning or anything.

One day we were supposed to meet and he didn’t show up, and that was that.

” I swallowed hard, the memory going down like a baseball in my throat.

Gabe took hold of my arm, his hand warm on my bare skin. “What an asshole.”

I didn’t have anything to say right away. Eventually, I shrugged and sighed. “Teenagers aren’t always the most thoughtful creatures.”

“Neither are adults,” he murmured, squeezing my arm a little tighter before releasing me.

We walked in silence for a bit. As we walked, I glanced over at him, trying to sneak a discreet peek.

His face was soft and relaxed, a half-smile on his lips.

The green in his eyes was dark in the dim moonlight.

He looked genuinely happy. My chest tightened and my crush intensified.

I wanted to reach out and touch him again, to put his hand on my arm, or in my hand, to feel the heat of his body.

I cleared my throat and looked away from him, back to the path in front of us, just as he looked in my direction.

At that moment, Gabe tripped over something on the sidewalk, stumbling forward a few steps.

I reached out and grabbed him by the arm, preventing him from hitting the pavement.

Gabe spun to face me, his cheeks burning red in the darkness.

We stared at each other for a second before I let him go, both of us chuckling awkwardly.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

I shook my head. “It’s okay. They really need to fix these sidewalks. I’ll talk to Mayor Axlerod about it.” A second later, a shiver hit me, racking my body despite my efforts to suppress it. That’s what you get for going sleeveless, I chastised myself.

“Cold?”

“A little,” I murmured.

Gabe veered closer to me, until our shoulders were touching. “Better?” Again, his tone was soft, a husky whisper.

I swallowed hard and nodded. “Thanks.”

He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you ever wonder how your life would be different if you’d made different choices?”

“Not really. I don’t want to dwell on what could have been. I just focus on building the future to be as bright as I can.”

He was silent for a moment. “Okay.”

Before I could ask what had spurred the question, a cat darted across the street in front of us. Gabe’s face lit up. “Cat!”

I couldn’t help but laugh—it was such an innocent, genuine reaction.

“Man, Ellie would love a cat.”

“Jennifer doesn’t like cats, then?”

“No, it’s not that. She’s super allergic. There’s just no way Ellie could have one living with her mom.”

“Makes sense. Maybe one day. But… why don’t you get one, then? She could at least see it when she’s at your house.”

He let out a little chuckle. “I don’t know. I work such long hours and my job is so unpredictable. It seems a little counterintuitive to get a pet and not spend any time with it. Why don’t you have a cat?”

“Same reason, I guess. I don’t know. I never really thought about getting a pet.”

Gabe hummed and nodded. “Maybe one day,” he murmured.

By that time, we were approaching my house, the porch lights glowing softly, the sidewalk illuminated by moonlight. Gabe leaned on the siding next to the door as I pulled my house keys out of my pocket, his eyes half closed.

“Thank you for inviting me out tonight,” he murmured. “I really needed it. I really like hanging out with you.”

“Same here.” I tried to sound light and airy, but my voice came out sounding more serious than I’d expected.

“It’s easy to hang out with you. You’re…

safe. To be around, I mean.” Gabe swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in the dim light, and inhaled sharply, his green eyes closing for a moment.

It hit me all at once what was happening and I fought to suppress my internal panic.

Not now. Not like this. He’d had too much to drink and if he really wanted to kiss me, I wanted the consent to be clear and sober.

With his eyes open, Gabe straightened, standing tall, and reached for me, placing a hand on my upper arm. He leaned in.

I wanted to kiss him. Wanted it more than anything I’d wanted for a long time, but I knew better. I forced myself to step back, putting space between the two of us. Every fiber of my being screamed at me that I was being an idiot, but I knew what needed to happen, and a kiss wasn’t it.

It only took a fraction of a second for Gabe to realize what I’d done. His hand dropped from my arm and he blinked a few times, his mouth drawing into a tight line. He nodded once and pulled away, putting more space between us.

“I’m sorry.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, his voice so soft I barely heard it.

I shrugged and tried to wave it off. “It’s fine. It’s late. We’re both tired.” I pushed open the door and stepped back for him to enter.

“Yeah,” was all he said before disappearing down the hallway to his bedroom, his footfalls making a slow retreat.

The moment I was alone in my own room, I closed the door, leaning forward to press my forehead against it. Eyes closed, I let out a deep, slow exhale, my heart in my throat. I stood there for what felt like a long time before straightening up and heading to bed.