Sin City Baby

I hurried and ran into the first stall, jumped up on the seat, and pulled legs up against my body. I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and quietly as the door opened. “Sorry,” Gabe said, and I heard the sound of water running in the background. “I didn't realize the door was locked. Must have hit it by mistake.”

I stifled a giggle, suddenly feeling like a teenager all over again. We'd almost been caught having sex – or getting ready to – many times back then. It had always been something just like this. I was amused to realize all of those old feelings – the rush of adrenaline, the sharp stab of panic, and the overwhelming sense of amusement – hadn't dulled with age.

Gabe spoke the man smoothly. He'd always been able spin a story or talk his way out of trouble. He was a good liar. Me? Not so much.

I held my breath, waiting for the word that it was clear. I heard the door close and when Gabe knocked on the stall door, I opened it up. He stood there looking as sexy as ever, smiling at me with the same smile he's always had.

“Well if that doesn't bring back some memories,” he teased.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” I said. “I was just thinking that.”

When I stood up, our eyes met, and he looked more serious than before.

“Listen, about that – ” he said, quickly averting his gaze and bit his lip before continuing. “We probably shouldn't rush back into each other's arms again just yet. Not after everything that happened. We should probably take a little time and think about things.”

My heart dropped, but I knew what he was saying. I understood where he was coming from. Despite our shared history, there was still a lot of pain.

“Yeah, I agree,” I said.

Deep down though, I didn't believe I did actually agree. I knew it was the right thing to do. I straightened my skirt, and pushed my way past Gabe, my cheeks burning and red. I tried not to look at him, knowing that tears filled my eyes, and that if I looked at him, they would surely fall.

“We should be getting back to the gang,” I said. “My son will be wondering where I'm at.”

CHAPTER SIX

GABE

It's not that I didn't want Hadley. It was just the opposite, actually. I wanted her so bad, it hurt. I'd never stopped wanting her. Things were just – different now. She’d had a kid with my best friend, and there were still a lot of hard feelings left between us. It wouldn't be easy to overcome all of that, especially not in a matter of days.

Maybe in time, we'd be able to patch things up, but our priority needed to be Grayson. Not ourselves. He was the only real link I had to Chris left in the world and I wanted to build some sort of relationship with him. If things went south with Hadley again, well, I might lose my shot at getting to know the little guy – and I wanted to avoid that at all costs.

When we got back to the table, we found an extra person had joined us.

Rebecca. Evan's ex.

I cocked an eyebrow in his direction as I retook my seat, and he shrugged. It was Jared who filled us in on everything that had transpired while we'd been occupied in the restroom.

“Rebecca happened to be in the neighborhood and spotted Evan's car in the parking lot,” Jared said, trying hard not to shoot our brother an obnoxious smirk. “She asked if she could join us, and Evan said it was fine.”

Rebecca stood and shook my hand. “Nice to see you again, Gabe,” she said.

I let my hand fall away from the handshake and didn't return the salutation. To tell her I was happy to see her would have been a lie, and I didn't lie. Especially when it came to people I didn't like. No reason to be polite after everything she'd done to my brother. The fact that she was sitting at the table with us was enough to turn my stomach.

“I don't believe we've met,” Rebecca said, her eyes zeroing in on Hadley. “I'm Rebecca, Evan's girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend,” I corrected for her.

Rebecca ignored me, though I saw the flash of annoyance and anger that crossed her face, her brown eyes scrutinizing Hadley instead.

“Uh, well, I'm Hadley,” she said. “I’m an old friend of the Walker boys.”

“Oh, right. Yeah. I've heard about you,” Rebecca said.

Rebecca had taken the seat next to Evan, which meant that we had to adjust our own seating a little bit when we sat down.

“Good things I hope?” Hadley said, smiling politely.

“MmmHmm,” Rebecca said almost dismissively, as she picked up a menu and perused it. “What should I get, sweetie?”