by Kris Bryant
“I’ll walk you out. Don’t worry about L.B. He’s outside getting muddy,” Serena said.
“I was wondering where he was this morning.”
“He loves hanging out in the backyard.”
Gabrielle threw her bag in the trunk and reached for Serena. “Thank you for everything.” She pulled her close and hugged her. She wanted to kiss her but refrained. “I’ll call you later.” She slipped behind the steering wheel and looked at Serena, who took a few steps back.
“Have a good day.”
Gabrielle smiled and backed out of the driveway. She knew Serena wanted a kiss just from her slightly parted lips and the way she kept looking down at Gabrielle’s mouth. The overwhelming need to feel her lips against Serena’s was the reason she had to make a quick getaway. Regardless of their hand holding and few kisses they’d shared, Serena was still a client. Never mind that every single person in her life told her Serena was the girl for her. Too much was at stake. She had to pull back for the sake of her professional life. It was the one true thing that never disappointed her.
* * *
Dani was in the row ahead of her, two bikes over, spinning and sweating hard. Gabrielle didn’t mind one bit that she was in second place. The view was spectacular.
“Dani’s in first place. Nobody wants to beat her? Okay, I’ll buy whoever beats Dani a recovery shake after class. You all know how expensive those are.” Blaine made eye contact with Gabrielle and nodded.
She nodded back and kicked it up. Today was an easy day. She got to work at noon, worked on the Pet Posh Inn all afternoon, and by seven, decided to go to the gym. She needed release, and the only way that would happen was at the gym, with or without Dani. When she saw Dani’s blond hair and tight form on the bike, she smiled as her body hummed with anticipation. Her heart pinched in her chest as she thought about Serena. What was their relationship? A few kisses, two dates, and hand holding. That didn’t make them exclusive, but she felt guilty for wanting a quick fuck with Dani. She pushed herself harder, faster, knowing she had more energy since she got a good night’s sleep and had a light morning. It didn’t take her long to tie Dani. In the last thirty seconds, she squeaked out a win. She held her hands up victoriously.
Dani folded her arms in front of her chest and gave Gabrielle an eye roll and a smirk. Gabrielle took a long pull from her water bottle, wiped her face, and winked at Dani. She turned and made her way to the locker room, hoping that Dani would follow. She grabbed her shower caddy and slipped into one of showers. She shut the door but didn’t lock it. The water was a step above lukewarm but felt wonderful cascading down her body. She stood under the flow and wiped down her body. She heard the click of the door turning and almost smiled. She shrank back a little when fingertips flitted across her stomach.
“Surprised?” Dani whispered.
Gabrielle shook her head and moved so Dani was under the flow. Even though she was thin, her muscle tone was admirable, as were her full breasts that were probably purchased at a high price. Gabrielle kissed Dani hard and their passion ignited immediately. Gabrielle reminded herself to be quiet. She tensed up as Dani entered her, two fingers first, followed quickly by a third. She leaned back against the shower, her hands pressed against the sides for leverage. Dani pumped in and out of her, but instead of feeling wonderfully wanton, guilt washed over her and flooded every sensitive part. “We have to stop.” Dani’s fingers stilled inside her. Gabrielle gasped for breath.
“What?” Dani whispered.
“I can’t do this. We have to stop.” Gabrielle leaned her head back and sighed as she felt Dani’s warmth leave her body. Of all the times for Serena’s face to fill her mind, now was not ideal. Fuck. Her body was on fire and begged for release, but her brain, or maybe it was her heart, forbade it. For the first time, a quick hook-up didn’t feel right.
“Any particular reason why? Your body seems to like this just fine.” Dani kissed her again, but respected her wishes and kept her hands off Gabrielle.
“It feels wonderful, but I just can’t.” Gabrielle hated that she pictured Serena instead. She felt dirty standing in the shower with someone she didn’t even know that well. She shut off the water and rubbed her face. This wasn’t her. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am and she was the first one gone. What was happening?
“No worries.” Dani reached for her towel. “Congratulations on beating me today. I’ll see you soon.” She dropped a quick kiss on Gabrielle’s lips and slipped out of the shower room.
Gabrielle slapped the wall in frustration. Somewhere between her last encounter with Dani and this morning with Serena, she’d slipped and started to care about Serena. Her friends were to blame. And her mother. Gabrielle only lived in the moment. Maybe if she’d never mentioned Serena to her circle of friends, she’d be coming right now instead of standing in a semiprivate gym shower near tears.
She dried off and wrapped the towel around her body. She headed to her locker, not caring if Dani was still around, and quickly pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She slicked her hair back in a ponytail, skipped makeup, and left the gym. She needed a reboot. And a glass of wine. Maybe she would even dig into her red velvet box of dildos and finish herself off. She ignored her missed calls from Rosie and her mom and drove straight home. It was getting late and she was exhausted. She sent them both a text explaining she was at the gym and would talk to them tomorrow. She poured a glass of Doña Paula Malbec and plopped on the couch.
What a fucking day. And it was only Monday. She would have to finish the final touches on Aaron’s gas station job and send the drawings off to their builder. She was only a week late, which was fine because the customers were pleased with everything. A week didn’t screw up their schedule, as they had allowed for the architect switch. She wondered how Tom was doing on his hotel. He was two months in and had acquired help, so she figured he was probably back on track.
The Pet Posh Inn was moving along, but she knew Christopher wasn’t going to be happy at Wednesday’s meeting. In the real world, dealing with people who put one hundred percent of their faith in an architect was a lot easier than dealing with an indecisive one. Wait. Not indecisive, just extremely picky. Gabrielle sighed. She couldn’t fault Serena for wanting everything to be perfect. She came from nothing and suddenly could have anything she ever wanted. Most people blew through their money. It was risky plugging so much of her winnings into her new business, but Gabrielle believed Serena’s business plan was solid and had potential. There were doggie daycares around, but this daycare was for all pets, and really rich people had unique pets, not just dogs. And posh? That was the problem. Gabrielle couldn’t understand posh for pets. She didn’t know what that meant for animals.
How was the rest of your day?
Gabrielle looked at her phone and groaned. Why was Serena everywhere? She woke up with Serena on her mind, spent five solid hours on her project, stopped having sex in the gym shower because she couldn’t stop thinking about her, and now she was invading her wine time with a text.
It was a crazy day. How was yours?
I went to the animal shelter today. Probably shouldn’t have, but I did.
Oh no. How many more Evanses did we add to the family? Gabrielle’s stomach tightened as she waited for the answer. Her biggest fear was a puppy, or worse, two. Serena had warned her that now that she was in her house, she was ready to fill it with all the pets.
Surprisingly zero. But I wanted them all. I’m going to volunteer there for a bit and see how they take care of the animals.
Of course she was volunteering. Gabrielle felt even worse about what happened at the gym tonight. Serena was perfect, and for some reason, that upset Gabrielle. Her own flaws were even more pronounced around Serena, and it made her realize that her life lacked feeling. She loved her friends and her family, but she had put work first for so long that she sacrificed her heart, the romantic one, for what? Success? Money?
That’s a great idea. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot. Gabri
elle didn’t know what else to say, so she put her phone down and refilled her wine glass. Realizing that she was successful at everything else in her life except for what her heart needed, what it wanted, she brought the glass up to her lips and muttered “fuck” before draining its entire contents in one swallow.
Chapter Twenty-one
Serena noticed that Christopher, a man of precision if his perfectly pressed shirt and full Windsor tie were any indication, wasn’t happy with Gabrielle’s progress on the Pet Posh Inn. He leaned forward, his elbows on the table and his forefingers meeting to form an upside-down V on his bottom lip as he studied the plans. As if he’d forgotten that she, the client, was in the room, he asked a thousand questions. Gabrielle answered each one professionally, without emotion, and as rapidly as he was asking.
“Is this enough space for the canine area?”
Christopher turned to Serena and pointed to the section that Gabrielle had worked on yesterday. It was everything she’d asked for, yet his question threw her off. She cleared her throat and straightened in her chair.
“Do you think it’s not enough?” Serena didn’t miss Gabrielle’s eye roll. “This is everything I asked for, but what do you think?” Why was this so hard for her? Why couldn’t she make up her mind about it?
“I think it depends on how many dogs you think you will have. Most animal daycares are going to have dogs because they’re the most popular and require the most attention. Do you think you’re going to have a lot of birds? Because if not, you can take away from this room and add to the canine section so their indoor activity room is larger. Not all dogs are going to like to be outside in the snow. Maybe you can increase the nature room with real grass and real trees or bushes that can be maintained in the winter.”
Serena didn’t dare look at Gabrielle. Gabrielle had made the same suggestion a few weeks ago and Serena had shot it down because she wanted more outdoor space for the dogs, but Christopher made a good point. The chances were slim that birds would need boarding and the natural inside area was a good idea, especially in the winter. Dogs would love grass in January.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Serena said.
Gabrielle shuffled in her chair and took a drink of water. It was obvious that she was upset. Serena decided to do some damage control before she completely blew her relationship with Gabrielle.
“Gabrielle suggested that, but I didn’t really think, at the time, that it was a good assessment of the area.” Serena looked at the table, unable to meet Gabrielle’s eyes.
“We could actually change the layout a bit and keep these two trees as part of the architecture.” Gabrielle pointed to an area on the screen, typed in a few commands, and the nature area shifted to include two existing trees. “See? This doesn’t compromise the bird area and we can make other adjustments.”
“How much time do you think you’ll need to map out all the changes for civil?” Chris turned to Gabrielle and waited for her answer.
“I can get this done by the end of the week.”
“Good. We need to start thinking about getting plans to a builder and get the foundation down before the weather changes or this will have to wait until spring. I’d like to avoid that, and I’m sure Ms. Evans would as well.” Christopher smiled at Serena and nodded. He stood, shook Serena’s hand, and excused himself from the conference room.
Serena had never been more nervous than right now. She knew Gabrielle was upset with her and had every reason to be. “Look, I’m sorry that happened. You’ve more than done everything I’ve asked.”
Gabrielle finally looked at her, and her stare was cold. Serena looked away.
“I’m going to really think about this space and I’m going to cover everything. My boss is right. We need to finalize the plans and get them to the builder so we get as much done as possible before the cold weather hits. I’m going to send the plans to builders who do great work and are fast. If you want, I can offer a financial incentive for completion before the time frame they quote us.”
Serena nodded. “Whatever you think.”
Gabrielle smirked. “Well, that’s not true, but let me work on this and we’ll see where I am at the end of the week.”
The chill between them was unsettling. Serena had no idea what to say or how to fix it. She understood Gabrielle was upset. She was embarrassed in front of her boss and Serena had no idea how to fix it or even what to say.
“I guess I’ll go.” She grabbed her messenger bag at Gabrielle’s curt nod. As she passed Gabrielle, she reached out and touched her arm. “I’m sorry that was uncomfortable. I didn’t mean to belittle your hard work in front of your boss.” When Gabrielle didn’t respond, Serena took that as a fuck off and walked out of the room. The one thing Serena was good at was walking away, shutting down and leaving her emotions right there on the battlefield. She wasn’t a fighter, she was a survivor. But this? This was new to her. Gabrielle had broken through so many of her walls that it was hard to just shut down.
Serena wasn’t sure of Piper’s schedule, but she thought she’d at least try. She was probably in class, but on the second ring, Piper answered.
“I could use a friend right now,” Serena said.
“I can meet you in twenty minutes. Peak Brew?” Piper’s voice was soothing and made Serena take a slow, deep breath.
“Thanks. I’ll see you in a bit.” She ended the call and her heart felt a little better. If anyone could help, it would be Piper. She knew Gabrielle and had a big sister vibe. She was strong and quiet, and seemed to understand feelings. Ten minutes later, she was parked at Peak Brew.
Piper knocked on the Jeep window. “Hi.” She followed up with a small wave.
“Hi, yourself.” Piper’s smile was so genuine that Serena instantly forgave her for scaring the shit out of her. “Come on. Let’s grab a cup of tea and talk.”
Serena locked the Jeep and followed Piper inside, where Piper was immediately greeted with a warm cup of Earl Grey tea. Serena ordered a mint tea and they sat at a small booth in back, away from the other patrons.
“I’m sorry to just call you out of the blue like this.”
Piper waved her off. “Oh, stop. We’re friends, and this is what friends do. We drink tea and solve problems. Tell me what’s going on in your world.”
Serena leaned back in her chair. “It was a bad meeting with Gabrielle today and I’m afraid I screwed up.”
Piper squeezed Serena’s hands. “It can’t be that bad. You both are sweet women and you have really good chemistry, whether it’s friendship or something else.”
Serena’s shoulders slumped. “I screwed up today.”
“I doubt that, but tell me what happened.”
Serena told Piper everything from their dinner date and hiking trip, to all of the back and forth on the design of the Pet Posh Inn, to today’s fiasco meeting with Gabrielle’s boss. Piper was attentive, interrupting only when she needed more information.
“Let me just say a few things.”
“Okay, hit me.”
“I’ve known Gabrielle for years, and she’s a workaholic. Every time we all got together, she’d show up in a business suit because she came straight from work. The only time I saw her in normal clothes was if we had a barbecue on a weekend. She prides herself on her work.”
Serena dropped her head in her hands and groaned. “And I just embarrassed her in front of her boss.”
“Gabrielle has always been the best. At everything really.”
“She’s made all these great suggestions and I kept pushing back. No, that’s not big enough, no, that’s not right. Dogs need more space. I just couldn’t make up my mind.” Serena slumped back in her chair. “Her boss attends the meeting today and makes the same suggestions, and for some stupid reason, when he says them, they sound like a good idea.”
“Oh,” Piper said.
“Yeah, so that’s the problem. At least one of them.”
Piper nodded and squeezed Serena’s hand. “She’s a str
ong lady. I’m sure she’ll get through this. Trust me when I say she’s had some very difficult clients over the years. This? Today? Wasn’t a big thing. She’ll bounce back. I promise.”
“She was just so cold and professional when I left. I feel like I just ruined the relationship we were developing,” Serena said. Her voice lowered. “And it’s always been hard for me to make friends. I don’t open up to people very well.”
“Well, that’s news to me. You’ve always been sweet and kind, but I understand,” Piper said.
Serena was sure by now Piper had heard about her upbringing. It wasn’t a secret anymore. People from her past talked to the news. Neighbors told reporters how quiet she was and how her mom wouldn’t come home sometimes. Students from her middle and high schools who claimed they were friends said Serena would stay with them because she was scared of her mother. Not once had Serena stayed the night at a friend’s house. She didn’t have any friends. She knew the dangers of people getting too close.
Since the articles brought light to her upbringing, people who thought they were close to Serena, like the butcher at her grocery store and her pharmacist, offered her their condolences. Hanging out in Denver was nice because the people she knew in Denver were friends. Nobody in Denver knew she won the lottery. “Thank you. I’ve met some really good friends because of Gabrielle. I’d hate to lose everybody because I’ve upset her. But more importantly, I hate to think I hurt my relationship with Gabrielle, even if all we have is a friendship. What should I do?”