Page 158 of Make Us Yours
The timer for the edamame pods goes off, and Gabe kisses the top of my head before letting me go. “I think the kale is good now. Why don’t you move on to cutting the yellow cherry tomatoes in half and adding them into the bowl while I let these cool down in cold water.”
I move onto my next task, and Gabe soon joins me to dice up the avocados and slice the toasted almonds. When I’m done with the tomatoes, I add in the blueberries to the quickly filling up salad bowl and crumble some goat cheese in. While Gabe pops the beans out of the pods, he then moves onto making the dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, honey, minced chives, Dijon mustard, and salt. He whisks all the ingredients together before drizzling it over the salad and tossing everything until it’s well combined.
“Would you look at that.” Gabe beams down at the two bowls now filled with my new favorite dish. “We just made our very first salad together like a real couple.”
I snort and turn in his arms, wrapping my own around his neck. “That’s because wearea real couple, silly boy.”
He grins again. “That’s right. You’re my girlfriend. My fucking sexy-ass, perfect girlfriend.” His arms circle my waist as he lifts me off the ground and spins us around.
Chapter thirty-five
Gabriel
Set me free.
I watch from the outdoor couch as Ronnie gently caresses a small brown bird’s back. I’m convinced that bird is the same one that comes by every single day to see her. She keeps telling me no, that there are millions that look the same, but I swear, every time she steps out here, that little feathery creature pops out of nowhere and instantly goes to her. Hell, it even lets her pet it, while if I get close, it flies away instantly. That’s her bird, and she knows it.
When she’s had her fill of spending time with her little friend, she turns to me with a warm smile and finally comes back to my side, plopping down on the couch next to me. I take her wrists in my hands, softly gliding my thumbs over the bandages a little higher. I hate that we did this to her, that we put her in a position that made her feel like she needed to hurt herself.
“Stop, Gabe. I’m fine. You guys are overreacting with this.” She takes my hands in hers, stopping me from touching her arms.
“Still, we should have realized you weren’t ready for anything like that. We’ve been careful not to step over your limits, but today we pushed you too far, and that’s not okay. How can you truly trust us with your body when we can’t even read you properly or in time to stop this from happening? The last thing I want is to put you in a situation that will make you struggle mentally, Vixen, and I hate that we did that today.”
“Baby, stop,” she says again, climbing over me to straddle my lap. “You and Noah didn’t do anything wrong. He asked for my permission before putting me in that position, and if I hadn’t wanted you to join or him to hold me in such a way, I would have said something.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts.” She grabs my face between her palms. “I wanted it, Gabriel. And there are a lot more things that I want to try with you both, but you need to understand that despite how much we try to avoid it, there will be moments that set me backslightly. This is all new to me as well, maybe not the sex part, but the trusting someone else entirely with my body. Just like Dr. Hallaway said, you can’t expect it all to be sunshine and roses.” She smiles tenderly, her thumb brushing back and forth over my cheekbone.
“I may be tough on the outside, but there are parts of me inside that are still fragile and healing, parts that still hold fear. And sadly, the only way we’ll get through them is by facing them.” She shrugs, and fuck, do I love how brave she is through every step we take. “You need to stop worrying so much about me. I’m a big girl.”
I chuckle and fist her hair, bringing her lips to mine. “We’ll never stop worrying about you, Vixen. That’s just something you’ll have to get used to.”
“Hm, I guess I couldtryto get used to it.” She rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss the way her eyes light up.
“Think of it this way, you know how Hayes is with Cece?” Her eyes instantly widen as I bring my hands down to her waist and give it a little squeeze. “You’ll be the lucky lady to get two of those just for you.”
Throwing her head back, she lets out the most beautiful laugh I’ve ever heard. “Oh God! That did not sound as lovely as you thought it di—” Ronnie’s face suddenly falls as she stops abruptly and looks past me.
Fear instantly rises within me, and I quickly look back through the glass windows that gives a view inside the penthouse. I’m expecting to see Victor, or something to indicate that he was just there, but all I find is Noah standing in the middle of the living room, looking down at whatever it is he’s holding. Ronnie quickly climbs off my legs and hurries inside as I follow behind her.
“Babe?” She takes tentative steps toward him as he looks up from the bottle of Scotch in his grasp.
“I… I saw a liquor store on my way out of my appointment,” he admits and slowly lifts it up, holding it out for her. “Can you get rid of it? Don’t tell me where you put it.”
Vixen takes it from his hand with a nod and holds it to her chest while searching his eyes that are red-rimmed. She doesn’t say anything and instead gives him time to express himself.
“It was harder than I thought it would be… I was going to open it.”
She tosses the glass bottle to the couch and quickly steps closer to him, taking his face between her hands like she did to me earlier. “But you didn’t, Noah; that’s what really matters. You may have been tempted, but you stopped yourself when it mattered most. Those are good steps, babe. Don’t see this as a failure.”
“How can I not? We barely fucking talked about anything, Veronica, and Icouldn’t even handle that without wanting to drink…” he admits, his voice cracking slightly with emotions.
“But you’re trying, Noh, and you did the right thing by coming back here and giving it to me,” she tries to reason with him, but I can see it in his eyes; he’s struggling more than he’s letting on.
Fuck, does it pain me to see my best friend like this, but if anyone can help him, it’s that beautiful girl right there.
“And what about next time? What if you aren’t here when I get home?”
