Page 28 of Unrequited Sloth

Gabriel snorted. Typically, he would defend his sister when anyone said anything bad about her. But Dexter wasn’t wrong. He couldn’t believe what she’d done, and who she’d done it with. She worked with Dillon, so it’s obvious that’s how it had happened, but he’d never heard Alex talk about him. It was always Bobby she spoke about, and how wonderful he was. Gabriel may have memorised all his perfect traits from what his sister had shared, but he wouldn’t be sharing that knowledge with anyone.

“Maybe I’ll leave it until the weekend,” said Gabriel.

“Why? Like you said, everyone is back later. Do you think it’s all going to wait another three days before anything blows up?”

Gabriel shook his head. He wasn’t sure who was going to pull the trigger later, but someone would. This wasn’t something that could stay quiet for long.

“I have a feeling my sister will try something so she doesn’t appear bad.”

“What can she say, given what she did?”

Before he could respond, his phone beeped. Gabriel looked at the message, and his stomach plummeted.

Bobby: We need to talk.

CHAPTER 10

GABRIEL

Gabriel had never had Bobby in his flat before, there’d been no reason, but Bobby had suggested he come here, and Gabriel had agreed. It sounded urgent, but he’d said he wanted to talk in person, so Gabriel may have rushed around and cleaned up, but he wouldn’t be admitting that to anyone. Gabriel’s flat was in a nice block in Stratford. It was part of a redevelopment project after the 2012 Olympics, so there had been a few owners before Gabriel. He lived on the third floor, which was at the top, and it gave him a superb view of the old Olympic Park and stadium. This was one of the smaller blocks in his development. Gabriel hadn’t wanted to live somewhere with dozens of floors. He hoped to live in a house one day, but he’d need a husband for that – or a boyfriend would be a start. In fact, a second date would do right now. Then he might stop pining for Bobby.

He’d buzzed Bobby into the building and then opened his flat door, waiting for the lift. After a time, Bobby appeared, having walked up the stairs, because of course he had. There was no sign that he was out of breath either. Gabriel worked out, but he rarely did those stairs himself. As soon as Bobby saw him, a big smile appeared on his face, and he pulled Gabriel into a hug. Why did everything always feel so much better with a hug from Bobby?

“Thanks for letting me come over. I thought it would be best if we talked in private.”

“Yeah, you said that on the phone. What’s wrong?” asked Gabriel, closing the door once Bobby was inside the flat.

Bobby was looking at his place, which made Gabriel feel self-conscious. The living and dining area was painted in something between a brown and honey colour, which he really liked. He hadn’t gone for a feature wall as he knew colour drenching was the thing to do now. His sister was into colour drenching, as long as that colour was white. That was a bitchy thing to think, but his sister was plain in her taste. He wasn’t sure where she got it from, as even their dad loved a lairy colour.

“Your place is stunning, Gabriel. It’s full of heart. Very you.”

Gabriel spluttered, lost for words. He hadn’t expected him to say that, and Bobby smiled at him, which made him even more flustered. Gabriel was usually well put together, but around Bobby and those smiles, he was like a teenage girl with a pop-star crush.

“What did you want to talk about?” asked Gabriel, wanting to get the conversation back to the reason he was here.

He noticed Bobby’s shoulders were tense and up by his ears. He wanted to reach out and massage them, so he’d relax. Okay . . . that was something he’d definitely be keeping to himself.

“Aren’t you going to offer me a drink first?”

“Bobby, just tell me.”

“I got back to the flat last night and Alex was already there. Dillon’s back as well. I spoke to him just before I called you. Before I tell you the rest, I’d suggest getting that drink.”

“Tea or coffee?”

“Yeah. That’s not gonna do it.”

“For fuck’s sake, Bobby, just tell me.”

“Alex thinks we’re having an affair,” he said, gesturing between the two of them.

“What?” His voice sounded like someone else was talking.

“It’s obvious she and Dillon have done this so it takes the heat off them. Dillon doesn’t want anyone to know about him and Alex so they can make out they got together after we broke up.”

“And they’re going to say you split up because you had an affair with me?”

Gabriel thought he was going to be sick. Why would his sister do this to him? He’d been nothing but supportive of her.