Page 66 of Forever Yours
“When in Rome.” Annabelle resigned herself to the battle and started to make a pile of snowballs as Devlin sputtered and tore her hat off, knocking the snow back onto the ground.
The rest happened so quick. Devlin was sure it would go down in town lore that no one quite knew who started the great snowball fight, but that everyone had a blast. Everyone, that is, but she and Gabe.
They both had a singular focus, throwing snowballs as fast as they could make them. Gabe had just fumbled on his latest one, he wasn’t wearing gloves, and Devlin could tell his hands were red with cold.
“Always bring gloves to a snowball fight,” she yelled as he charged her. She ducked behind a Bigfoot sculpture, thankful for its increased girth, but didn’t notice that Gabe had come around the other side until he tackled her, both tumbling to the ground, Gabe on top of Devlin.
Their breaths came out fast, the condensation of the air mingling, their lips millimeters away from each other.
“Get off me,” Devlin whispered.
“It wasn’t anything personal, Devlin,” Gabe whispered back.
“You can’t tell me what’s personal and what’s not.”
“That’s not how any of this was supposed to happen.”
Devlin lay motionless until a shout from the distance brought her back to reality. She shoved as hard as she could and pushed Gabe off her. Her life up until this point had been about restraint. Appeasing others—parents, boyfriends, teachers—anyone that she felt she needed to please.
She’d broken herself out of that cycle the night she’d met Gabe. That night had been just for her. Look where that had led her? Here, to this moment, where she was going to take what she wanted and to not be ashamed of it.
Standing up, she was tempted to reach out, an olive branch of sorts, to help Gabe up, but she couldn’t bring herself to.
“I’ll see you Monday,” was all she said before she walked away.
Chapter Twenty-One
The next three days were the longest days of Gabe’s life. Everywhere he turned, a memory of Devlin played through his head. He couldn’t sleep in his bedroom, but his couch was ruined as well. The kitchen and bathroom would need complete remodels. He couldn’t even escape to his shop, the unfinished table laughed at him every time he entered there.
His whole house smelled of her, sweet and intoxicating vanilla wafted at him wherever he went. He had to get out of the house, so he ended up at Finnegan’s.
He’d given Devlin the space she wanted, and he’d hated every second of it. The weekend had been filled with loneliness and longing, his thoughts going from one perfect memory to another then back again, in an endless loop. The only other thing breaking into his tedium was the self-flagellation that took place when he remembered what he’d said during dart night.
He slammed his hand on the bar top, startling the customer closest to him. He was sitting at the far end by the door, a beer in his hand, but Gabe didn’t remember him coming in or pouring his beer.
“Whatever is bothering you, son, dealing with it in anger is never the solution,” the patron offered his sage advice.
“The only person I’m angry at is myself. I’m sorry, that’s not my usual way of dealing with frustration.”
The old man picked up his beer and moved down the crowded bar, finding a seat in front of Gabe.
“I’ve got some time. Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”
“Isn’t that backwards? You should be telling me your problems.”
“I’m okay to let precedence slide if you are.” He reached out his hand at Gabe’s nod, shaking it as he introduced himself. “I’m Joe. So, what’s the issue?”
“I met this girl,” Gabe started.
“The stories are always about a girl.”
“We…” Gabe wasn’t sure he wanted to tell this man—who could easily be his grandfather—that he’d had a one-night stand, but he could tell his mental load was already lightening just by thinking about spilling his story to someone that didn’t know either him or Devlin.
“It’s okay, son. I’ve heard it all,” Joe insisted.
“We had a one-night stand about a year and a half ago in Boston, then she moved here not knowing I was from Amber Falls. She figured out I lived here a few months after, but kept it a secret from her new friends and me. Then my brother started dating one of her friends and we got thrown together.”
Joe whistled. “Now that’s a doozy if I’ve ever heard one.”