Jacob's Ladder: Gabe (Jacob's Ladder #1)

“That’s probably a good idea,” I replied as I flopped down in one of the chairs.

Kennedy returned with the tequila and three shot glasses. Always one for extreme bluntness, she asked, “Did you guys fuck on the kitchen counter?”

“If oral sex counts as fucking,” I replied before throwing back the tequila. Oh shit. That was some extreme TMI I’d just unloaded on my sisters.

While Ellie’s eyes bulged in horror, Kennedy paused with her shot glass in mid-air. “Whose ass am I going to be bleaching off the countertop?”

“Mine.”

Kennedy bobbed her head. “He went down on you first. I like his style.”

“Excuse me?”

“Most men only reciprocate oral sex. They want you to blow them before they’ll eat you out.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I seriously hate that term.”

“What would you prefer I call it? Carpet munching? A c-swizzle? Eating the peach?”

Ellie slowly shook her head back and forth. “I seriously can’t believe I just heard those terms come out of your mouth.”

“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” I said as I reached for the tequila bottle.

Kennedy moved it away from me. “Easy there, Tex. Don’t you have to pick up Linc at Dad’s?”

I groaned. “Yes, dammit. I do.” It was one of those moments when I really loved my son, but I also really wanted to get shit-faced with my sisters while sharing my jumbled feelings about Gabe.

“Then no more tequila.” She jerked her chin at me. “Hurry up and spill it before you have to go.”

With a sigh, I proceeded to tell the girls how Gabe’s and my baking had turned into a smoking hot sexcapade that led to me letting the brownies burn, and in turn, how said sexcapade along with Gabe’s care and concern led me to emotionally shut down and throw him out of the house.

When I finished, I’d managed to render both my sisters momentarily speechless, which was a feat in itself. Covering my face with my hands, I moaned. “Great, you guys think I’m just as psycho as Gabe probably does.”

“No, we don’t,” Ellie protested.

“I think she’s a little psycho,” Kennedy replied. Then she grinned at me. “But I get where you were coming from. I mean, the fact that I had an affair with a married French man would be evidence of that.”

“How am I ever going to face him again?” I pondered.

“By communicating to him what you’ve just told us,” Ellie said sensibly.

I threw up my hands in frustration. “But I don’t know how.”

“Of course you do.”

“I think the fact that I’m twenty-six and still single would say differently. I’m just no good when it comes to men.”

“Just tell him you’re sorry for freaking out on him. You just panicked because things were moving too fast,” Ellie suggested.

“Then what? Ask him if we can go back to the way things were before he saw me naked and went down on me?”

Kennedy gave me an exasperated look. “Why on earth would you want things to go back to the way they were? You yourself said the man was a hell of a kisser, not to mention was he extremely talented at licking pussy.”

“While I’m not sure I would have actually ever said the term ‘licking pussy’, yes, he was extremely good at it—like the best I’ve ever had.”

“Then why go back to not being physical?”

“Because he has a job to do.” At Kennedy’s wicked expression, I said, “And it’s not to be my official pussy licker.”

“Ha, you said it.”

“Whatever.”

Ellie tilted her head thoughtfully at me. “Are you afraid if you guys keep going, Gabe might lose his songwriting ability again?”

“Something like that. I mean, things were rolling along perfectly well the way we were. He doesn’t need anything to complicate it, and we all know how much sex complicates everything.”

While Ellie nodded, Kennedy said, “But maybe what he needs now is some heat. Just because you guys start messing around, that doesn’t mean he’s suddenly going to be unable to write.”

“I just don’t want to rock the boat.”

“I’m pretty sure from what transpired here this evening, Gabe would be more than happy to rock your boat,” Kennedy mused.

“While somewhat misguided, I think Kennedy does have a point. You don’t know how Gabe is feeling about all this, which is why you have to talk to him.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll call him in the morning. Hopefully he hasn’t packed up and run back to Atlanta because his muse went crazy.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Ellie replied.

“What time is the bake sale?” Kennedy asked.

“Noon.”

Kennedy nodded. “I can throw something together by then.”

“You can?”

“While it’ll be a complete, pain-in-the-ass inconvenience, of course I can. You know I’d do anything for that kid.” She smiled at me. “And for you, Rae. I always have your back. You know that.”

I fought the tears that pricked my eyes. “Thanks, Ken. That means a lot.”

“Now go on and get our boy.”

“But the kitchen—”

“We’ll clean it up while you’re gone.”

“I can’t let you guys do that.”

Ellie smiled. “We’re family, silly. We always help each other out.”

“Even if the other was practically fornicating on the kitchen counter?” I asked.

Kennedy snorted. “You sound just like Aunt Sadie, who, truth be told, probably has completely fornicated on that counter.”

“Ew,” Ellie and I shrieked. While I was aware of Aunt Sadie’s sexual past, I certainly didn’t want to think of her doing it, least of all in the same place where I had.

After grabbing my purse and keys, I said, “On that note, I’m out of here.”



*

When my alarm went off the following morning, I fought the urge to pulverize my phone. While I might’ve had only one shot of tequila with the girls, I’d snuck the bottle into my room after I got home from picking up Linc. I’m not sure what it says about my state of mind that I wanted to drink on my own. It was actually pretty pathetic, now that I thought about it.

Three shots later, I’d stumbled over to my bed, and I must’ve passed out because I was still in my clothes.

“Fuck me,” I grumbled as I pried myself off of the mattress.

Although I’d left Gabe with no reason to possibly text me, I still checked my phone to see if he had. Nope. Nada. Nothin’. Since I’d promised my sisters I would call him, I took a deep breath before texting, Hey. I know we need to talk. Just name the place and time, and I’ll be there.

I sat there staring at the phone for a few minutes. I kept hoping I would see the little dots telling me he was texting me back, but they never appeared. With a grunt of frustration, I threw the phone over my shoulder before trudging across the bedroom floor and out into the hallway.