Page 89 of The Path to Loving Him
“How much do I owe you?” Gabby asks.
“I got it,” I say, pushing her hand back into her purse, which is holding her wallet.
“Oh, I can’t let you do that,” Gabby says.
“Let’s just say I owe you. For everything . . . including the shower inconvenience.”
She eyes me for a moment. “Well, it is pretty inconvenient.”
“So then the cookies are on me.”
“Trust me, it’s a fair deal if you have to deal with my brother,” Hattie says.
“Then I’ll take it.” She smiles up at me while she takes the box of cookies. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“It was nice seeing you, Hattie.”
“Yes, come by again, and if you need some friends, feel free to come hang. Aubree is not as outgoing as I am, but we’re pretty chill. And our friend Echo would probably love a girls’ night as well.”
“Sounds great.” Gabby steps up and writes her number down on a piece of paper, then hands it to Hattie. “Text me.”
“Perfect. We will. Bye, Gabby.”
“Bye.” And then she takes off, the door shutting behind her.
Hattie steps around the counter and walks right up next to me, fanning herself with Gabby’s number. “Did I score her number before you did?”
I roll my eyes. “It doesn’t matter if you did or not. I’m not looking to score any number.”
I glance at Mac, who has picked up a pen and started drawing on a notepad, ignoring everything around her.
“I don’t know. That hug told me differently.”
I take Hattie by the arm and lead her to the new honey display. “Can you not make this a big deal? We’re trying to be friends . . . friends with no benefits. We’re keeping it strictly platonic, and I don’t need you chirping in my ear about her.”
“Friends with no benefits? How is that fun?”
“It’s not,” I say. “But I don’t have a choice. If I try to have benefits, I become possessive and angry, and I’m a dick around her, and I don’t want that. I need some semblance of control over my emotions, so if that means taking the attraction out of it, that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Do you really think that’s going to work?”
“It has to,” I reply. “There isn’t another option.”
“Uh, there is. There’s the option that you give in to your attraction and see where it can go . . . maybe you could love her one day.”
“You know I don’t do love, Hattie,” I say sternly. “I don’t know love and want nothing to do with it.”
The disappointed look on her face is nothing new to me. I know she wants nothing more than for me to find someone I can spend my life with, like she found Hayes, but that’s just not me. That’s not going to happen.Loving someone leads to loss.And I’ve lost enough people in my life already. I’m also my father’s son. Enough said.
“Maybe you could.”
I look her in the eyes. “It’s not for me. Don’t push it, got it?” She nods even though I can tell she doesn’t want to agree with me. “Thank you. Now . . . am I going to have to pay for those cookies?”
Her mouth parts open in shock. “Uh, yeah, this isn’t a free ride. I have to make money.”
“I’m your brother.”
