Page 32 of The Path to Loving Him
To her credit, she didn’t squeal or carry on. She shakes her head a bit as she starts to turn away from the group. But not before Hattie calls out, “Hold on, you must be the new neighbor. Have you guys introduced yourselves?” Hattie points between me and Gabby.
Oh Hattie, we have more than introduced ourselves.
I’ve seen her naked.
I’ve felt her body wrapped around me.
I know what she sounds like when she comes.
“Yeah, we know each other,” I say awkwardly as I stick my hands in my shorts pockets.
“You know each other?” she asks.
“I mean . . . we’ve met,” I correct, not wanting to go deeper with my sister eyeing me. The last thing I need is for them to pry into that side of my life that I’m trying to shut down.
“When Ryland and his niece came to check out the house,” Gabby adds.
“Oh, cool,” Hattie says and then turns to me. “You never told us you met your tenant.”
“I don’t need to tell you every aspect of my life,” I reply.
“Might be nice. We’re invested after all,” Aubree says with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Not something we need to talk about with Gabby here?—”
“Hey, you’re the girl we saw the other day,” Mac says, running right up to Gabby. “I heard Uncle Ry Ry saying bad words about you.”
Jesus.
Fucking.
Christ.
“Bad words?” Gabby says, staring me down with a raised brow.
“Why would you say bad words about her? She seems pleasant,” Hattie says.
“And she’s your tenant. I feel like that’s not a great thing to do,” Aubree adds.
“Not to mention, you shouldn’t be saying bad words in front of Mac,” Wyatt continues.
Why are they making this into a nightmare?
Is that their intention?
Because they’re doing a good job at it.
Truth be told, Iwassaying bad words about Gabby. But tomycredit, I muttered them under my breath with no knowledge of my niece possessing the hearing of an owl.
And if we really need to go there, it wasn’t necessarily bad words about her. I was more . . . irritated about my situation.
“Can everyone just fuuhh . . . uh freaking chill? I was muttering bad words because I feel out of my element having to be a landlord.” That’s quick thinking on my feet. Proud of myself. “Not because of Gabby. It wasn’t something I thought too much about until, well, it was too late, so yeah.”
“Well, you have nothing to worry about,” Gabby says. “I’m incredibly low maintenance. I won’t be requiring anything from you.”
“Good to know,” I say. “But if you need something, don’t hesitate to ask.” I try to tack on a smile, but I know it seems strained.
“Okay, but I won’t need anything.”
