Wild Forces: A Friends to Lovers Romance (O-Town Book 2) by Karen Renee (summer reads .TXT) 📕

I’ve ever met and he’s married to the coldest, bitchiest sister ever. No joke, if there were a reality show or game show for bring us your bitchy sister who could put Cinderella’s step-sisters to shame, Serafina would be a shoe-in. Yeah, the wicked step-sisters could learn a thing or two from Sera.”

“Boy,” I muttered, not meaning to do it.

“Boy, what?”

“I used to hate not having my mom in my life, and resented her for abandoning me, but I never realized how damn lucky I was to have such a rock-solid bond with my brothers. Christ. Your mom doesn’t seem to treat you very well, and your sister outright treats you like shit. Cassandra, you deserve so much better.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Yes, but my Dad more than makes up for it, Gabe.”

15 Offended Your Inner-Caveman

Cassie

GABE HAD WALKED ME to my apartment after I finished my drink. When he left, I called my Dad to find out what he was doing with Mom-cat. He sounded as torn up as I was about her dying. Since I took her to Dr. Zaloudek for examinations, Dad had already dropped her off at the shelter to be cremated. To help Dad out, I would pick up her remains in a couple of days.

Now it was Sunday, and when classes weren’t in session, I tried to go to church on Sunday mornings. That morning, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. Even though it was just after seven, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

In the kitchen, I peered inside the pantry to figure out what was for breakfast. With my twisted mind, thinking about breakfast made me think about dinner, and I realized I had forgotten to take a slab of ribs out of the freezer to thaw. I put the ribs on the counter, and as I opened the fridge, the doorbell rang. I closed the fridge and padded to the front door.

At the peephole, I couldn’t hold back my sigh seeing Gabe standing there.

“What are you doing here, Gabe?” I asked when I opened the door.

“Good morning to you, too, sunshine.”

“Good morning, Gabe. This is unexpected.”

He moved inside the foyer and gave me a long look. I figured it was because of my surly morning attitude, but after I closed the door I noticed his eyes were set on my legs. Then it dawned on me, I was wearing my satin spaghetti-strap pajama top with matching shorts, and my shorts put the ‘shh’ in ‘short’. Since Gabe avoided the pool, this was probably the skimpiest outfit he’d ever seen me wear.

“Um, I’ll go put on my robe.”

He cleared his throat. “No, don’t do that. I didn’t realize you were sleeping.”

I moved to the kitchen so we would have the breakfast bar between us. “Oh, I was awake. Just didn’t feel like doing much right now. So, what brings you by? Did you work last night? I mean, have you even slept at all?”

The half-smile on his face made him look impish. I couldn’t believe I found that to be sexy. Was there any look on Gabe I would find unattractive?

“You’re right. I worked last night, and I haven’t slept yet. Had something I wanted to talk to you about, and thought I’d drop by here in person. I... uh, should’ve just called you instead. You free later? I’ll call you when I wake up.”

“I should be. We’re between terms, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be around.”

He pushed away from the breakfast bar, but stopped short. “You got a slab of ribs.”

I glanced at the counter and back to him. “Yeah. Why do you sound surprised?”

Craning his neck, he looked to the balcony. “Because I’m pretty sure you don’t have a grill, so how do you plan to cook those?”

I crossed my arms on my chest and jutted a foot out. “I’ll cook them just fine without a grill, Sullivan. Ribs don’t always have to be barbequed in order to be good.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Those are fightin’ words in my family, Cassandra.”

I threw my head back with laughter. Then I looked him in the eye. “Bring it, Gabe. I’ll prove you and your narrow-minded notions about ribs wrong.”

He leveled his eyes at me. “Fine. What time’s dinner?”

I arched a brow at him, and said, “Six.”

He moved to the foyer. “I’ll see you then Daughtry.”

Everything about his visit was unexpected, but at least I had something to look forward to.

TRUTH BE TOLD, I AGREED with Gabe’s assessment that I had uttered fighting words. Ribs, baby backs in particular, were better when grilled. However, I wasn’t about to tell him that I was using the combination of my Instant Pot and the oven to cook my ribs. To say Gabe was skeptical of the Instant Pot’s effectiveness was putting it mildly.

At quarter to six, the doorbell rang, and I checked the peephole, to see Gabe holding a grocery bag.

When I opened the door, I shook my head at him. “What’s in the bag, Sullivan? Scared I won’t be able to feed you?”

He grinned. “I’m sure you can feed me. I thought I’d bring a side dish to be polite. Don’t get too excited, it’s just pre-made cole slaw from the deli.”

I nodded as he moved past me. He was wearing a red tank top, khaki cargo shorts, and flip-flops. Closing the door, I told myself to get it together.

When I turned around, he was putting the tub of slaw into the refrigerator.

With a sigh, I admitted, “I didn’t expect you to be early, Gabe. It’ll be another fifteen minutes or so, okay?”

He grinned again, but this time it was devilish. “That’s fine. You need me to help? Maybe fire up a grill or something?”

“No, smartass,” I said, moving to the Instant Pot. I gave it a twist, and found it had naturally released the pressure. When I pulled the lid free, a puff of steam rose and I heard Gabe groan.

The moment I pulled a section of