Golden Trail (The 'Burg #3)(192)
“Tone it down, Gabby,” Layne warned but Rocky spoke over him.
“Um… let me educate you, Gabrielle,” she said. “I’m a teacher, I see it year after year, Keira’s the most popular girl and Jasper’s the most popular boy. That shit happens, the most popular boy and the most popular girl hooking up. It was going to happen one way or another but, just so you know, I didn’t work Keira, Keira worked Jas.”
“Right, Keira hasn’t been to my house for dinner,” Gabrielle retorted.
“Then ask her,” Rocky shot back.
“This is goin’ nowhere,” Layne cut in and his eyes locked on Gabby. “And this is not cool. You said your piece and, as usual, we don’t agree. Now we move on.”
“Oh no, no we don’t,” Gabby told him, her eyes still shooting fire and he knew, from experience, by the look on her face, she was about to step way over the line. And she did. “You want to know what isn’t cool? What isn’t cool is you two teamin’ up to take away the only things I got left, my boys. And what’s also not cool is you,” she jabbed a finger at Layne, “lettin’ them do what they damn well want to do whenever they want to do it. I leave here only if we have an agreement and that’s gonna be that she,” she jabbed her finger at Rocky, “doesn’t stay at your house when the boys are there and you,” she jabbed her finger again at Layne, “learn how to suck it up and be a decent father!”
Layne clenched his teeth and started counting to ten even though he knew that didn’t work, he had to try something so he didn’t lay his hands on the mother of his children.
Rocky didn’t count to ten.
She marched to the door, opened it and ordered, “Get out.”
“No way, Saint Rocky, you wanted me in, the drama happens here,” Gabrielle retorted, pointing to the floor at her feet.
“Get out,” Rocky repeated.
“You horned your way in on this discussion, you see it out,” Gabby retorted.
“I didn’t horn my way into anything, Gabrielle, this is my living room!” Rocky’s voice was close to a shout.
“Enough,” Layne clipped and both women’s eyes came to him but his eyes were on Gabrielle. “I’ve put up with your shit for a long time, penance for f**kin’ up with my boys, but that’s done. I’m warnin’ you right now, Gabby, that’s done. You f**ked up and I straightened your shit out. I’ll remind you of somethin’ you forgot and it sucks I gotta throw it in your face, I wanted to avoid that but you forced my hand, but woman, you no longer have the high ground. You obviously didn’t pay even a little attention to me the last time we talked so you’ve again made a choice, the wrong one, but it’s your choice.”
He moved into her space, looked down at her and dropped his voice.
“You do not tell me how to raise my boys. You do not tell me when my woman can sleep in my bed. You do not bring drama to my doorstep or her doorstep at six forty-five in the morning or at any time. You get your support payments and we share sons. You exist for me only as their mother and that’s it. The bridge has been smoldering a long time, woman, but you just burned it to the ground. We… are… done.”
“That’s not going to work,” she shot back, leaning in and getting up on her toes to get in his face. “I know you hate it Tanner, but I’m their mother and you don’t have a choice but to deal with me.”
“Jas is in college next year, Tripp’s three years behind him. They’re nearly gone, Gabby, it’s gonna work because I’m gonna make it work.”
“Then we’ll see what the court has to say about you f**king Saint Rocky with the boys in the house,” she returned.
“Yeah, they’ll probably not like that, you know, a single man havin’ a girlfriend. They probably never heard of that. But, a single woman havin’ a live-in boyfriend who’s also an enforcer for a loan shark, they’ll like that, you reckon?”
Her face paled, she’d made a faulty play, she knew it then, she knew he had her but Gabby, being Gabby, didn’t give it to him. She went into stare down. She wasn’t as good at it as Rocky mainly because she did it with her face twisted and bitter instead of full of adorable attitude. It wasn’t nice to look at and it wasn’t fun at all.
Layne stepped back, ready to move things on but Rocky spoke and she did it softly.
“It’s almost sad,” she said and Gabby’s eyes and body swung to face her, “how much you want him and what lengths you’ll go to for his attention.”
And Rocky sounded sad, she looked it too, her eyes were no longer flashing, they were filled with understanding.
But Layne didn’t process that mainly because his gut squeezed and his eyes moved to Gabby whose face had lost all of its color and she looked like she’d been struck.
Jasper had said it but Layne hadn’t really heard it.
I see the way she looks at you, it’s the way Mom always looks at you when you don’t know she’s lookin’, but it’s more.
Jesus f**king Christ. It was Jarrod Astley, Gabby-style.
“Gabby,” he murmured and her gaze shot to him then over his shoulder.
“Screw you,” she whispered to his shoulder then turned to Rocky. “Screw you too.” She walked to the door, stopped, turned back and swept them both with a glance that didn’t really connect with either one of them. “You have it all, do what you want, you always had it all and did what you wanted. I should have known that would never change.”