“What the hell are you doing?” I shove him hard in the chest and he stumbles back.
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
Guilt jackknifes through my belly, and I turn. Mace is standing in the open doorway, only a few feet from us, from what just happened—and from the look on his face, he had a front-row seat to his girlfriend kissing another man.
“Mace.”
“So, breakfast is code for hooking up now, is that right?”
I shake my head, fresh tears pricking my eyes and spilling over my cheeks. “That’s not what’s going on here.”
“Then what the fuck is going on here, Lo? Because it sure as shit looks like your friend had his tongue shoved down your throat.”
“Hey, you don’t need to speak to her that way,” Gabe says.
“I wasn’t fuckin’ talking to you.” Mace gets between us and shoves at Gabe’s chest.
“Mace!”
Gabe shoves him back and I try to yank the two of them apart, but they’re already in one another’s faces and beating the shit out of each other. Blow for blow, I cover my ears to block out the sickening crunch of fist against flesh, bone, and cartilage. I shout for them to stop and then I throw myself between both men and shove. “Stop it! Both of you!”
“Don’t tell me you’re not happy watching us fight over you.” Mace sneers, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
“I’m not.”
“Was this your fucking plan all along, cunt?” Mace spits on the polished floor at Gabe’s feet. Blood and saliva pool there, but Gabe pays it no attention. His nose is bleeding, and I’ve never seen him so angry. “Drag me into work so you could get heralone, and fuck her on the bed that I ate her pussy on just an hour ago?”
“Mace!”
“Yeah, that was the plan,” Gabe says with a rictus grin. “And speaking of work, you’re fucking fired.”
“Like I give a shit.”
Gabe scoffs and steps closer. “That’s how you repay me? I hired you when no one else in this city would.”
“Gabe,” I say impatiently. “Just go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I bet it just eats you up inside, doesn’t it? The fact that I’ve had her, in all the ways and all the tight little holes. And you? You’ve got nothing but your hand and your fantasies, because you were too much of a fucking pussy to make a move,” Mace snaps, his dark eyes hard.
Gabe charges toward him and I place my hands on his chest. “Please, Gabe? Please just go. Please?”
“Get the fuck out of our apartment!”
I have half a mind to throw Mace out too, but it would likely end in more fighting and one of them dead in the hallway. “Gabe, just go. Please?”
His jaw tightens and he grabs his jacket from the back of the chair. Rifling through the pocket, he produces a black velvet box and sets it on the coffee table. “Happy birthday, Freckles.”
The air stirs as he brushes past and storms through the open apartment door, slamming it behind him.
What the hell is that? What was he thinking? I stare at the box, desperate to open it, but knowing I can’t with Mace nearby. I can’t even look at him. I’m both ashamed and furious and I’m not even sure which emotion is going to win out if I open my mouth.
“How long has this shit been going on?”
“This shit?” I arch my brows. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
“I deserve the truth, Lo.”