Pushing him away, I put my hands on my hips and fought the urge to look and see if Beck was really standing there. “Gabe! You’re not as funny as you think you are.”
He brushed my hair off my shoulder and gave me a look that made my skin crawl. He saw me shudder and lost the act. “Excuse me. Do not act disgusted when I make eyes at you. That’s so rude.”
“Sorry, but don’t look at me like that. It’s weird.”
He pouted as he leaned against my desk. “I heard that I’m grounded.”
I groaned and leaned my head against his arm without thinking. “You are. Birdie nearly made a grown man cry last night. She doesn’t get that from me.”
“Winnie?”
I stood up straight and instinctively pushed Gabe away from me as I turned to face Beck. I opened my mouth to greet him, but I hadn’t been expecting the anger on his face. It wasn’t fair, either, because he looked like a god when he was mad.
“Who’s this?” Beck gestured towards Gabe with a tight arm movement that would’ve threatened violence if we weren’t standing in an office.
Gabe wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. “Why are you asking?”
I smacked Gabe’s hand and took a step towards Beck. “This is Gabe. The Uncle Gabe you’ve heard so much about. The very grounded and in trouble Gabe.”
“Aw, Winnie. You ruined my fun. I wanted to see how angry he’d get before he just peed right on your leg to mark you.” Gabe sighed dramatically. “At least he’s gorgeous. First the mechanic and now Mr. Tattooed Man Bun? I’m fucking proud of you, Winnie Lane.”
I buried my face in my hands and groaned under my breath. If I’d been a volatile person, I would’ve been tempted to murder my best friend.
“Beck Myers. Nice to meet you, Gabe.” Beck moved closer to me and wrapped his hand around the back of my neck. “And, to be clear, pee isn’t one of my kinks. There are more interesting and fun ways to mark what’s mine.”
My knees went weak and my panties dampened nearly instantly. I choked on my sudden overproduction of drool and had to stare at my feet for fear of one of the two men seeing the look on my face, which was surely full of need.
Gabe laughed easily. “As long as you treat my girl well, I think we can be friends. I’ll tell you the same thing I told your just-as-sexy, whole-lot-dirtier friend. Hurt her and I’ll hurt you.”
“Gabriel!” I grabbed his arm and pushed him towards the elevator, barely budging his large frame. “I’m going to hurt you, you giant… ape. This is humiliating!”
Both men suddenly laughed, and the tension broke. Beck was the first to tease me. “Win, you’ve got to get some better insults. You really are a sweet little kitten.”
Gabe laughed. “You have no idea. When her ex left, the worst thing she would call him was a donkey.”
“She should take lessons from Birdie. That girl knows where to hit you where it hurts.” Beck nodded at Gabe. “You teach her that? I’ve got a couple of kids who could use you, if you did.”
The elevator door opened behind Gabe and, to my horror, Jack and Sawyer tumbled out, pushing each other. When Sawyer saw Gabe standing so close to me, he dropped his head back and growled.
“Okay, competing with two men is shit enough. Now there’s another one?”
Jack snorted and pushed past Gabe to hug me. “Did he give Beck a hard time, too?”
Beck grunted. “We almost came to blows.”
Sawyer looked around at all of us and then raised his eyebrow at me. With a crook of his finger, he motioned me over, and when I reached him, he wrapped his arm around me and rested his chin on my head. “Who’s the guy?”
Gabe let out a dreamy sigh. “I love you, Winnie, but I hate you. They’re all fucking hot, and they greeted you with hugs. That’s cute. I can’t even find one good guy who wants to say hello before asking for a hand job in the backseat of the fucking Uber. I’m dying of jealousy right now.”
Sawyer made a knowing sound. “Gabe.”
Beck put his hand on Gabe’s shoulder and smiled. “We’re dickheads too. Don’t let the hugs fool you. Sawyer forced Win into being his nanny last night. It was atrocious. And Jack? Probably going to gouge the poor woman on the price of her car repairs. Terrible, both of them.”
“And you? Why are you a dickhead, dickhead?” Jack sounded purely amused.
“Oh, that’s easy. I don’t do so well at keeping my hands to myself when Win’s around.”
I pulled away from Sawyer and dodged the four of them to get behind my desk. Grabbing my water, I took a long gulp and fanned myself. I was burning up. To add to my horror, I looked up to see Lauren and James walking up to my desk with interested, nosey expressions on their faces.