Just don’t ask me if I’m pregnant.

“Are you comfortable?”

“That’s an easy one. Yes.”

He chuckles. “What’s your favorite flower?”

“Magnolias.”

I close my eyes and enjoy the feel of his fingers in my hair.

“What’s your favorite dessert?”

“Hmm, that’s a hard one. I guess it’s a tie between Mama’s pecan pie and key lime pie.”

“Favorite alcoholic drink?”

“Margaritas.”

“Are you getting sleepy?”

I grin as he brushes a fingertip down the bridge of my nose. “Yes.”

“Do you want to go to bed?”

“Not yet.”

“Okay. Tell me about the best concert you ever saw.”

“That’s an easy one too. I saw Nash a few years ago, and those guys put on one hell of a show. Also, Leo Nash is my boyfriend.”

“I think he got married.”

“Yes, we’re fighting because he got married without asking me if it was okay, but he’s hopelessly in love with me. I’m pretty sure that the whole time he was singing at the concert, he was singing just for me.”

“I’m sure he was. What’s the appeal of Leo Nash?”

“Have you seen him?” I open my eyes and lift my head, looking at Rhys like he’s grown a new nose.

“Of course.”

“Well, there’s the tattoo thing, and the playing guitar thing, and the man can sing like crazy.”

“Declan can sing like crazy.”

“Declan is my brother,” I remind him. “Declan will never be sexually attractive to me.”

“Point taken.”

“Speaking of celebrity crushes, who’s yours?” I ask.

“I don’t know.”

“Lies! Of course you do. We all have our hall pass list.”

“The list of people we get to sleep with without any repercussions?”

“That’s right.”

“So, you mean there’s more on your list than just Leo Nash?” He’s frowning, but I can tell that he’s fighting a smile.

“Maybe. Who’s on yours?”

“I don’t think I have any,” he says after giving it a moment of thought. “There are some beautiful women out there, but I don’t think I want to have sex with any of them.”

“If you don’t want to tell me, just say so.”

He suddenly stands and lifts me into his arms, walking toward my bedroom.

“I’ll show you who I want to have sex with, Gabrielle.”

“Oh, okay then.”

Chapter Seventeen

~Rhys~

She hasn’t been herself for days and it’s making me crazy. She won’t tell me what’s wrong, and when I ask, she just says she’s tired. Or she doesn’t feel well.

But it seems that she’s backing away from me, and no matter what I do, it doesn’t change. Even during her silly twenty questions game on the couch the other night, I could feel the coldness from her.

But when I took her to bed, she let go, and it was normal, she was normal.

I need to sit her down, right now, and have a heart to heart. I need to know if she’s done with me, because I’m sure as fuck not done with her.

I’ll never be done with her.

My phone rings and I answer without looking at the display.

“Hey, Rhys, this is Eli.”

“Is Kate okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine. I’m calling because I’m just hanging out here with Beau, Declan and Ben, and we’d like for you to join us.”

“Now?”

“Now.”

“Is this an emergency?”

“No, this is a guys’ night in, and you’re one of the guys. We’re at Ben’s house. I’ll text you the address.”

And with that, he hangs up, not even giving me a chance to turn him down.

So much for that talk with Gabby.

Gabby’s in the kitchen with Sam and Derek, just finishing up dinner.

“Did you get Eli’s call?” she asks with a smile.

“Yeah, we just hung up. They want me to go into the city for a while, but if you’re not feeling well, I’ll definitely stay.”

“I’m fine.” She waves me off and sets a bowl of mac ‘n cheese with hot dogs in front of Sam. “Eli called me to get your number, and told me that you have to go. If y’all sacrifice a virgin or something, I don’t want to know about it.”

I chuckle and pull her into my arms, kiss her head, and just enjoy having her against me for a moment. She’s been pulling away from me lately, which also has me on edge.

I need to touch her.

“Are you going to kiss and do gross stuff?” Sam asks while shoveling pasta into his mouth.

“Not right now,” I reply and back away from Gabby. She won’t look me in the eye, and I’m done playing this game. I tip her chin up so she has to meet my gaze. “We’re going to talk later. Something is up with you, and I want to know what it is. I won’t be late.”

Before she can answer, I leave through the back door and head into the city. One way or the other, I’m going to know the score with Gabby before I fall asleep tonight.

***

Ben’s house is in a nice neighborhood in New Orleans. All of the homes are large, surrounded by massive green oaks and tall wrought iron fences.

And Ben’s home is simply impressive. I have no idea what the man does for a living, but whatever it is, he does well at it. I pull into the driveway behind a black Mercedes and cut the engine. I’m not stupid. I’m well aware that this is most likely an ambush.

I’m just hopeful that I can take at least one of them before the others kill me.

I can probably take Declan.

“Hey, man, come on in,” Beau says when he answers the door and leads me through the house and down to the basement, where the others are shooting pool and watching a baseball game on a big screen TV.

Mariners are playing the Angels.

Eli is leaning over the pool table to take a shot. Declan is staring down at this phone while perched on a bar stool and Ben is pulling beers out of a fridge behind the wet bar. They all wave and say hello, looking nonchalant and innocent.

Not one of these fuckers is innocent. I like them all, but they’re not innocent.

“Welcome to impromptu guys’ night,” Ben says as he passes me a beer and claps me on the shoulder. “Sorry for the short notice.”

“It’s totally fine,” I reply calmly. Ben is as tall as the Boudreaux brothers, but a little leaner, less broad in the shoulders. He’s also a solid brick of muscle, and from the stories I’ve heard, he’s no one to fuck with. And he may not be a brother by blood, but he’s been friends with all of them since they were small kids. “Thanks for the invite.”

“Here’s a picture of her!” Declan says and holds his phone up for all of us to see. “Blonde, leggy, pouty lips.”

“Who is this again?” Eli asks as he examines the photo.

“She owns one of the clubs in the Quarter,” Dec replies and sips his beer.

“And she doesn’t fall for your charms?” Beau says with a wide grin. “Good for her.”

“Yeah, it’s a love-hate relationship.” He shrugs as if it’s of no consequence, but I can see that it’s not. He likes her.

And it sounds like she doesn’t like him much.

“Damn it, I’m off my game tonight,” Eli mutters as he walks away from the table and Beau steps up.

“You’re out of practice,” Beau says mildly.

My eyes are on the game on the TV. Mariners are up, three to one, at the bottom of the sixth.

“I can see if the Cubs are playing,” Beau offers. I simply smile and shake my head.

“No, it’s cool. Are you a Mariners fan?”

“Nah, this was the first game I found,” Ben replies. “Would you like a tour of the house?”

“Are you going to kill me and bury me in the basement?” I ask. Declan snickers and Beau and Eli exchange glances, but Ben’s face remains perfectly calm and sober.

“Not right away,” he replies and then a smile slowly slides over his face.

“Not that that’s terribly reassuring, but sure, I’d love a tour. Your place is beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Ben turns to the brothers, nods, and leads me out of the room.

He’s a man of few words.

“The house was built in 1875,” he begins. “By one of my great-grandfathers.”