Gabe studied Townes.
He thought: Annelise Harwood would sure like the wordflippant.
It was a funny thought to have right in that moment, but it was a reflex. The people he cared about automatically congregated at a sort of hub in his heart, and thoughts fanned out from there.
As much as he longed to write Townes off as one-dimensional, he knew, of course, he was more than that.
Which of course made all of this so much worse.
He also had kind of a hunch Eden had forced the guy to apologize. And if she could make him do that, their relationship was not a casual one.
All of these thoughts transmuted into feelings that basically turned his stomach into a roiling snake pit while his face showed not a damn thing.
Gabe was, at his core, a gentleman, caveman instincts notwithstanding. The apology on its surface was gracious. And so he really had no choice.
“Apology accepted, Townes. And you have my apologies, too.”
He didn’t specify for what.
Jasper Townes extended his hand, and Gabe cleaned his own hand thoroughly, a little sardonically, on a napkin before inserting it in the other man’s. They both gripped each other a little too hard, and Gabe indulged in a teensy fantasy about the satisfying crunch those long, nimble beringed fingers would make, fingers that he suspected had touched Eden and maybe heard that little sigh she made when the pleasure became too much to bear.
And a teeny part of him, a part that he thought couldn’t possibly make itself known, was awed that he was shaking hands withtheJasper Townes, who made the kind of music Gabe sang badly in the shower. If he crunched those fingers, he’d never hear “Lily Anne” live again, and goddamn but he loved that song.
He wondered if any of his songs were about Eden. Jesus, what if Lily Anne was about Eden?
A fresh stab of pain greeted that thought.
He took some minute consolation in the fact that this apology was clearly making Jasper miserable.
He let go of his hand.
John Mayer was still singing.
His friends were still silent.
But they were looking to him for cues.
Gabe sighed. “Go ahead.”
Instantly they all clustered about Jasper, filings to a magnet, cell phones in hand.
“Mr. Townes... would you mind terribly?”
And the flurry of autographs and photos ensued, all of which Townes was gracious about.
Jasper finally returned and sat down with Eden in silence.
He drummed his fingers a little on the table.
“Sorry,” he said after a moment. “About all of that.” Sounding a little more subdued.
She just nodded.
It took all of her pride and willpower not to turn her head. She wanted to be with Gabe, looking at Gabe, touching Gabe, laughing with Gabe, feeling his arms around her.
A loud laugh rose from their table. Hopefully it wasn’t about her.
Jasper had plucked up a coaster and was now tossing it from hand to hand like a Vegas dealer with only one card. He stopped at a look from her. He fidgeted the way Annelise did.