Angered Seasons: The Worst Birthday Ever (Volume One) Read Free Page A

girls eat salads, not rare steaks
with fries and gravy like I’d had tonight), nor a smirk when I’d
told Lane I’d gotten a replacement dimpler while Home Depot sent
ours to the manufacturer to get the brake fixed. “Feel like coming
along?”
    He took my hand and stopped walking then
shook his head when I looked up at him. “Look, I didn’t want to do
this on your birthday, but this isn’t working out.”
    I raised an eyebrow at him. No shit,
Sherlock. I waited for him to continue.
    “This whole arrangement with you and Lane,
it’s weird. You’re not kids anymore. I can put up with your choice
of livelihood. Hell, I can even get used to the fact that you
refuse to do yourself up in the morning before I wake up when you
spend the night.” He paused at my frown. “But I won’t play second
place man in a woman’s life. If you want to have any chance with
me, you’re going to have to leave him. Move out; get your own
place. Just quit having him around all the time.”
    “If I want to have a chance with you?” Wow,
this man was a piece of work. I gazed over to Lane who didn’t look
too happy as he watched what was happening. I turned back to Brian.
“But who would get custody of Iggy? We can’t do that to him. It
would break his fragile little heart! And joint custody won’t work.
We can’t just move an iguana around in the middle of winter. Plus,
have you tried moving that tank? It’s huge…” I said the last of my
speech to his back as he simply turned and walked away.
“Jackass.”
    I made my way to the truck where Michelle lay
shivering in her tiny dress jacket. The tight silver skirt she was
wearing was so short it looked like she was naked under the coat. I
may not have been the picture of class and sophistication in my
parka, but I was warm. I slapped my big mitts together.
    “Alright, lovebirds, let’s get this show on
the road. I’ve a craving for lemon pepper wings and a
Newcastle.”
    All three of us slid into the front seat of
the one ton so that Michelle was in the middle. I was suddenly in a
much better mood.
    “What did you say to him? He didn’t look very
happy.” Michelle seemed cautious as she glanced in my
direction.
    “Well, first, he told me he could put up with
my job and the fact that I didn’t look like this every single day
just for him.”
    Her eyes bugged out of her face.
“Jackass!”
    I grinned. “That’s what I said.”
    “What about the end? When he shook his head
and walked away?” Lane was frowning as he concentrated on the
road.
    “He told me I had to move out of our house.”
I shrugged. “He said our relationship was weird.”
    He grunted.
    “I told him I couldn’t do it. I mean, what
would happen to Iggy? The custody battle would kill him, and joint
custody wasn’t an option.”
    Lane burst out laughing. “Well, of course
not! Has he seen the size of that tank? God, it would be a pain in
the ass moving it from one house to the other!”
    Both of us laughed until we noticed that
Michelle definitely wasn’t. Lane cleared his throat as we pulled
into the Rogues parking lot.
    Michelle’s frown deepened. “Why Rogues? Belly
Up is much funner.”
    “Because Gabby wants lemon pepper wings and a
Newcastle and this is the only place where you can get both. And,
since it’s her birthday, she gets to pick.”
    I waited until he’d closed his door before
turning to her. “Look… I know you don’t like me. That’s plain as
day. But the fact of the matter is that Lane is my best friend. We
should try to get along for his sake.”
    She blinked at me and nodded. I let us out of
the truck and smiled at Lane’s questioning look.
    As it turned out, after a few more drinks,
Michelle didn’t seem to have any issues with my choice of pub. She
did, however, start to mind my presence a bit more.
    “Gabrielle, we need to talk.”
    I raised an eyebrow at her. “Why don’t we
wait until we’re sober?” Truth be told, I wasn’t drunk, but I did
have a nice