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“Because I strapped this little minion to my chest and went to the theater the other day for the kid’s improv class. When I asked Gabrielle what she’s been up to, her face went bright red. I knew that meant you two had been fooling around.”
My mouth hangs open. “Are you psychic, woman?”
“If I was, I wish I could use my brain power to get this kid to sleep through the night. But no, I’m just a very astute woman who knows that you’ve been traipsing after her since she got back to town. And it looks like you’ve finally worn her down, congratulations.”
“Not quite,” I mutter, though I should have kept my mouth shut.
“Uh-oh, tell me what’s up? Lay your relationship problems on me. They’re probably much sexier than whatever is going on in my bedroom right now.”
I shudder. “Cass, you’re married to my brother, remember?”
“Eh.” She shrugs. “Tell me what’s going on.”
For a second, I weigh whether I should open up, but knowing I’m torturing myself every day with what to do, I just go for it.
“Well, things have made headway on the … physical front.”
Cass interrupts me with a sassy wiggle of her eyebrows.
“But she doesn’t want to hear anything I have to say. Obviously, you know what kind of went on; we had this undeniable thing between us back when she was my teacher. She rebuffed me every time I tried to even talk about it, wouldn’t engage with me at all, and she’s standup for that. Because I was probably persistent as fuck. Nothing happened, Gabrielle was professional through and through. But we’re only three years apart. I hoped she’d see reason after I graduated, after nothing stood in our way. But she took off, and now …”
“She’s back and still won’t hear you out?” Cass fills in the blanks.
Nodding, I gulp down the hurt. “It’s twelve years later, she isn’t even teaching anymore, and still it’s like she thinks something between us would be inappropriate. It’s ridiculous. And she knows this doesn’t … fuck. It’s like with you and Patrick, you just knew, right?”
Cass smiles fondly. “Even when I wished I didn’t know, it was always him.”
“That’s how I’ve felt from the very first moment I walked into her classroom.” I drop my eyes to my lap.
It’s the first time I’ve ever admitted that to anyone besides Gabrielle, and it feels shameful but also like a weight has been lifted.
“Liam.” Cass almost gasps. “I didn’t realize this was … you feel in love with her at first sight, didn’t you?”
I nod, feeling so vulnerable at this moment.
My sister-in-law wears an empathetic expression and strokes her hand over the back of the baby’s head.
“When she left, I couldn’t see the point of taking up with anyone else. In twelve years, I’ve never come close to feeling what I do for Gabrielle, and we hadn’t even kissed back then. It was just this bone-deep feeling, you know?”
“Lucky for you, I do. Some people might call that crazy, but I felt it with your brother. So I know. You can’t turn it off, as much as you want to try.”
“So what do I do if she won’t even listen to me long enough to explain that, much less give me one shot?” My lips turn down in a pout, because I feel defeated at this point.
Cass purses her lips and tilts her eyes to the ceiling like she’s thinking. When she’s done, she levels me with a stare.
“Now, I’m only telling you this because I think you two would be spectacularly beautiful together and happy as clams once she gives in and if you don’t mess it up. But don’t think I’m going to be your source of inside info moving forward.”
“Okay?” Why do I feel like she’s about to make me pinky promise or something?
Cass nods like she’s satisfied with my answer. “Gabrielle has told me a little bit about her family and her life back in Charlotte. Essentially, it sounds like her parents put a lot of pressure on her to be the perfect daughter. And sure, we all get hit with that, but Gabrielle sounds like she’s lived every moment of her life inside the lines. Walking the straight and narrow. Never straying from her parent’s plans or saying no to them. She gets guilted majorly on a daily basis even now, as a thirty-five-year-old woman. In my opinion, she holds herself to this impossible standard and won’t let go of it for fear of getting hurt. So, even if it’s twelve years later, she still views any potential relationship between you as something so out of the moral realm her parents have instilled in her.”
Listening to her words turns a lightbulb on in my brain, one I didn’t know needed to light up for the picture to become clearer.
“So, giving me any kind of shot would just be wrong, in her parents’ eyes. They’d want to know when and how we met, and would shame her for even entertaining a relationship with me, even now?” Disgust laces my tone. “Some loving family.”
Cass gives me a sad smile. “Unfortunately, Liam, not everyone is a part of a family as loving and accepting as the Ashtons. But maybe you can use your knowledge and understanding of how a family should let you live your own individual life to get through to Gabrielle.”
If I weren’t already sitting, my sister-in-law’s words would have knocked me on my ass. I’ve been pushing Gabrielle so hard, trying to scale her walls and break down her defenses, when I need to really look at how different we are. Just because we have this chemistry, this tangible attraction, doesn’t mean we view it the same on a fundamental level.
