Page 119 of Sugar & Shadows

Also, there was a chance his calm presence could stop me from spending the night doomscrolling PubMed and convincing myself I was moments away from a septic miscarriage.

“Fine,” I said.

The corner of his mouth lifted, revealing that crooked smile I couldn’t get out of my head. “I’ll get pizza,” he said. “And we can watch one of those angry woman movies you love.”

I huffed a breath. “How do you know I love angry woman movies?”

“You once lectured Mr. McMillian after school about why Legally Blonde was a feminist masterpiece and how Elle Woods’s academic and intellectual excellence was misunderstood.”

How did he know that? I didn’t even remember the exact moment, but it sounded like me. Apparently Gabe had the power to remember things even I’d forgotten about myself.

“How about 10 Things I Hate About You?” I asked softly.

“And extra black olives?” he responded.

“How do you know what I like on my pizza?”

“Eh. I pay attention.” He lifted a shoulder casually. “And Tony is a good friend.”

I studied his profile, trying to arrange these new facts in my head. Had Gabe been paying far closer attention than I’d ever given him credit for?

For how long?

It was strange and a little too domestic for my comfort.

“Yes. Anything you want, Monroe.” That damn grin persisted. “Doctor’s orders. You’re medically required to eat pizza and verbally abuse fictional men.”

I fixed my eyes on the road, fighting the urge to smile.

“It’s weird, being congratulated.”

“Yeah?” he asked gently.

“I was bracing for the public humiliation, the memes, and the TikToks. But someone edited our fight to a Taylor Swift song.”

“Which one are you talking about? ‘My Tears Ricochet’ or ‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me’?” He waggled his brows. “Did you see the campaign poster?” A laugh rushed out of him. “Harding/Monroe for Mayor. Bipartisan Sexual Tension.”

I giggled. “I may get the one that says ‘Live, Laugh, Labor’ over a photo of me screaming and clamping the tubing.”

“You deserve congratulations,” he said, his eyes twinkling with genuine delight.

I shook my head. “Usually, when people congratulate me, it’s for winning. For being a badass. For accomplishing things.” Ducking, I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “This is strange. Being congratulated for having snowed-in hate sex with the small-town mayor and getting pregnant with the next generation of angry women?”

“Hey,” Gabe said seriously. “You’re creating a life. That may be the most badass accomplishment in existence. And that little angry woman in there is amazing,” he said softly. “I’m proud of you both.”

Chapter 30

Gabe

With a sigh, I stared at the abyss that was my house. The three-bedroom craftsman I’d purchased five years ago wasn’t grand. It needed a lot of updates. Updates I’d sworn I’d get to and never did.

The furniture was old, most having come from my parents when they made the move to Florida.

This was where I slept. But it was not a home.

And while I had never cared about that before, the last forty-eight hours had completely changed my life.

After pizza and movie night and pestering Sabrina endlessly with questions, Laurie had given me a blanket and I’d curled up on her couch, my mind racing.