Page 117 of Silent Damage

I shrug. “I don’t want you to feel left out.”

Gabe smiles. “I’m great, and you’re doing amazing. People like you, and not just because of Torren. You’ve got this.”

His words settle into my chest. “Yeah?” I ask.

“Absolutely,” he assures me.

I lean a little closer and whisper, “I needed to hear that.”

He gives me a knowing look and nods.

Of course, Gabe knew I needed to hear that.

Because he gets me.

My chest feels too small for everything I’m feeling.

The lighting in the bar casts a warm glow on his face. His mouth parts slightly as he looks up at me through his long lashes, and a warm buzz washes over me.

I rest my hand on the small of his back. “Gabe…”

“Who wants more liquor?” Felix chirps, snapping us out of the moment.

“Get me a whisky, babe,” Torren says.

Felix slinks over to the bar, and Gabe gets up. “I’ll help him,” he says to me. “Want anything?”

I shake my head. “I’m good.”

As I watch him walk off, missing his presence already, Torren approaches and asks, “What are you and Gabe?”

The question startles me, and I’m at a loss for words for a second. “He…he’s my best friend,” I say.

“Yeah?” Torren raises a brow, looking suspicious. “Did you decide that, or both of you?”

My jaw clenches, but then I remember who I’m dealing with. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

Torren folds his arms over his chest. “I’ve seen Gabe look at a lot of people, but I’ve never seen him look at someone the way he does you.”

I know Torren’s interrogating me, but I can’t help but feel my chest squeeze hearing his words. It means something—knowing that people can see it. It feels even more real, and it’s already terrifying.

“We matter a lot to each other,” I say. “I don’t take his friendship for granted—not anymore.”

Torren stares, his eyes boring into me like a physical force. He takes a deep breath and says, “Just know that if you hurt him, I’ll kill you.”

He says that with zero irony, and I’m not dumb enough to think he’s joking.

I look down at the table, the grains of wood reminding me of the wood paneling in the trailer and all of the ways I wasn’t there for Gabe during the worst moment of his life. “I would want you to kill me if I ever hurt him again.”

Torren’s eyebrows shoot up. He leans back and says, “Is that so?”

“Yes, and I’m glad Gabe has you—you were there when he really needed it.” I almost stop there, but decide to continue because the comedy of it all might help bridge the divide. “I was so jealous of you when I got back—mad as hell that Gabe had a new best friend.”

Torren laughs, but then he raises a brow and says, “Well, he doesn’t talk to me, Jason.”

His eyes are a little kinder now, and I feel good knowing I’ve convinced Gabe’s surrogate dad that my intentions are pure.

Well…kind of…