Gabe frowned. How had his numbers dropped so drastically over the past three years? He hadn’t been doing anything differently, and frankly, business had been great. He had a lot of regular clients who loved to come and go. None of them were stingy either; when they walked in, they rarely spent less than a hundred dollars on health foods and equipment for their home gyms.
So why was it that every year seemed to be harder than the last? He should be to the point where he could begin franchising his store; at least in Stonybrooke. But, somehow, it seemed impossible to get ahead. What the hell was going on?
“Hey, what are you up to?”
Gabe was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of Valerie’s voice, and he frowned deeply.
“What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Do you need anything?”
Val pursed her lips at him, her entire demeanor deflated by the question. He almost regretted asking it…almost.
“I don’t need anything. I just wanted to come by and thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I could have lost two jobs if it weren’t for you. And if you want me to go to the Council with you and tell them we made a mistake, I will. Really…”
Gabe looked up at the girl, studying her briefly despite himself. She was certainly pretty; a small wisp of a thing, with her emerald eyes wide and innocent as she stared at him. For some reason, he was agitated by the reaction to her he always seemed to have. The wolf had claimed her, partly due to that reaction, and it was something he resented having so little control over.
“Actually, kid, it doesn’t work like that,” Gabe grumbled, looking back down at the books sprawled out in front of him. “We can’t just tell them we changed our minds. We’re committed. That’s for life.”
“But it’s stupid!” Val exclaimed.
Gabe raised his brow at her, shocked that a human would have the gall to shit on centuries of ancient shifter tradition, and when she seemed to realize just how big of an error it was, her face grew pale and she backed away from him, raising her hands in front of her face protectively.
“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “I just mean, you shouldn’t have to throw your life away for someone like me. I’m not worth it.”
Now, Gabe was pissed.
“What makes you think you’re not worth it?” Gabe asked, glaring hard at her. “You don’t think someone should be looking out for you? Why is it you don’t already have someone hanging around you? A boyfriend or something?”
Val blinked hard, apparently confused by the turn the conversation had taken.
“A boyfriend?” she asked, furrowing her brow as she considered the question. “I don’t need anything like that. I want to take care of myself.”
Gabe laughed, a short, exasperated sound, and Valerie glared at him.
“What? Just because you’ve helped me out a few times doesn’t make you my frickin’ savior! I don’t owe you anything, you know.”
“All right, guess you’ve proven me wrong. You can do everything on your own. No questions asked,” Gabe growled, raising his brow at her. “That’s why I had to come out there and get those assholes to stop pestering you.”
“I could have handled it myself,” Valerie said, her voice low and angry now. “I’ve done it long enough without you butting in and ruining both of our lives!”
They stared at each other, angry sparks flying between them. Gabe hadn’t asked for something like this to happen. It was all thanks to the damn wolf inside of him, telling him she was apparently desirable; that she needed him somehow. That was a laugh. And that had nothing to do with the way he had been planning to spend the rest of his life. What the hell were they going to do now that they were stuck with each other for the long haul?
“If you maybe took your head out of your ass for a second, kiddo, you would see that you’re the one with the better end of the deal here. You’re new to Stonybrooke. I can tell. I know you just started over there at the record store and you also work at the gas station. You go to school. You’re fucking swamped and you’re a human, alone, in a town full of shifters. You’re going to need an ally sooner or later, and if you’re so quick to dismiss our claims and customs, then you’re not going to have what you need when you need it. Do you get me?”
Valerie glared at him, her green eyes flashing as the storm behind them grew. “I told you, I’m not going to be beholden to anyone, and especially not a man like you who thinks he has everything figured out about everybody. Just leave me alone.”
Gabe scoffed and looked back down at his books, and Valerie turned on her heel, heading toward the doorway. She left the store with a slam of the door and Gabe sighed heavily to himself. All she had done was come into the store to thank him. To tell him she was willing to let him off the hook for putting himself in such a stupid situation. So why was it he had reacted so adversely to the idea? Why had he defended his right to protect her? He must be a bigger idiot than he originally thought.
Gabe couldn’t help but follow Val with his eyes as she stormed across the street and back into the record store, where she proceeded to have an animated conversation with Randall, who laughed and shook his head as she apparently told him everything that had happened between them.
But Randall was a shifter. He knew exactly how these things worked, and maybe he would be able to talk some sense into her.
And that was all well and good, but Molly was gone. Without his wife around, Gabe didn’t know who was supposed to talk sense into him.