The next week went by without any interference from Gabe, and Val couldn’t be happier about it. After their last confrontation, she couldn’t imagine facing him again. Not only had she insulted his heritage, but she had completely lost her cool. That was abnormal. She had to be more careful; living in a shifter community meant there were different rules for them to follow.
She had to take care of herself, not make enemies. Val didn’t have anybody to help her and she didn’t need anybody to feel like it was their job to do things for her. Burning bridges seemed like a bad idea, but that was also what she had to do to maintain her independence. If she didn’t manage that much at the very least, then she would let her guard down and her entire system would crumble.
She wouldn’t let that happen, not for any man, for any reason. Even if it was an insult to his heritage. There was always a way, and Val would continue to remain ambitious and independent without letting someone like Gabe talk her into thinking she needed help of any kind.
In fact, all that had happened since she arrived in Stonybrooke was that she had been practically killing herself to pay for school and make rent and pay the bills. She couldn’t even afford her car payments anymore, so she had been stuck using public transportation ever since she’d arrived. She was getting sick and tired of being affected by the ancient shifter customs that had inserted Gabe into her life. In fact, she was going to give him a piece of her mind.
She had the day off at school and at the record store, so Val braced herself to confront Gabe and caught the bus to Wayne Avenue, where the record store and Shifter Fit were located across from each other on the small strip, often full of foot traffic. The bus ride was long right from her apartment, so she had time to prepare herself. As hard as she had been working to make ends meet, it was futile. She had to bend over backwards for every hard won credit, and now that Gabe had gotten himself involved in her life, she couldn’t take two steps without worrying he was going to show up and make her feel like she was helpless.
What she was going to do was simple. She would drop out of school, give up on the pressures of trying to receive her degree in a place where she clearly didn’t belong. Then she would leave Stonybrooke and let Gabe move on with his life without feeling like he owed her something. It was a simple, practical solution. The kind that had always helped her land on her feet when everything around her seemed to be falling apart.
When the bus finally turned down Wayne Avenue, Val’s stomach knotted. The idea of facing Gabe again made her nervous beyond belief. Nothing seemed to go right when they were together. Still, she was relieved to have a solution she could live with, whether the confrontation was going to be hard on her or not.
“Gabriel,” Val said, her voice ringing through the storefront.
There was a woman standing in the front aisle, looking at protein powders, who gave Val a dirty look, but she ignored the woman and continued through the store in search of Gabe.
She found him in the back, restocking the fresh fruit with a pensive, serious look on his handsome face. Val almost had second thoughts about leaving Stonybrooke when she saw him hard at work, his mysterious eyes narrowed as he did what had to be done to make his business thrive. There was no doubt he was a hard worker. He had probably been working like this since she had been born.
And yet, she couldn’t live knowing she was a burden on anybody. She worked hard to carry her own weight and make her way in the world, and if anybody thought she couldn’t do it alone, that insulted her to the depths of her core.
“Gabe, we need to talk,” Val said, taking a deep breath and stepping forward.
She wasn’t sure he had even noticed she was there, but he continued along his way as if he wasn’t surprised in the least.
“What else is there to talk about?” Gabe said gruffly, standing up straight and heading toward her, carrying a box full of apples in one arm and an empty bag in his other hand. “I’m pretty sure we covered everything the last time, right?”
“I don’t think that’s good enough for me,” Val said, butterflies throwing themselves around in her stomach as he passed; he smelled fresh, like the outdoors. The longer she looked at him the harder it was for her to tell him what she had decided. The idea of never seeing him again almost made her panic. Maybe she was starting to like him more than she had thought.
“Well, you’re probably not going to think anything is good enough for you,” Gabe said with a casual shrug. “But I’m bound by my pack to protect you, and if I don’t, that’s my dishonor. You kind of have nothing to do with it.”
“I know…that’s my problem,” Val said flatly. “That’s why…”
“See you, Gretchen!” Gabe shouted over Val’s head to the woman who had been in the front of the store. The bell rang as she left, giving Gabriel a small wave, and then they were alone in the store.
“That’s why I want to leave.”
Gabe froze, his dark eyes narrowing.
“What do you mean, you want to leave?”
Val’s voice froze in her throat. She had made the decision on a whim, a frustrated, angry whim, and now that she was forced to say the words out loud, the truth of that felt heavy in her heart. And yet, it was the only way to rid Gabe of these shackles.
“I’m going to quit school. I can’t afford it anyway. And if I’m not in school, there’s no reason for me to stay here. So I’m going to leave. Maybe go out to the coast and live by the ocean…”
Gabe’s eyes flashed, and Valerie found herself captive in his gaze, his strong hands gripping her shoulders passionately as his face contorted with an emotion she had never seen him display before.
“You don’t have to do that. I don’t need you to leave. I just need you to be okay.”
Gabe searched her eyes and Val’s heart drummed heavily in her chest. She was overwhelmed by the intensity of his handsome features; the sincerity of his deep brown eyes.
And suddenly, their lips met and Val’s body was shocked into an awareness unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She closed her eyes, furious at herself for her forwardness. She had kissed him, not the other way around, and they were both electrified by the power of it.
Finally, Gabe pulled away and dropped his hands from her shoulders. He pinched the bridge of his nose and refused to look at Val, and her stomach sank. She had made a huge mistake.
“Could you please leave now?” Gabriel asked, his voice low and dark and menacing. “The store, not Stonybrooke.”
Val was too stunned to speak and turned around on her heel. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. What was she supposed to do now? The idea of leaving was unconscionable. She was drawn to him despite herself. Not only did she find it impossible to reconcile the idea of being with a shifter who felt obligated to take care of her, but he was old enough to be her father. Or at least a much older, very handsome uncle or mentor of some sort.
She closed her eyes and tried to shake the thoughts away. Maybe it was stupid to leave school so close to finishing the semester. She would see it through until she received her credits, at the very least. Maybe then she would know what the best move to make would be. And until then, she would just have to do her best to avoid Gabe entirely. Even if she had to quit her job at the record store, it would be easier than dealing with his stupid claim for the rest of her life.