Summer Lovin'

Chapter Fifteen

(May 13th 2009)

I took a breath as I finished the counts in the back fridge, letting the cool air calm down the tempest of emotions rising through my body.

It appeared that the roller coaster ride of feelings that I was constantly on when it came to Gabriel hadn't died.

We had a four year break from our friendship and somehow I was still thrown topsy-turvy.

Just being near him for a miniscule amount of time...

It didn't give me an ounce of faith that we would be able to renew our friendship in the months that I was home.

In the small amount of time since he had walked into the bar, I had experienced extreme elation, rampant disappointment and everything in between.

There was a comparison spinning through my brain that scared me senseless. In this scenario, I was like Gavin. Holding on to my sanity by tethered threads, except that I was worse because at least Gavin and I had been in a relationship. Gabriel had never been anything other than my friend and I needed to get it together. I took another breath of the cold air, letting it calm my jittery nerves.

As I walked out I couldn't help but wonder what Addy and Gabriel were whispering about. Was it me? I pushed the racing thoughts out of my brain and gave a smile as I walked up. "Allright lady, everything is ready. What are you still doing here? Go get your man!"

I giggled as I watched her immediately grab her purse and run for the door. I don't think I had ever seen her move so fast.

I looked at Gabriel and he was smiling too. I gestured at the menu in front of him and asked if he was ready. He shook his head and explained, "Addy put in my order, I'm just going to get something to go."I nodded and walked out to check on the other tables. Addy had cleared them up but I needed to make sure no one was sticking around.

It also gave me a chance to reign in my disappointment. Again with these wild emotions.

Why was I sad that he wasn't sticking around to eat? It was going to save me from a night of watching him and Stephie flirt and I really should keep as far away from him as possible.

Lord save me from this constant game tug-of-war between my head and my heart.

To my great relief, we had a number of tables come in shortly after Addy left, giving me an excuse to stay away from the bar and the eye candy sitting there.

We didn't have another moment to talk until his food came out. It was as he was paying me that he said quietly, "it's really nice to see you, Hailey!"

I looked up from the machine and dove straight into the sparkling sapphires that were his eyes.

Jesus it was hard to look away.

I felt my heart racing but schooled my expression, hoping that he couldn't see how much he impacted me. "Nice to see you too, Gabe!"

His smile was dazzling. The kind that made me forget how to breathe and unable to recall my own name. He blushed as he mumbled, "Would you wanna hang out sometime? You know, catch up? I've really missed you."

I considered for a moment, the internal battle raging. "No." My head managed to overrule my heart. "I'm doing this for Jon but I'm also lifeguarding during the day. Honestly, my days are really packed, at least for the next couple weeks. I don't see us being to catch up any time soon but maybe later on, yah?"

I watched as his eyes lost a little bit of that sparkle and I knew he was disappointed but how do you tell somebody that you love them too much? That it hurts too much to spend time with them?

He looked like he was going to say something, but then just gave me a little grin as he grabbed his food. "Thanks, hopefully I'll see you around."

Then he was gone, and I again felt the heavy churning of emotion. How was I going to do this for an entire summer? Had I been right to keep my distance?

I took his empty glass of the bar and walked over to the dishwasher, surprised to find Stephie watching me. She gave me a sympathetic look. "He's beautiful but don't let him make you feel like you're special. He tries to get with every pair of tits around. I honestly wouldn't bother with Gabriel at all, he's a one and done kind of guy."

I didn't say anything, just nodded my head and she went to greet the new table that came in. I wiped down the bar, unsure of what to think of her words. She radiated bitterness, but there could be a ring of truth to it. Gabriel had always had a way with the ladies.

Either way, she was misreading his intentions towards me. However, it made me more aware; If Gabriel was a player now, I would not easily be able to watch him with a revolving door of women.

Knowing myself well, I would be nursing my defeated heart, while observing it all in the friend zone. Whatever her ulterior motives, what she was saying just made me feel more certain, keeping my distance had been the right move.

Now I just needed to harden my heart for any future run ins.

A/N- thoughts? Are you mad at Hailey that she's still being so cautious?

OR mad at her for making him lose some of the sparkle in his eyes? Like WTF Hailey? lol

Really though-
Do you think it's reasonable that she's so scared of her big emotions and raging feelings for him? 💕

P.S. Stephie sucks... hard!