Gaining Gibbs (Marco's MMA Boys #4) by S. M. Donaldson Page B

16

    JADE
    I really want to know what happened after I left the parking lot but honestly, I have too much shit going on in my own personal life to worry about someone else’s.
    I’m not pregnant and a reality has set in that I may never be. I haven’t told my family and I don’t plan to.
    My phone pings.
    GAVIN: How are you?
    ME: I’m dealing.
    GAVIN: Would you like some company?
    ME: I’m waiting on all of my meds now. Then I’m going to go home and get some rest.
    GAVIN: Okay. Well, please let me know if you need anything. I know today was a lot of information. It can be overwhelming.
    ME: You’ve been great. Thank you.
    He really is a great guy. I should to try harder with him. Maybe I’ve been so caught up in my own head, I can’t see the attraction.
    My phone pings again once I get home. Thinking it’s a text from Gavin, I grab it up.
    CLAY: Are you okay? You looked really upset.
    I sigh. I’m not answering it. He needs to be with his child and…well, whatever she is to him. He’s happy about having a child and I will probably never be able to give him one. At least Gavin understands this going in. With Clay, I would want everything, the fairytale.
    My phone starts ringing. Damn it, why can’t he just leave me alone?
    Without looking at the screen, I swipe at it. “Hello!” I bark out.
    “Okay. Hello to you, too.” My sister’s snarky voice comes through the line.
    “Sorry. I thought you were someone else,” I mumble.
    “Well, can Krista come hang out with you for a little while?”
    “Sure. What’s going on?” I can tell in my sister’s voice that something is off.
    She lets out a deep sigh. “Well, it’s not easy to sugarcoat this, so I’m just going to get it over with. Gia’s not pregnant. She never was. She lied to everyone. Gibbs called Sly and Huck to come up to the doctor’s office. They helped him confront her. Huck went ahead and sent Gibbs home, he didn’t need to be up there. Personally, if I were him, I would’ve killed her ass.” My sister is revved up, I can tell by the way she’s rattling and I can’t fathom how Clay is feeling right now. “Anyway, she went violent in the office after he left, throwing shit and then tried to hit Dr. Jennings. So the guys called Mox and he met them to sign her into a behavior facility. Huck’s really worried that she’s showing some of the same symptoms as their mom.”
    I don’t understand that. “What symptoms does their mom have? I’m confused. She’s never really spent any time with their mom.”
    She lets out an exhausted breath. “Years ago, in one of her many stints in rehab, it came out that she’s bi-polar. Part of the reason she’s always strung out is because she won’t take her meds like she’s supposed to. She goes for harder stuff or to just be passed out drunk.”
    “Oh. Wow. That’s…well, it’s fucked up. So what are you going to do?” I ask, because if she says she’s going up there, I’m not going to let her. She doesn’t need the stress.
    “Chelsea and I are going over to pack up her crap at Gibbs’ house. He’s started, but it’s not right for him to have to do that all alone. It’s mostly just clothes.” I can hear her rustling around in the background.
    “Yeah, just drop Krista off here and I’ll watch her until you guys get finished.”
    “You sure?” she asks. “You sound tired.”
    “Yeah, I’ve been busy, but it’s okay. I always have time for my niece.”
    “All right, we’ll be over in about thirty minutes.”
    I smile. “Okay, I’ll get the popcorn ready.”
    Krista loves to come over and watch movies and eat popcorn. She tells everyone it’s ‘ dirls wight’ .
    “Right on time,” I say as I hear a knock at my door. Swinging it open, I find Gavin. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
    “Ah, I decided to ignore what you wanted.” He laughs. He has a pizza in his hand. “I brought food.”
    I smile. “Well, if you brought food I guess I’ll let you in.” I step