Finally, tired of the scene, I told him good-bye and found Gabriel on the other side of the room. Not surprisingly, he was by himself and not drinking.
He'd been born without the small-talk gene, and I knew for a fact interacting with others at parties made him uncomfortable.
I had teased him in the past that he might actually be pleasantly surprised if he just made an attempt at talking to new people.
He wouldn't have any of it, however. He seemed fairly entertained by people watching, eyes twinkling and lips quirked in a half- smile as if he were in on some kind of joke the rest of us didn't know about. I wouldn't have been surprised if he was logging all of this for future novels.
"Hey," I said.
He brightened upon seeing me. The twinkling eyes took on a warm, knowing look. Something inside of me heated and tightened.
"Hey."
