Free BreakingBeau by Chloe Cole

need
right now.”
    That last part was nothing but the truth. The only way he
was going to keep from trying to finagle a repeat performance was if she wasn’t
around. Out of sight…
    “Beau, come on. I can’t do that. Where would she sleep? And
what would I tell her?” Quinn asked, her tone pleading.
    “Tell her whatever you want. Tell her she’s cramping our
style. And she can sleep on the couch. It’s only ten days.”
    “She isn’t cramping my style,” Tai said with a shrug.
    “You don’t have any style. Even if you did, and she wasn’t
cramping it, I don’t want her underfoot and that’s that.”
    “Fine. But for the record? Me and Rex think you’re being an
asshole. Right, babe?” Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and stared at her
husband.
    Rex held up his hands and took a step back. “I’m not in
this.”
    “Rightly so. It’s none of any of your business. Take care of
it, Quinn, for real,” Beau said, then strode into his bedroom and shut the
door.
    All he had to do was avoid Gigi for the next week. Then
she’d be gone and everything would go back to normal.
    He refused to examine why that thought didn’t improve his
mood in the least.
    * * * * *
    “Need some help?”
    Gigi jerked back in surprise at the low voice directly
behind her. She looked up into the stunning, solemn face. “Damn, Tai, you’re
stealthy! Scared the crap out of me.”
    “Sorry. I just wanted to see if you wanted me to carry some
stuff over to the other bus for you.”
    “That’s really sweet. And since I’m no martyr, absolutely.
Want to grab that box behind you?”
    “Sure.”
    He didn’t make a move though, and Gigi tried not to grimace.
Here came the pity party.
    “Gigi—”
    “Tai—”
    He held up a hand. “Listen, I don’t usually say much, but
just give me a second here, and you can be on your way.”
    He waited until she gave a nod. His gaze was inscrutable,
and after a long moment he looked away. “Regret is a terrible, all-encompassing
thing. It fucks with you constantly, makes you feel like if you’d only done
that one thing differently, everything just might be perfect right now. Even
when your shit is going good, it keeps it from ever being great because you
wonder if it could have been better if only…”
    He’d aimed his speech at the closet door, and her heart gave
a squeeze for him. She reached out a hand and patted his shoulder.
    “I appreciate your advice. I really do. But this doesn’t
apply to me and Beau. Besides, I can’t undo it and I don’t regret what
happened.”
    “I don’t just mean regretting things you’ve done, or risks you’ve
taken. I mean regretting the things you haven’t done.”
    “What are you suggesting, Tai? I should maybe beg Beau to
sleep with me again? Sorry, I did all the begging I’m going to do the first
time around.”
    “Why does it have to be begging? Can’t you just talk to him
and find out how he feels?”
    “I think that’s pretty clear already. He had me kicked off
the Man Bus.”
    “After you left him that stupid note.”
    “He doesn’t want a girlfriend.”
    “And you didn’t want a boyfriend. Things change. All I’m
telling you is that you could be missing out on your chance at happiness.
You’ll never know if you don’t try.”
    A tiny kernel of hope lodged itself into her chest. She
thought back to her night with Beau and knew one thing for sure. She was
willing to face just about anything for a real chance to do that again. Tai
wouldn’t be encouraging her if he didn’t have some sense that Beau felt the
same way.
    Maybe he was right. Her pulse pounded as she nodded slowly.
“Okay. I’ll talk to him. But if this blows up in my face, you better be
available for a week of chick flicks and ice cream. I refuse to sulk alone.”
    She stepped toward him and he pulled her in for a hug. “You
know, Tai, someday you’re going to have to tell me the story of the girl who
broke your heart.”
    He shook his head and stepped