The Gambler Read Online Free PDF

one I want, sweetheart. I’m here, aren’t I?”
    “Only because you had that stupid meeting with that stupid man.”
    She knew how important the meeting had been, yet she’d never once asked about it. But this was how normal people functioned, right? He didn’t remember his dad going home and discussing the specifics of his job. Normal people had responsible jobs and significant others. But he couldn’t help thinking that if he and Libby were still close, it would have been the first thing she would have asked him. Noah suddenly had a craving for something more. He’d convinced himself that normal was what he wanted. What Josh had. But if this was it, was it really enough?
    “I mean it, Noah,” she pouted. “It’s not normal for a guy to be friends with a girl.”
    “Hey, all those people did it on Friends. ”
    Her eyebrows lowered into a scowl. “They all ended up sleeping with each other like some exotic swingers club.”
    Noah wondered how he’d missed the X-rated version of the series—and where he could find it—but he suspected she wouldn’t appreciate the question. “Why does it have to be either or?” he asked in frustration as he jumped to his feet, his anxiety rising to an all-time high. He didn’t need this in addition to everything else. “Why can’t I be friends with her and have you too?”
    “It doesn’t work that way.”
    “If you met her, I’m sure you’d change your mind. Come to the wedding with me tomorrow. I’ll buy you a ticket.” He wasn’t sure where that had come from, but now that he’d said it, it seemed like a good next step in their relationship. It would show her that she had nothing to worry about, that he was in this for real.
    She shook her head vehemently. “No. No way. In fact, if you go to that wedding, you and I are done.”
    His eyes widened. “What?”
    Rising from the couch, she planted her hands on her hips, her lips pursed like she was trying out for some lipstick commercial.
    “Donna, I’m in the fucking wedding! I have to go!” But even as he said the words, he realized how much he really didn’t want to go.
    “It’s her or me, Noah.” Then she stomped out of his apartment.
    Noah was torn. He really wanted to be there for Libby, but he wasn’t sure he could bear to watch her exchange vows with the world’s biggest Arkansas Razorbacks fan. Not to mention the fact that he had no desire to see his brother. He was sick to death of people believing the worst of him, especially since he was trying so hard to change. Besides, if he broke up with Donna, he’d be drowned in a chorus of I told you so. He wasn’t sure he could handle that on top of the rawness he felt about Libby’s impending marriage.
    So after a long sleepless night, he texted Josh the next morning and told him something with Donna had come up and he wasn’t coming. He worried about hurting Libby, but she was marrying Mitch, the man she claimed to love. Why would she care if he came or not? She’d made her choice; it was time for him to worry about his own love life.
    Donna . . . he could do this. He could be in a long-term committed relationship. He just needed to make more of an effort. He picked up his phone and called her, mulling over the idea of asking her to move into his apartment. Wasn’t that what couples did when they took things to the next level?
    “Did you decide?” she asked in a snotty tone when she answered.
    “I’m not going.”
    “Wise choice, McMillan.” Her voice took on a husky tone. “I’ll be right over.”
    He made a pot of coffee, wondering when he should ask her to move in. After they had sex or before?
    But when he opened the door for her, apprehension sucked his breath away. Could he really spend the rest of his life with someone who only wanted him if he met the requirements of some checklist? Someone who’d asked him to cut off a close friend? Someone, he suddenly realized, he barely tolerated? He’d rather be alone and dateless for the