Beneath The Lies (9 page)

“I asked you if you are ready to go.”

I nod my head. “Yes. Yes, I’m sorry. I spaced out there for a second.” Instead of answering me he stands up and holds his hand out for me to take, which I do but not before I glance back at Gavin. He’s still watching me but now he’s frowning, almost glaring in my direction.

I’m confused and maybe even a little spiteful at his reaction to seeing me. He’s had nothing to do with me for weeks now, and even before that I only knew him a handful of days. I can’t come up with a single reason why he’d be upset with me. I moved out of his mother’s house, and tonight I’m out living my life like any normal twenty-year-old. I give him one last look before I wrap my arm around Devon’s waist and the two of us walk out. My only regret now is I definitely gave Devon the impression I like him more than I do.

****

Devon brings me home, and when I invite him in he hesitates. “I have homework I need to do first thing in the morning. I would love to come in, but I’m afraid if I do I might not leave.” My cheeks heat from his comment. I don’t think I want the kind of relationship Devon implied so it’s probably for the best that he declined. I like him and I think with a little more time I might come around to the idea of dating him, but I’m not ready to mess around with him, at least not yet.

“Goodnight, Kate.” Devon leans forward and places a light kiss on my lips before he turns and walks away.

I open my door. Out of habit, I look around my apartment for anything that might be out of place, but like normal everything is exactly how I left it.

I strip down to a tank top and pair of shorts, clean my makeup off, and then climb into bed. I toss and turn for what seems like forever and just as I’m about to fall asleep I hear someone pounding on a door. Most of the people in this apartment building are college students, and since I’ve moved in a few have had loud parties. When the pounding doesn’t stop I get out of bed and discover it’s coming from my door.

I look through my peephole, which causes my stomach to drop. It’s Gavin. I’m standing at my door unsure if I should answer when he pounds again, startling me to the point that I scream.

“Open the damn door, Kate.” A frustrated sigh passes my lips as I swing open the door, only to find Gavin staring down at me, his arms gripping the top of the doorframe. His chest heaves and his nostrils flare, but when our eyes lock I feel that same connection—almost a jolt passing through my body.

His eyes thin to slits, causing me to step back as he steps with me, ultimately allowing him to come into my apartment. I wait a beat for him to say something, but he doesn’t, which only frustrates me more.

“Can I help you?” I rush out, trying to keep my voice as flat as possible, but I’m certain I did a poor job. Gavin keeps his eyes locked on mine as he kicks the door closed with his foot.

“Are you here alone?” he barks out.

My eyes clench shut as I fight off the immediate anger I have from his question. This has gone too far. He doesn’t want me, but he doesn’t want me to be with anyone else, to the point that he drove over here to make sure Devon wasn’t with me? Once I open my eyes, I keep them focused on his as I say, “Get out.”

Gavin blinks a few times in what appears to be confusion. “What?” I’m usually a very calm person but Gavin has a way of driving me to my breaking point.

“I told you to get out. I have no idea what game it is you’re playing, but I’m not playing it with you. Maybe that’s what you’re used to. Dramatic females that hop aboard the crazy train so you have no idea how a normal relationship works, but let me clue you in on something. When you go weeks without seeing or calling a girl—a girl you blew off in the first place—you don’t get to just show up and demand anything. Now like I said before, get out.” I point to the door, but Gavin ignores my outburst and instead of walking to the door, he moves to my sofa and sits down.

He takes several deep breaths as he runs his hands through his hair. When he looks back up at me he appears more relaxed than he was moments ago.

“I was working out some shit that’s going on in my life. Shit I don’t want blowing back on you. When I had everything taken care of I was planning on showing up here to take you out, but apparently you’re not waiting around so it needs to happen now.”

What a freaking jerk. He’s says jump and I’m supposed to say how high?

“Nah, I’m good. Not to mention you have a girlfriend, remember? Now could you get out?” I answer as a scowl returns to his face.

“I don’t have a girlfriend. I haven’t had one in a long time and I would have told you that the night you implied as much but I was pissed. I needed to cool the fuck down.”

Relief washes over me but it’s immediately followed by dread. Something is still off. He could have told me by now that he doesn’t have a girlfriend but he didn’t bother until tonight...when he saw me with someone else. If I jump at the chance to be with him now, then he’ll think this behavior is acceptable. And I don’t want to date a guy who thinks it’s okay to disappear for long periods of time because he has
shit
going on. Gavin stands up and takes a step toward me, causing me to clumsily step backward and into a wall.

My voice is weak, barely even a whisper when I finally speak. “You don’t want me. You enjoy the chase. Until you saw me with someone else, I wasn’t even a thought in your mind.”

When he reaches me he gives me a slight squeeze on my arms. “I’ve thought of nothing but you for longer than you’d ever believe was possible. But I do have a lot of shit going on in my life right now. Shit that could blow back on the people I care about. If someone were to...fuck...Kate. I wanted to protect you so I stayed away but I can’t stomach the idea of you with someone else. Just picturing your arms around that guy tonight makes my blood boil.”

His fingers brush down my cheeks as he stares deep into my eyes. Being this close to him feels dangerously good. To my surprise, my body is hungry, almost greedy for more, for any sort of physical touch, but my mind keeps reminding me that this is a horrible idea.

“Why didn’t you say something? Tell me you don’t have a girlfriend. Tell me that you’ll call me in a few weeks or I don’t know...something?”

He steps even closer, enclosing my body in his embrace. “I didn’t know, I still don’t know how long it will take to sort my life out. If I told you I’d call you and weeks went by, you’d have been pissed.”

I roll my eyes and huff out a fake laugh. “Yeah, your idea worked great because guess what? I’m still pissed.” His face softens.

“I see that. I’ve only dated one girl and you’re right. She’s a train wreck. Or maybe the two of us together makes for a train wreck, but with her I stopped caring if I pissed her off because it happened more often than not.”

He pushes his groin even further into me, and I almost groan when I feel him hard against my stomach. Dating a man like Gavin is a disaster waiting to happen, but I can’t help wondering what it would be like because my body definitely reacts to his in a way that’s almost foreign to me. And he proves that when his lips find my neck and he slowly starts kissing me.

“Give me a chance.” Between each word he kisses the curve of my neck until he finally pulls back and looks me in the eyes again.

“I...” I almost said no, that it’s not a good idea but I can’t get the words to form.

“I get it. To you I look flaky but I promise that won’t happen again. I’ll give you my number and I’ll make sure to call or text you every day.”

He brushes his thumb slowly across my lips then his eyes trace the same path. His eyes look hungry, hungry for me, making me helpless to do anything except agree.

“Okay, but you don’t need to call me every day. I’m busy too and I’m not clingy or uptight. However, when you don’t deny things and then disappear it allows my brain to run wild.”

Without saying another word, Gavin leans forward and places his lips on mine. His mouth is soft but firm, and when his tongue starts moving with mine it excites my body into wanting more, a lot more. Gavin groans then pulls away from me.

“Jesus, you taste unbelievable.” My smile feels weak and maybe even shy.

“I better go before I take you into your room and fuck you all night long.”

“I actually think that sounds like a fantastic idea.” Crap. I didn’t mean to say that aloud.

Gavin starts shaking his head. “When I finally take you to bed, it’s going to be after I fucking take you out.”

“Oh, Okay.” My mind is a mess right now. I’m beyond turned on and I still feel his erection pressing against me.

Gavin steps away from me and sticks his hand out. “Give me your phone.” I take deep breaths in hopes to control my hormones and walk over to my phone, handing it to him seconds later. He takes it from me, messes with it for a moment, and then hands it back to me. “Now you have my phone number. Call or text me for any reason. Tomorrow night I’ll pick you up around eight, and don’t plan to come back here afterwards. Now, follow me to the door and lock up behind me.”

My eyes widen a little. “Bossy much?”

A carefree smile comes over Gavin, one I haven’t seen on him before. “Babe, with you, I have a feeling that I’m about to become a whole lot bossier. Now kiss me goodbye and lock the fucking door.”

“Okay.” His eyes lock with mine seconds before he kisses me again. If sex with Gavin is even a fraction as good as kissing him is then I’m going to be a very happy lady, and I can’t wait.

Gavin pulls back. I think stopping is harder on him than it is on me.

I look down and see the evidence of his desire for me. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says. Then he’s gone, leaving me with a huge smile on my face. Gavin might be big and mean, but I also see the sweet caring guy that lingers just below his surface. I’m hoping with the right care I’ll be able bring that part of him out completely.

I called Alyssa and told her how my Friday night went. First my perfectly nice date with Devon then my afterhours visitor and my pending date tonight. Alyssa doesn’t only want to land herself a bad boy, she loves the idea that I might as well. She admits she only encouraged me to go out with Devon because she thought I was lonely and didn’t really peg me as the kind of girl that would date a man like Gavin Loman. The funny thing is, I’m not. Or at least I wasn’t until I met Gavin.

Alyssa spends hours primping everything she thought was necessary for my date. She even went as far as scheduling an appointment at the salon she regularly goes to. Everything, including areas I’ve never exposed before in a salon, has been cleaned and trimmed.

Not knowing where we’re going, I decide on a pair of skinny jeans paired with a loose, off the shoulder top, along with some cute wedges. I still haven’t figured out how to walk in high heels yet and I doubt I ever will. I left my long blonde hair down in waves around my face. Over all, my look might not be as racy as Alyssa would have picked but she still approved.

Gavin shows up just before eight. By the way his eyes drink me in, I can say he approves of my outfit, too.

We end up at a little Italian restaurant that’s not too far from The Hill. Other than coming down here to attend fights, I’ve never ventured this far from campus. “This is another favorite of mine. I know the owners. They’re good people,” he says with a half-smile.

“Well, it smells wonderful.” Our waiter comes over to take our order and once again, it seems like Gavin knows everyone. “You’re very popular.”

“Nah. But I believe in treating people with kindness and respect, at least until they give me a reason not to. In the restaurant business, owners and even workers remember the customers who treat them well.” My chest tightens a little at his comment.

Treat people how you want to be treated.
My parents told me that all the time. “I wonder what our fathers would think about us being on a date together,” I question.

Gavin’s relaxed mood disappears as his eyes narrow and his jaw tenses.

“No, father would want me to take his daughter out. I barely finished high school. I never even tried to go to college. I’ve been in more fights then I could count, and I also happen to be the spawn of Leeta Loman.” He jerks his eyes away from me while his mood continues to drop.

I hate how he views himself. Maybe everything he said is true, but none of those things define the person he is unless he allows them to.

“High school isn’t fun for most people, and not everyone goes to college. You’re also James Lomans' son, and my father told me he was the best guy he ever met. Maybe you should give yourself some credit.”

Gavin’s voice shakes. “Half of me was made by Leeta. And whether you believe me or not, she’s a heinous human being.”

With a sigh, I reply, “You’re kind and respectful. I saw that for myself tonight. Maybe that comes from the half your dad gave to you.”

I wait for him to react, to say something, but he remains silent. “I agree a lot of how we act as adults stems from how we were raised. I’m the perfect example of that. Being adopted, I have no idea how much or little my birth parents contribute to my personality, but I don’t need to know them to want to do better.”