Veer (Clayton Falls) (23 page)

“He just packed up and left?”

“No packing. He left for work. He was supposed to be home early to take me to a game. We were playing the Orioles. But he never came back. My babysitter had to call my mom who was
in
Paris
for work
.
”

“Did you ever look for him?”

“Mom said there was no point. Why look for someone who didn’t want us?”

“
You never got curious?” Gavin moved closer, letting me lay my head in his lap.

“My mom didn’t want me to, and I felt like she
’d
sacrificed enough for me that I could do that for her. He contacted me after she died though.”

“How was that
?”
Gavin
played with my hair. I loved how he just asked questions.
He didn’t go on
about how bad he felt or anything.

“Awkward. He showed up at the funeral. I think he still expected to find a little girl. He wanted to reconnect, and
he
offered me some money. I told him no thanks, I was doing just fine. It just felt wrong, you know?”

“Yeah, I
get
that.”

“Your turn.
”

“Hmm?” He ran his hand down my arm. I closed my eyes, enjoying the touch.

“Your turn to tell me a secret no one knows.”

“I want
to coach
.”

“That’s your secret?”

“Yeah. I’ve never told anyone.” He looked down at me.

“
Then why don’t you
?
Couldn’t you get a job doing it?
”

“
I could
… but I don’t think I’m ready to face the game again
.”

“
Oh
. M
aybe it’s worth trying
?”

“
Maybe one day…”
He looked out at the water.
“Are you ready to
h
ead back?”

“Sure. I think I’ve had enough sun.”
I wanted to press him. I wanted to know what held him back, but I was pretty sure I knew the answer, and I wasn’t the one to give someone a hard time about confronting fears.

“Same
here
.”

Gavin brought the boat back in, and I realized I hadn’t even worried about being out o
n
the water in hours.

Chapter Twenty
-
Two

Becca

Gavin
had an arm around my waist when we walked into Molly and Ben’s backyard. We were the last to arrive, which wasn’t hard since it was just the usual crowd. Even I was getting used to seeing it that way.

Molly and Kelly’s eyes lit up when they saw us walk in, but I had other business to deal with first—Jake.

I nodded toward Jake
,
letting Gavin know what I was doing.

“Can I come?”
Gavin grabb
ed
two beers
and opened
one before handing it to me.

“Nope.”

“But I think it might be entertaining.”

“Too bad.”

“Fine.” He removed his arm. “Do what you have to.”

Jake’s back was to me
,
so I tapped him on the shoulder.

He spun around. “Becca—
hey.”

“Don’t hey me. We need to talk.”

“Okay…”

I
walked
toward
the
dock. Molly seriously had the coolest backyard.
Between a large deck, a dock
,
and a gorgeous view of the water, I could understand why she loved the place so much.

“Listen—I don’t remember exactly what I said last night
,
but I do remember you and Gavin taking me home
,
so I’m guessing it was bad.”
He fidgeted.

“Oh
,
it was bad.”

“How bad?”

“You asked me to sleep with you.”

“Oh.” A slow grin spread across his face. “Is that really so bad?”

“Do you want me to slap you?”

“No. Just kidding. Listen
,
I’m sorry.”

“
I can forgive you this once, but just know if it happens again
,
you’ll
be in a mess of trouble.”

“It won’t happen again
.
I promise.”
He shoved his hands into his back pockets.

“Good.”
I hoped he meant it. I liked Jake and valued his friendship
.
I
didn’t want
him to ruin it.
“I will also need your key.”

He pulled out his keychain, placing the key to the pool house in my hand before pocketing the rest.
“
I know you
’
r
e
mad
,
but care to tell me what’s going on with you and Gavin
?
I thought you guys weren’t speaking, but you definitely were both t
here
last night.”

“We’re seeing each other.”

“Seeing each other?”

“Yes.” I tried to hold back a smile.

“So it happened again?”

“None of your business.”

“What? I get drunk and try to seduce you
,
and now you won’t tell me anything?”

I laughed. Only Jake would say something like that.
“You’re lucky I’m talking to you.”

“You forgave Gavin…”

“Jake…” I grumbled.

“Sorry, sorry. Okay, but I assume that it did happen. Is that a good thing?”

“I think so.”

“
T
here is no way you’re telling Jake anything before
you tell
me
ever
again,” Molly arrived
with Kelly right behind
. “Beat it
,
Jake.”

Jake shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Okay, okay. Seriously, you girls are all crazy.”

“Crazy
,
but loveable,” Kelly replied.

“I don’t know about that
,” h
e mumbled before
stalking
away.

Molly didn’t wait long.
“
S
o spill, what happened?”

I took a seat, letting my legs dangle over the edge
of the dock
. Molly and Kelly took seat
s
next to me. “I deci
ded to give him a second chance.
”

“Obviously…but what changed your mind
? What’s
been going on?”
Molly threw a rock in the water. I noticed a whole pile of them next to her. I wondered if
she
or Ben
had
collected them.

I reached over
Molly
and picked up a rock from the pile.
“You act like it’s been
months
.
Everything
happened in the last two days.”

“We’re waiting.” Molly leaned into me.

“I don’t really know what changed my mind
.
I wanted to see if I was just imagining things or if
maybe
he felt something too.
And he was so sweet this week, leaving me gifts and everything.
I knew I’d never be satisfied without closure—but now it’s definitely not closed.”

Kelly grinned. “I take it you had a
good time
last night?”

“Yes, it was a good night.” I was definitely not used to talking about this kind of thing.
I tossed
the
rock out into the water.

“I think it’s awesome. You guys look so good together.” Kelly was so bubbly it was contagious. I felt myself getting giddy too.

“I think this could be good
. Y
ou haven’t dated anyone in ages.” Molly smiled.

“Yeah, who knows
?
We’ll see what happens.” I tried to play it off
as if
I wasn’t too concerned, but inside I
was a mess of nerves
. I
t was all so new
.

Molly
peered
over her shoulder. “Speaking of Gavin, his
eyes are
burning a hole in your back right now.”

I turned and caught his eye. H
e broke into a huge smile and gestured for me to come join him.

Molly saw the look of indecision on my face. “Go ahead. Have fun.”

I hesitated,
wanting to check in with Molly about her own excitement first,
but I wasn’t sure if Kelly knew.

“Are you doing okay?” I hop
ed
she knew what I was asking.

“Yes, and Kelly knows.”

“Oh okay. Good. So
how did
it go
?
”

“Great. Ben was ecstatic. He’s already going back and forth over whether he wants a boy or girl.”
She glowed.

“Don’t hold out on her. He proceeded to tell her that
the gender
doesn’t actually matter because
the baby will be
just the first of many
,
”
Kelly supplied.

I laughed. “
See, I told you he’d react well
.”

Kelly leaned back on her hands.
“I still can’t believe she’s going to have a baby… so crazy
.
”

“Crazy
,
but amazing.”

I turned
.
Gavin talk
ed
to Tom but still
watched
me.

“Go.” Molly shoved my arm.

“Okay, okay.” I got up and walked over to
Gavin
.

“I’ve missed you.” He pulled me to his side. Tom walked off with a smile.

“Missed me after twenty minutes?”

“I missed you after one.”

“What are you going to do when we go back to work
on Monday
?”

“Go into withdrawal. And in case you weren’t aware, we’re doing something
Monday
night.”

“Don’t I get a say in it?”

“Only if it’s the right one.” He laughed. “But really, you want to, right?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Good.”

After eating some amazing barbeque
,
we called it a night. I had a new appreciation for what barbeque really meant.
Where I was from
,
it just meant
grill
ing
.
I had no idea
barbeque
could mean using a smoker and
creating some seriously
juicy and delicious
meat.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay at my place?” Gavin took my hand as he pulled
up
in front of the
Mathews’s
house.

“As nice as that sounds, I think I should go home tonight.” I wasn’t about to push things too much
. T
hey were finally going well.

“If you’re sure…”

I kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“No, you’ll see me tomorrow.” He kissed me on the lips.

I smiled. “All right
.
I’ll see you tomorrow.”

***

When I arrived at work
on Monday
, I got an awesome surprise.
I heard two voices
drifting
through the front door of the office.

“Hi, you must be Becca.” A man
with thinning black hair
walked out of Matt’s office and held out his hand.
He was wearing a suit, something I hadn’t seen
on
anyone else since
arriving in
town. I hadn’t even taken mine out of the garment bag.

I accepted his handshake. “Mr. Morgan?”

“Yes, but please call me Jim. It’s nice to finally meet you. Matt’s been telling me about your work
. I
t sounds like you’ve been a big help.”
He glanced down at the file in his hand like he
had
just remembered he was holding it.