Gavin (A Redemption Romance #3) (17 page)

When I found out about Chelsea, I told Dawn, and amazingly, she seemed happy to spend time with her, but I watched her eyes cloud, as if she were about to cry.

“We won’t go, honey, don’t worry, okay, don’t cry. It’s too soon, it’s fine. Mom will understand.”

Shaking her head violently, a single tear fell before she was able to speak. “No, that’s not it. I just feel so bad about everything. If I’d been honest, if I’d told you, instead of hiding from you, it would have saved us both so much hurt.”

Her sweetness baffled me, I wrapped her in my arms and did my level best to comfort and reassure her. She was right, I wish she had told me, hell, I wished she’d have called out a ‘hello’ any of the times she’d seen us. I would have loved to introduce my cousin to my girl. Ultimately, I understood it though, it hurt her to think of me with other women, that was immensely flattering. When I’d heard from my brother about her seeing another man, I’d almost lost it and I hadn’t fessed up to it right away either. I couldn’t expect her to do things I hadn’t been able to.

Our week went by quickly, and seemingly a little too smoothly, so it was no surprise, when we were driving to a local restaurant Saturday night, that my work phone went off - SWAT call-out.

“Fucking shit,” I muttered, irritated as I listened to the computerized voice on the other end of the line.

Dawn looked at me with concern from the passenger side of my truck, but didn’t speak.

“Baby, I’m so sorry, I’ve got a call-out.” I explained, feeling like shit. She’d changed her clothes and gotten all dolled up for me, we weren’t going anywhere fancy, but still, it was our first actual date since we’d become official. It should have been special, instead, it was being postponed.

Reaching over, she placed her hand on my forearm and assured me; “Gavin, it’s fine. I know what you do for a living, I may not have lived it, but I know enough from Aurora what that life looks like. You can’t beat yourself up every time something pops up, okay?” I smiled over at her as I made the U-turn and headed back toward her house.

Jesus, this girl was perfect. We had tons of badge bunnies hanging around local law enforcement watering holes, but I’d never understood why they’d sign on for this life on purpose. It’s one thing if you fall in love with the person, but if you purposely look for the job, a job that is difficult and cuts into date nights, family time and holidays, I had no clue.

By the time we’d wrapped it all up, it was three in the morning. I hesitated as I started to drive to Dawn’s. I’d stayed with her the past three nights, but now it was almost morning, and she’d have to get up for work.

The thing was, I didn’t want to sleep apart from her, so I continued on to her house. It was way too soon, but before too long, we’d have to make some serious co-habitation decisions. As I drove, I thought about that. My place wasn’t much bigger than hers. Neither of us had good closets or bathrooms, and both our kitchens were too small to work in together.

Thoughts began to run through my mind, was I ready to buy a bigger house? Could I sell mine, and us buy a new one together? I had no idea how to broach that subject, but I’d figure it out in the next few months. I wondered just how long it would take me to convince her that moving in together, buying a house together was a good idea.

I knew I was exhausted, after a fruitless stake out, but I started to think about proposing. I wanted to do something that she’d remember, something she could tell her friends and our moms about, she could tell our kids too. Kids – she could tell our kids. Holy shit, kids; I could just imagine her swelling belly. Fuck, I was getting way ahead of myself. We’d been officially together for like three days.

I didn’t want to examine it, but the thought of her carrying my babies, made me hard as a rock. Apparently, I had some seriously primitive male running through my veins. I’d better watch myself, if she caught wind of my wayward thoughts, she’d bolt for sure, not that I wouldn’t real her right back in.

Sneaking into Dawn’s house, I locked it back up, undressed and slid into bed. She liked to sleep in the middle of the bed, which was just fine with me, because I pulled her right into me. She made sleepy noises, woke just enough to peck my lips and snuggle into me. Sleeping with Dawn in my arms was my dream come true.

I was so tired; I didn’t have to fight my dick – too much – I was asleep before it could convince me to wake her up. I did however, dream of her rounded belly, standing on a deck and watching over me chasing a little boy in a large back yard. The images weren’t clear, but they were perfect. I’d fight anyone or anything I had to, in order to make them a reality for both of us, the life we didn’t have as kids, but our kids sure as hell would.

Waking the next morning, alone in bed sucked, but looking at the clock, I could see it was after eleven. She’d been at work about two hours by that point. Deciding to be the super sweet guy I’d never been before, I got up and showered, then went to see her at work. The store was insanely busy.

There were so many women in there, I felt uncomfortable, she’d barely given me a wave when I walked to her and kissed her on the forehead. She was dragging a huge armful of dresses over to the changing room, so I took her burdens from her and followed her lead. She told me what to do and I did it. Her smile was all I needed in my day.

Since they were slammed, I offered to grab takeout for everyone, and bring it back. It was a good thing I did, she didn’t even have time to eat the sandwich I brought her for an hour after I got back. When I left around two, they were still jammed packed, and my hope for her getting out of there on time diminished.

Calling my brother again, I got his voicemail so I sent him a text. I asked if he’d be at Mom’s for dinner, and told him we needed to talk. No answer, no response, no fucking surprise. The jack-hole had been evading me all week.

Dawn texted at five-thirty, saying she was on her way home. Telling her I’d pick her up at six-thirty, I finished the chores I was doing at my house and went inside to get ready. Calling my mom again, she told me that she still didn’t know about Zach and whether or not he’d be in attendance later.

My nerves ratcheted up, knowing my brother as I did, I figured he was hiding out until the last minute when he could swoop in like the asshole he was, it was his super power, uber douchness. He could have been Major Asshole, I chuckled to myself as I showered off and thought of the super-hero type uniform he could wear for that.

Sometimes, my mind went to crazy weird shit, and usually it made me laugh. I could laugh at the most random shit, even by myself. I could think of something, let my mind wander and laugh my ass off. Most people thought I was nuts.

Pulling up in front of Dawn’s, I noticed a large box near her side gate. Knocking, since I was trying to make this seem more date-like, instead of using my key, I studied the box, wondering what the hell it was. Losing patience waiting for Dawn to answer the door, I walked over and looked.

On the top of the box was a bright pink Post-it.
This was delivered to us by mistake. Jazz
Looking around, I wondered who Jazz was, but assumed it was the neighbor right next door on that side.

Bracing myself for the heavy box, I bent and started to pick it up, when I realized, it was deceptively light.
What the fuck could be in here?
I thought, curious by nature, I tried to peek through the tape, with no luck.

Getting tired of waiting and assuming that Dawn was somewhere in the house getting ready, I opened the door with my key and walked inside with the box. As I set it down, she came around the corner and as I took in the sumptuous woman walking toward me, she let out a shriek of excitement and ran to the box.

“Where was this?” She asked, picking up the note on top and reading it.

Pointing in the right direction, I took in the long sexy legs on ample display. She was wearing a pair of form fitting navy trousers, a dark red sweater thing and dark gray boots. She was pretty casual, as I was, but hot as hell.

Her style had always been impeccable. I knew that when she was young, money had been tight, so her mom taught her to sew. Dawn had gone to all the local second hand places and bought pieces to modify to meet her needs. She’d found her own unique style early and it looked amazing on her.

“What is it?” I asked, as she found a knife and cut into the top of the box.

Opening it up, she pulled out a roll of paper towels. Paper towels, she’s excited over a case of paper towels?

“Um, Dawn?” I asked, not really sure what to say. “Sweetheart, is that a case of paper towels?”

“Yeah, it was supposed to be here Thursday, I couldn’t figure out what happened. I was going to email Amazon tomorrow if they hadn’t shown up.”

“Okay, but, you’re excited about paper towels?” My question was said hesitantly, I didn’t want her pissed, but was I missing something? These were regular paper towels, right?

“Yes, definitely I was running low, I hate getting that low, it freaks me out.”

“I saw like three rolls under the kitchen sink this morning.”

“I know; I only have like a dozen left. I don’t think I’ve been that low in ages.”

Staring at her, I watched her in fascination as she grabbed her things and readied herself to walk out the front door.

“Wait, you have twelve rolls of paper towels and that is running low?” I didn’t get it, was she crazy?

“Yes, I use them all the time, I buy them by the case, I have that subscription thing so they just send them ever few months. It’s great. But I hate running low, because I hate to buy them at the store, they’re expensive and bulky.”

Was she seriously this pumped about bulk paper products? I didn’t even buy house stuff at Costco, I only went there for tools and shit. Shaking my head, trying to dislodge the crazy thoughts running through my head, I asked where she wanted the box.

“That closet in the laundry room.”

A look of concern crossed her face, though it was fleeting, I wondered about it for a minute, but walked to the back of the house. It looked like she was going to stop me; was there something she didn’t want me to find in her utility closet?

Opening the door, I pulled the chain to turn on the overhead light and looked around in horror. For a thirty-year-old bachelor, the sight of perfectly organized cleaning products, toilet paper, napkins, and those paper towels; a large backpack and first aid kit and was that, yes, fifteen gallons of water.

She was prepared for any situation. I even saw packaged food, neatly packed in a clear bin. Dawn could have her own reality show in here, it looked like she was one of those preppers. At least she wasn’t a hoarder, or a secret serial killer, that would have been a lot worse. As I surveyed the small room, I noticed that the space was meticulously clean, just like the rest of her house.

A voice cleared from behind me, I whirled around to look at her and saw her standing there, hands on hips, seemingly waiting for my comment.

“This is a good sized closet.” I said, having no idea what else to say.

Her eyebrow lifted, and I wondered if someone else had seen this place and given her shit about it. I wasn’t saying a damned thing. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad quality in a woman, though I had a sneaking suspicion that there was a deeper, underlying reason for it all. It was like she had some deep-seeded need to have everything she would need in just about any situation.

I gave her my most charming smile, but as she opened the box, and began to rotate them to the back of the shelf, I couldn’t hold back anymore. I doubled over with laughter, until I felt something hitting me on the head. Looking up, I saw Dawn’s laughing face, throwing her precious towels at me.

“You’re an ass!” She shouted, obviously, trying to keep her own laughter under control.

“I may be, but I’m your ass.” I told her, as I stalked toward her and backed her into the corner. Grabbing her around the waist, I lifted her and kissed her like the zombie apocalypse was upon us.

We were late for dinner at my mom’s house, but I found out that her shelves were very sturdy.

Dawn

Walking into Nicole and Peter’s house twenty minutes late, was a bit nerve wracking, but I couldn’t regret the amazing bout of laundry room sex we’d had. Since we started to date officially, we’d had sex every day, multiple times every day. For a girl who’d gone without for a couple of years, I was sure I was in heaven.

After welcoming hugs from Gavin’s mom and his step-dad, they showed us into the sitting room, where the beautiful woman waited, Chelsea. My body tensed for a brief moment, remembering the pain of seeing her with Gavin. The pain I could have prevented if only I’d talked to him.

I wasn’t good at communicating and I knew it. I’d have to work on that, Gavin seemed sure he wanted me around for the long haul, if that was true, I had to find a way to confide in him.

Chelsea’s greeting was warm and open. Now, seeing them in this light, I could see familial similarities, and their demeanor with each other was definitely jovial and not intimate; but sadly, those weren’t things I’d allowed myself to notice before. I’d been so sure he was someone else, that he wasn’t the guy I knew he was. It had been another attempt to keep him away from my heart, but I’d failed – thank god.

Nicole brought us drinks, and we made our way into the dining room. Zach’s absence was the elephant in the room, though no one mentioned it. Regardless of what he’d tried to do, he’d failed. Gavin and I were stronger than ever, maybe even thanks to his meddling. It forced us to face our fears, me especially and lay it all out there. Without that, I had no idea if we’d still be tiptoeing around each other.

Chelsea was funny, open and kind. I could see that she would be a great fit into our group of friends, once she was settled into the area. Gavin told me that she was recently divorced, so upon moving here, she’d need a whole new group. After laughing and talking together, all the tension I’d felt was gone, and it seemed that everyone else was enjoying their night as well.

“So, are there any hot single guys around?” Chelsea asked me, after she’d finished her second glass of wine. Her voice had remained quiet, but Gavin heard her anyway.

“Jesus, Chels, seriously?” He protested.

“Hey, just asking, I’m going to have to get back on the horse sometime,” she told him, a wicked grin on her face.

“That’s right, you’ve been single long enough,” Nicole insisted, pointedly looking at her son with a raised eyebrow. It took everything I had in me to keep from laughing audibly at the sheepish look he wore.

Leaning in toward Chelsea, I whispered low enough that no one else would hear me. “Well, you know Trent, what about Reed?”

Shaking her head, she explained, “Trent is too much like a brother, I’ve known him for a long time now and there isn’t any chemistry with Reed, I think he’s got a thing for the coffee girl.”

Nodding in understanding, I raised a brow and asked, “the coffee girl, you mean Gillian?”

Shrugging her shoulders, she confessed, “no idea, the guys call her
the hot coffee girl
so I don’t know her name.”

Smiling, I sat back in my chair, and ignored Gavin’s suspicious look. Pinching my chin with a finger and my thumb, I thought about the men I knew, the single ones, of course, who would be good for Chelsea. A smile crossed my face as I leaned in once again, “Hey, have you met Dan?”

She thought for a minute, then recognition hit, “the McKinney guy?”

As I nodded, she shook her head, and pressed her lips together. “No more cops, it’s too hard and I don’t want to have to move again or have an uncomfortable situation at work.”

“Yeah, makes sense. I don’t know too many people who aren’t in law enforcement. My best friend is a sports writer, he knows a lot of people, let me think about it, okay?”

She raised an eyebrow and got an excited look on her face, but I shook my head at her notion that Tyler would be a good catch. “He’s taken, but he knows a lot of people, maybe we can find someone to introduce you to.”

We exchanged mischievous smiles and sat back in our chairs.

Gavin leaned in and whispered in my ear, “you’d better not know any hot single guys.” He looked pointedly at me, the whole stink eye and everything, I laughed so hard at his look, everyone stopped to look at me, amused looks on their faces, everyone but Gavin, who didn’t think I was funny in the slightest.

His pout was so damn cute, I could barely stand it, so I leaned over, cupped his jaw and kissed the opposite cheek. He gave it up and leaned over to kiss me right on the mouth. His grin was so wide, it made me grin too. Seeing the easy joy in his eyes lightened my heart every time.

Nicole made a beautiful dinner, which was no surprise, she’d always been a good cook. Chelsea and I had become fast friends, and were leaned in, talking and planning lunch for later in the week when Gavin threw a piece of bread at her, irritated that I was giving her all of my attention. We had all finished our main course of herb crusted roasted salmon with broccoli Rabe and pasta with a light creamy lemon sauce, and were having a nice time visiting and laughing with each other. Chelsea started to laugh at Gavin, when Nicole scolded him for throwing food. A loud snort came from Chelsea, making me start to crack up too. With three women laughing uproariously and two men chuckling, and looking amused, we must have been quite a sight, when the door to the dining room slammed open, bouncing against the wall and Zach stood there, with a menacing scowl on his face.

His dark gaze was ominous as he took in the scene before him. Our laughter stopped immediately and the jovial mood that had settled in the room was gone. Zach seemed to suck all the fun and life right out of the room. Nicole squirmed in her chair, while both Peter and Gavin squared their shoulders and seemed to grow larger in their seats, Chelsea’s posture somehow became serious and formidable, as I felt like I could slide right under the table.

The empty place that had been set along with the others, now seemed to stick out, it was as if Nicole had hoped he’d show, which I’m sure she had. Instead of sitting down to join in his mother’s beautiful dinner, he loomed, with his back to the wall, and a sinister look on his face.

He stayed quiet for a time, taking us all in, but as he moved, I wondered if he was drunk. There wasn’t any obvious sign, but the way his body awkwardly shuffled, it seemed that there was something off in his motion.

“Zach, sweetheart, come sit down. I’ll get you something to eat.” Nicole said, obviously trying to dissuade him from causing trouble. There was no doubt in my mind, that seeing Gavin and me there together, happy, had set him off and he was going to get his drama one way or the other. Probably the fact that Chelsea and I had been laughing uncontrollably when he walked in, obviously beginning a great new friendship, regardless of his Machiavellian attempts, annoyed him, his plans at ruining everyone else’s good time had been foiled.

“Well, isn’t this sweet. Playing happy fucking family.” Zach slurred, glaring around the table.

“Zachary, that’s enough.” Nicole snapped, staring at him as if she’d never seen him before, or maybe as if she had, but he had been someone else. I knew enough about Gavin and Zach’s father to know, that his behavior had probably resembled this.

Zach’s angry glare zeroed in on me, and didn’t waver when he answered his mother. “Oh, Mom, what’s wrong? Am I upsetting your perfect son over there, and his little whore? He’s always been your favorite, hasn’t he? At least I had Dad.” Zach motioned toward Gavin with a limp finger, but stayed drunkenly focused on me.

I heard Gavin growl, low and furious as Peter stood, moving to the other side of Nicole’s chair. My respect for the older man grew even more in that moment, as I realized that he was blocking Zach’s path if he were to try to go for her. I’d never seen Peter like that, but it warmed my heart to see his obvious love for his wife. The fact that he’d protect her, even if it was from her own son, showed me all I needed to see.

“Really, Pete,” Zach said chidingly, “You’re coming between mommy dearest and me, what do you think is going to happen?”

Peter’s face hardened and his tone was different than anything I’d ever heard come from the normally passive man. “Nothing is going to happen, Zach. You’ve just walked into my house and you’re speaking aggressively toward
my
wife. No one speaks to
my
wife that way.” The way he stressed the word my, the way he looked at Zach with compassion, but absolute determination, I was absolutely amazed and thrilled for Nicole. I could see that Gavin was so much more like Peter, than he’d probably been like his own father.

Gavin’s hand squeezed my knee under the table, his body so rigid, I know he’s ready for whatever Zach has planned. Nodding toward the open archway that lead into the kitchen, away from Zach, Gavin whispered, “go, baby.”

Not wanting to leave him, or to abandon Nicole, I stayed put, until I noticed Peter, take Nicole’s hand, and motion for her to go that way as well. She stood up, on unsteady legs and began to move. She reached for my hand, to bring me along, when Zach’s words stopped us in our tracks.

“Don’t take her away mom, I want to get my chance at her too. That bitch has shot me down too many times. I was nice and asked her out when we lived across the street, but she was all moony eyed over perfect Gavin there.” As he growled and spit out his venomous words, I tried to remember back, to figure out how old I’d been that time.

“Then, I tried again right here on your deck, that bitch is so stuck up, she acted like I was the asshole. Fucking frigid bitch, I should have done it anyway, would have, if fucking Gavin, fucking perfect son, Gavin hadn’t interrupted.”

Only half of his drunken rant made any sense, until I remembered the time he’d asked me to go to the drive-in movies with him. Fury boiled when I realized, and I let it fly. “I was sixteen, you moron! What the hell were you thinking? I couldn’t go out with you.” I glared at him, meeting his stare head on, I didn’t flinch, didn’t back down, I found every ounce of bravado I’d ever had and held my ground.

Zach flinched first, and looked away, as he spit out; “shut up, bitch, you would have gone if it was Gavin, right?”

“He was deployed, he was on his first tour then; besides, he wouldn’t have said anything like that to me, not like you did, I was a minor and you were way too old for me. You cornered me in the kitchen, remember? You said some nasty stuff to me, things I was way too young to hear, and certainly way too young for you to want to do to me.” Gavin’s entire body was rock solid; I could feel the vibrating rage rolling off him from hearing what his brother had done.

“You what?” Nicole’s shriek of outrage rang around the otherwise silent room. It seemed like everyone else was trying to absorb what I’d just said, but she looked shocked and horrified. I knew that she hadn’t known what her son had done back then, I’d stupidly never told anyone. We were so close to their family; I guess I hadn’t wanted to disrupt the peace. Besides, Zach had been gone a lot, just like Gavin, he wasn’t home much. Thinking back on it though, I’d been lucky he hadn’t made another approach and really pushed things. He could have hurt me, or done any number of things I wouldn’t have easily forgotten.

“Oh come on, mom, if Gavin had fucked her when she was a minor you would have been just fine with that. I wanted her, but oh no, she couldn’t be bothered with me. All these fucking bitches in my life, I’m sick of this shit.” He shouted the last, throwing his hand into the air, flailing it about and catching the crystal water pitcher Nicole had placed on the sideboard. The beautiful piece of Waterford teetered and crashed to the marble tile below. Glass, water and ice sprayed, hitting the wall and covering the floor.

Zach jumped back, swearing with irritation and he looked down at the broken mess angrily, like the vase had been at fault. Of course, he didn’t rush to grab a towel or even try to clean it all up. Nicole tried to move toward it, but Peter grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into him.

“Shhh, baby, no. Water won’t hurt the floor, we can get it in a few minutes, okay?” He soothed, speaking gently into her hair. My heart melted and I fell in love with Peter Davies for the millionth time that day.

Gavin was standing now, stalking toward his brother. The murderous look on Gavin’s face would have me, or about any sane person, turning tail and running, but Zach apparently wasn’t sane. He snarled and adopted a belligerent look, preparing for his brother’s confrontation.

“What is your problem?” Gavin roared, fury barely contained, his muscles seemed to swell as he stood there,

“You, you’re my fucking problem. Everything you ever wanted, you got everything. You got mom, I got dad, he fucking left us. I wanted Dawn, you got her, the only thing you didn’t get was the military career, I thought at least I’d get that, but nope, I can’t have anything. Fucking female enlisted, they flounce around base, swinging their asses, then you tap that shit and they fucking report you. I can’t fucking win.” He took a few deep breaths, he’d worked himself up, moving jerkily with each absurd utterance.

“Fucking disciplinary leave, fucking court marshals, fucking bitches. It’s the fucking bitch's fault, not mine. It’s your fault, not fucking mine, if you hadn’t been so fucking perfect, Jesus, I just wanted this one thing for myself.” Zach began to scream, making no sense at all, but if I were to piece half that together, it sounded like he was in a world of shit, but he was wrong about one thing; it was all his own doing.