I pour us each a glass of orange juice while he does that, then settle onto the stool just as he sets the plates down. We eat in silence, and while it doesn’t feel comfortable, it’s not as awkward as I would expect either, and not just because I’m half-dressed.
When we’re finished, I try to help clean up, but Gavin refuses, making me sit there and watch as he rinses off our plates and puts them in the dishwasher. I want to help so badly, but the last thing we need is another incident like the one that ended with me pressed against the counter.
So I don’t. I sit at the counter on my phone, checking the emails I disregarded earlier. I have not one, not two, butthreerejections from different properties I applied for. Two are because they have no units available, and the third is because, apparently, I applied to a 55-plus community complex.
“Everything okay?”
I look up to find Gavin staring at me with concern.
“It’s just…” I shake my head. “It’s nothing.”
“Come on. We’re friends, right? Friends talk.”
Shit. He’s got me there.
I sigh, my shoulders dropping with the weight of my issues. “I’ve been trying to find a place to rent that doesn’t completely break my budget, and I’m not having very good luck. Everywhere I’ve looked is out of my price range when I get thereal numbers from them or full for at least the next few months. I can’t wait a few more months. Reed and Audenjusthad their baby. I’m sure they don’t want to be raising their child with a freeloading, pathetic divorcee stepsister hanging around.”
He gives me a sharp look. “You’re not a freeloader, for one. And two, I think I have a solution to your problem.”
That has me perking back up. “You do?”
“Sure. You can live here.”
And right back down my shoulders go. “Ha. Very funny.”
But he doesn’t smile. He doesn’t sayJust kiddingorGotcha. No, he stares at me stoically.
Oh my god. He means it!
“Gavin, you’re… That’s…” I shake my head. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
“What.”
It’s not even a question because I can’t wrap my head around how he’d have an answer. I can’t live here. That’s just ridiculous. For obvious reasons and so many others I can’t quite name right now, but they exist.
He shrugs. “I’m not joking. Live here. I am days away from diving into a very intense 82-game schedule, and I’m going to be on the road for half of it. I’m not going to be here that often, so why not? You’d practically have the place to yourself. Besides, you’d be doing me a favor.”
“How?”
“I need someone to take care of Pearl and Rufus.”
“And Sir Fishsticks the Fourth. With parenting skills like that, I’m starting to understand how you got to a fourth.” I raise an eyebrow.
He chuckles. “And Fishsticks, too, of course. I used to have one of my neighbor’s kids feed everyone, but they left over the summer for a semester abroad.”
“What were you going to do, then?”
“Probably try to talk the security guard into doing it.”
I can’t believe his nonchalance. Not just about giving the security guard free rein to his penthouse, but about asking me to move in here.
I can’t live with Gavin. It’s just not possible. We have a history together. We already have secrets we’re keeping from Reed—what would he think about it? I can’t imagine he would approve of the idea of me living with his teammate. He doesn’t seem to want me in his life all that much, and this would really be crossing a line.
Plus, I’m still clearly attracted to Gavin, and if his hard dick brushing up against my ass earlier was telling at all, the feeling is mutual. That’s just a recipe for disaster.
“You’re thinking about it too much.” He pushes off the counter, moving closer, and I’m drowned in that scent of his I can’t quite get out of my system. “It’s completely innocent. Just two people helping each other out. And besides, it’s not permanent. You can leave as soon as you find a place to rent, and I won’t even be mad that I’m losing my pet sitter. It would just mean a good night’s sleep in the meantime.”
