“You should go home.”
Gavin looked at Aidan, who was leaning on his pool cue and scowling at him. “I’m waiting for my turn.”
“You’re not here to shoot pool. You’re looking for a fight, so that beer’s going to be your last.”
“It’s my first.” And it wasn’t even half gone, despite his urge to chug it and keep chugging another and another until he was so shit-faced he didn’t think about Cait anymore.
“And your last. Lydia’s not going to give you another one and, if you bust this place up, Tommy’s going to toss you out on your ass. Or I will.”
“So you marry the owner’s daughter and now you’re king shit around here?”
Aidan chuckled, though it wasn’t really a humorous sound. “It’s not going to be me who takes a swing at you, kid. It’s going to be those guys at table four you’ve been giving the stink eye for the last half-hour.”
“Fuck them.”
“Waking up tomorrow with a hangover, all busted up, with pissed-off friends isn’t going to make it feel any better.”
It wasn’t the words that broke through. It was the concern in Aidan’s voice, and Gavin’s awareness that he’d been there himself and he was just trying to help. The fight went out of him, and he took a sip of his beer to give himself a second or two so his voice didn’t crack.
“My apartment feels so fucking empty,” he finally said.
“I know what that feels like and it sucks.”
“Grant’s out with Wren and I didn’t want to put my shitty mood on my parents or Jill and the kids, so I thought it would be better to hang out here.” He shook his head. “But you’re right. Being an asshole won’t make me feel any better tomorrow.”
“I can go home with you, if you want. Watch a game or something.”
“Thanks, but I’m just going to go. I’ll put something boring on and hope I nod off on the couch or something.”
“Reach out if you change your mind.”
Gavin saw the concerned look Lydia gave him as he walked toward the door, so he mustered up a reassuring smile and waved goodbye.
He’d walked to Kincaid’s—not wanting the temptation of his truck if he tried to drink Cait’s memory away—and he thought about calling a cab, but maybe the fresh air would do him good.
It was a chilly night and he kept a good pace. It wasn’t as if his thoughts were good company, anyway. Just a constant loop of beating himself up for losing Cait and then trying to figure out some way to fix it. It couldn’t end this way.
Gavin refused to believe there was nothing left but awkward interactions when they crossed paths on the job. He could fix it. He just needed to figure out how.
He was jogging up the front steps, pulling his keys out of his pocket, when he realized somebody was sitting on the top step.
He stopped abruptly, wondering if he was going to have a problem, before he realized it was Cait.
“Jesus, Cait. It’s freezing. How long have you been sitting here?”
She pushed back the hood of her sweatshirt and stood up. In the light, he could see the signs she’d cried recently, and his heart twisted in his chest. “Not long. Your truck’s here, so I thought you were home but I buzzed and got no answer.”
“I was at Kincaid’s. You should have called. Or sent a text.”
Her mouth twisted in a sad smile. “I didn’t want to give you the opportunity to tell me not to come over.”
“Never.” The word popped out of his mouth without thought because it was the truest thing he’d ever said. “I’ll never not want you here with me.”
Her eyes welled up again and he jogged up the last few steps so he could pull her into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, her face pressed into his coat.
He held her close, feeling her body shake. He kissed her hair as their arms tightened around each other even more. “I’ve missed holding you.”
Cait nodded against his shoulder and it felt as if the crushing weight that had been suffocating him was lifted. This was all that mattered.
