“Gavin,” she insists. “Please.”
Her shoulders fall, her fingers convulse around her sides, clearly rattled with nerves, and her face is pale. She’s still shaken by everything that happened today. She almost lost her life, and if I thought someone was trying to kill me at every corner, I wouldn’t be able to think straight, either. I honestly wouldn’t sleep until I buried them.
Fucking fuck.
I’m not good at comforting or expressing emotions.
“I’m not taking the bed,” I say, heading for the trash can. I toss the beer inside and palm the island, leaning over it. I turn to her.
Her expression falls into disappointment. She pivots on her feet and turns, heading into my room.
“I’m taking the small couch in the corner of the room.”
She peers over her shoulder and smiles.
CHAPTER 17
CORALINE
Ican be a brat. I know I can. I can tell I get under Gavin’s skin easily. I can also confirm with myself that his cheeks flushed red when we were in the hallway.
He’s attracted to me.
And I am to him.
He’s…hot. His voice makes my heart skip a beat. Those light blue eyes bring me peace, and just the way he moves, his muscular shoulders sway, full of confidence and control. He’s a gentleman. In the beginning, he came off as a grumpy asshole, but there’s a switch, and I’m not complaining or asking why.
Everything about him attracts me like a moth to a flame, but I know if I get too close, I’ll burn.
I see how Georgia can’t take her eyes off him, how upset and hurt she was when he turned her down. There has to be history there.
I also noticed his handsome face turn stone cold when I admitted I’m married. I hated myself after I said it. I wanted to explain everything. How yes, I’m still married, but I’m also technically single.
Fuck Liam. I feel pathetic for still wearing a ring that holdsfalse promises and broken memories when I know he probably wore his ring proudly while he had sex with my best friend.
I still care about him. Regardless of how deeply he cut me. I still care, and I hate myself for it. Maybe it makes me stupid, but I think more than anything, it makes me human. I was loyal to him, and it hurts. I’ve been moving on, rightfully so, but it doesn’t mean the dream I had, to be married to someone I thought I could trust, died with him right away when his affair came to light. I wish it did. I wish the feelings and memories never existed. Liam did a number on my confidence. I don’t have any left, and I’m trying to get it back.
When Gavin asked if I was married, I couldn’t lie. So, I kept half the truth. I don’t know if I’m ready to look at another man with irrefutable lust, but I’m doing it now, and there are ounces of guilt residing in my loyal heart. Liam’s been trying to reach out to me with flowers and chocolates to ask for my forgiveness ever since we separated, but I blocked him on everything possible, so he resorts to mail. I can’t block him from using the postal service, and I don’t have enough money to move, so it all ends up in the trash.
Tossing and turning underneath the blankets, I stop when I face a sleeping Gavin. He’s on his back, his white shirt hugging his ab muscles.
Damn it, why does he look even sexier asleep?
Fuck me and my morals.
I stare at the ceiling, placing my hands on my chest, and count sheep as the sounds of the snowstorm lull my anxieties away. The high-pitched winds, the sound of ice pelting the windows, and the occasional strange creaks and thumping off the cabin. It all turns into white noise.
Maybe Gavin’s right. Perhaps the guy who was after me ran off when he saw Gavin for the second time. Either way, when the snow clears, I’m filing a police report and getting the hell away from Sleepy Coldwater.
My fear is slipping away with Gavin’s help. I haven’t seen another spirit appearing out of the walls, and I don’t feel that eerie sense of being watched. The dreary undercurrent of this place is gone, and instead, a spark that brews with the beat of my heart replaces it.
My sore body begins to melt into the mattress and soft blankets as I drift away in my head, growing sleepier by the second.
It has to be lonely up here for him.
He says everyone is scared of him, and my curiosity grows.
I mean, he can be a grumpy ass.
