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“Now,” Sasha announces, unruffled as she looks pointedly at each person in the room. “We need a plan.”
Mitch
“Do they hurt?” Gavin asks, gently stroking my bruised knuckles.
I shrug. “It was totally worth it to knock that bastard to the ground.” Gavin grins and I laugh.
“Defending my honor?” I snicker.
I turn and capture his chin with my free hand, brushing a quick kiss across his lips. “Something like that.” Gavin’s blue eyes sparkle with emotions, all swirling around in the flecks of light and dark.
“We should go away,” Gavin announces, changing the subject.
“What?”
“With the tour done, I don’t have many commitments for a while. We’re not recording for another month. C’mon, Utah. Let’s go somewhere relaxing, you and me.” Gavin comes in for another kiss, deeper this time, opening his mouth as our lips meet.
As I sink into his warmth, the thought of going away with Gavin, leaving behind the stress and the media and Grant Halifax, sounds like heaven.
I pull back before I let him distract me with his talented mouth. “Sure. Whatever you want, Gavin. Let’s just catch this guy first.”
As I’m contemplating pressing Gavin down on the couch and ripping off his clothes, my phone rings.
I flip it open, my heart racing when I see the I.D. “Hale.”
“He’s on the move. We’ve been following and have a possible location,” Van Zandt informs me. “I’ll call you when we know more, but we’re in a not so nice area of Anaheim.”
The call ends without pleasantries.
“What?” Gavin is staring at me, his handsome face filled with concern.
“You dad left the house. Van Zandt and Halifax are following him. Looks like we were right about him knowing the stalker or at least being involved. He’s headed for a seedy neighborhood in Anaheim.”
Gavin looks distraught. “He really did it. I can’t believe it. He actually hired someone to threaten me.”
I pull him in close, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. It might be something else.”
Gavin jerks free, his face and neck turning red. “Don’t placate me, Mitch. You said it yourself. We’re right. My own father hates me so much that he would rather see me dead than admit that his son is a faggot!”
I hold my hands up in defeat. “Hey, I’m on your side, Gav. I agree with you. You’re dad is a bastard and I’m so sorry he’s done this to you. If they confirm his involvement, we better pray I never see him again. I’ll probably go to jail for beating the shit out of that pathetic, homophobic asshole.”
Gavin slumps back on the couch, the fight drained out of him already. “I’m sorry for lashing out, Mitch. I just don’t get it, why he hates me so much.”
Pulling him closer, I brush a kiss across his tempting mouth. “Sometimes there is no reason, love. People just hate for no reason.”
He huddles against me, putting his head on my chest. Sadness grabs my heart as Gavin comes to terms with such loathing from someone who is supposed to love you unconditionally. It’s a tough pill to swallow and the pain that he’s feeling brings out my primal need to protect and defend.
But there’s nothing I can do to make this better. No words, no actions, no platitudes. Gavin will suffer until he can accept that there doesn’t have to be a reason for his father’s hatred. It just is what it is.
“It took me almost dying for my father to be okay with me,” I murmur into his hair, inhaling his scent and letting it calm down my inner beast.
“I did almost die, Mitch. When I was seventeen and I…” he chokes up. “You saw the report, I’m sure.”
/> My soul cracks for him, for his suffering. “I’d rather hear it from you.”
Gavin shifts in my arms, producing something from his pocket. He holds it out for me to take. “What is this?” I palm the small, heart-shaped rock, turning it over.
“Hawke gave it to me when I was institutionalized,” he admits.
