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He tugs on my hand, leading me into the house. “C’mon, it’s freezing out here
.”
I dig my heels in. “No, I should go. I didn’t realize how late it was.”
“Kat, don’t make me haul your ass inside. You’re obviously upset. Now get in the house and talk to me about it. Coat?” He holds his hand out expectantly as I walk into the foyer.
Fuck, I’m still wearing my clothes from the club. I clutch the coat tighter around my body.
“No, that’s okay; I’ll keep it on.”
He notices my bare legs. “Are you wearing anything underneath?”
Geez, did he think I came here to seduce him? I know, I know; my past behavior says that wouldn’t be too far-fetched.
“Of course I am! I’m wearing my…workout clothes.”
He extends his arm further, challenging me to hand over my coat. “Prove it.”
“Fine,” I agree as I shrug my coat off and throw it to him. “But I expect you to apologize for being a jackass.”
He catches my jacket and stands immobile, staring at me with wide eyes. I’m wearing a white spaghetti strap tank top from the club with the word Princess stamped across my breasts and a pair of black booty shorts. Okay, so it may not be much, but everything is covered at least. I follow his gaze to see what the big deal is. Oh. Okay, so I’m not wearing a bra (why bother when you have to take it off anyway?) and apparently, I’m still cold from being outside. My nipples are sticking out like giant beacons in the night.
“You went to the gym dressed in that?!”
“I didn’t say I was at the gym.”
“Well then where were y—” His eyes open further and he advances upon me. Gently touching the side of my face he says, “Kat, why the fuck is your cheek red and puffy?”
What? My face still stings but I never thought to check for marks. Great, how do I explain this?
I cover his hand with my own. “Um…” I’m so embarrassed that he’s seeing me like this I’m speechless. I’m never speechless.
His expression softens as he cradles my face. “Please talk to me.”
“I can’t.”
He crouches down to look me in the eyes. “Kat, you’re going to need to find the words. Because right now, I’m imagining all sorts of possibilities and making a list of people that I need to hurt.”
I smile. I know it’s wrong, and I know we can’t explore anything, but the fact that he seems so invested tells me that I’m not the only one feeling this way. God, why does the one person I’d actually want to be with be the one person I can’t be with?
“It was my mom,” I admit. “I said something that I probably shouldn’t have, and she slapped me across the face. Really hard.”
Gavin clenches his jaw. “Has she hit you before?”
“No. Never.”
He straightens and grabs my hand, leading me down the hall. I remain silent as we cross into his bedroom and he closes the door. He shuffles through a dresser drawer and pulls out a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m getting some clothes for you.”
“Why?”
He waves his hand up and down. “Because I can’t stand here another minute with you dressed like that and not act on it. But I’m not letting you leave either. I don’t want you to be alone tonight. I thought you might want to take a hot shower before coming to bed.”
My heart rate picks up. “Are you crazy? I can’t stay here. The fact that I came here in the first place has to be against some rule.”
