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“Drunk? Me?” He shot me that same smile. “Just a little bit.”
“You’re falling all over yourself.”
“Yeah. True.” He lay back and stared up at the ceiling. “I blame Locke, Blake, and Mal.”
“Who?”
“Fuck. I forgot you weren’t here when they moved here. Mal is my cousin. Malcolm King. Well, he doesn’t live here. He lives in Midland, but he was here for the bachelor party.”
“Bachelor party?” I asked, my voice rising.
“Yeah. Locke—Merritt Locke—is marrying my cousin Margaret next weekend. Blake Holliday is his best friend and his best man. Mal and Blake have known each other since childhood. Mal’s a groomsman. I showed them a good time.”
“Lord, I can only imagine what that means.” I headed to the kitchen and poured him a tall glass of water. “Here. Drink this.”
He sat up and downed it in one long drag. “Crisp.”
“Okay. So, you were out for the bachelor party tonight. Why are you here exactly?”
“I need your help.”
I stared at him in confusion. My help. That … that wasn’t what I’d been expecting. I’d been—I didn’t know—expecting some kind of drunk confession. We’d been hanging out every morning. It was whatfriendsdid. That was what he’d said. Our flirting meant nothing. I needed to get over myself.
“How can I help you?” I sank into a seat across from him.
I was in nothing but a tiny tank top and shorts. Gavin’s eyes roamed my body. I could see the snide comment he’d throw out flirtatiously at the way I’d phrased that.
“Keep it together, King.”
He laughed. “Right. Okay. So, I have a dilemma.”
“What sort of dilemma?”
“I kind of told everyone that I had a girlfriend.”
“Why would you tell anyone that?” I asked with a chuckle. “You are as likely to settle down as I am. I mean, have you ever had a girlfriend?”
“I had a girlfriend,” he growled. “Once.”
I snorted. “Okay.”
“Anyway, the problem is that I said that I was bringing said girlfriend to the wedding.”
“That is a problem. Just tell them you don’t have a girlfriend.”
“No, no, no,” he said, standing and walking aimlessly around my living room. “You don’t understand my family. They’re … a lot. Likea lot, a lot.”
“I can understand that,” I said softly, thinking about how over the top my own family was.
“No way. I have a million cousins and aunts and uncles. It’s so much, and I’ve never brought a girl home to meet them all. I couldn’t even imagine doing something like that. I should have never told them I had a girlfriend, but once I did, it spread like wildfire. Everyone is so excited to meet her. Especially because I’m so secretive about her. Do you see my dilemma?”
“Your lie turned into a wildfire.”
“Yes,” he said, pointing at me as if I understood.
“Just tell them the truth.”
He laughed. “Or you could go with me.”
