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Sohappy? It wasn’t a strong enough emotion to cover everything that he felt.
Completely unaware of his thought process, Ginny gave him instructions to their next destination. She fiddled with the radio and kept up a steady stream of dialogue, talking about how he cheated during their second round ofMortal Kombatand just how much she loved her new stuffed animal. Gavin could listen to Ginny talk for hours and it didn’t even have to be anything of import, but he’d let the lilt of her accent and the cadence of her voice wrap around him every single time.
“Pull up here,” Ginny said, snapping him into focus and Gavin followed her pointed finger and parked the truck. “Are you ready for the final, and totally unplanned, portion of our date?”
“I want to believe that you’re not going to get me into any kind of trouble.”
“Just say yes, Gavin.”
He chuckled at the dramatic eye roll, nodding as he hopped out of the truck. “Yes, I’m ready for the final portion of our date.”
“But you have to close your eyes.”
“Babe,” Gavin huffed and watched as Ginny scooted over and slid out of the driver’s side. “Why?”
“Well, this has to be a surprise too. Please.”
She pouted and batted those gorgeous eyes at him, so Gavin relented. He locked the truck and closed his eyes as Ginny’s hand slipped into his. Smiling, Gavin let her lead him, following when she pointed out a step or something to avoid. He heard a bell ring, followed by the sounds of kids squealing and lots of people talking. It was the scent of freshly baked waffle cones that made his eyes pop open.
“Welcome to One Fell Scoop, what can I get you?” The teenager behind the counter asked, smile wide and entirely fake. Given the number of people in the ice cream shop, they’d clearly been busy for a while.
“He’ll have a scoop of the mint chocolate chip and one of the Rocky Road,” Ginny said, pointing at the flavors trapped in their glass display case. “And I’ll have all three chocolate flavors.”
Gavin just watched Ginny as she told the server she wanted them in cups, with waffle cones on the side, paid for their ice cream and then finally turned to him. “What’s with the smile?”
“You ordered my ice cream for me.”
“Did I get it wrong?”
Shaking his head, he pulled Ginny into his side and kissed the top of her head. “That hasn’t changed in twelve years.”
“A lot about you hasn’t changed, sweetheart.” She patted his stomach and Gavin smiled, because that was very true. He could still eat an entire pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream and still want more, he still loved dogs and most importantly, still loved the woman in his arms.
Once they had their ice creams, Ginny crushed one of the cones and sprinkled the crumbs over the top of their scoops.Thatwas another thing that hadn’t changed and it made him laugh. They walked out of the ice cream shop, away from all the noise and returned to his truck. While Ginny held their cups, Gavin opened the tailgate and they climbed into the back, legs swinging as they dug into their ice cream.
“What has changed aboutyou?” Gavin asked, holding his cup out for Ginny to try while he dug his spoon into hers for a taste.
Humming around her spoon as she ate a bit of his mint chocolate chip, Ginny shrugged. “Besides my tattoos and my sparkling personality? I don’t know, you tell me.”
“I happen to like that sparkling personality,” he countered and shook his head. “I always thought you were quite a badass, going after what you wanted and being confident in everything you did. That hasn’t changed. Maybe it’s just amplified.”
Ginny watched him for a moment and smiled. “You know whathaschanged about you?” At his arched eyebrow, she chuckled and continued. “You carry yourself differently now. You’re a lot stronger in your body and you wear it with pride. You’re also a lot sexier…like sexiest of your brothers. But it’s more than that, really.”
“Are you going to tell me or is this just a guessing game?”
Nudging him gently, Ginny leaned against Gavin, head resting on his shoulder. “You’re not afraid to go after what you want. Building your business and growing it, that takes a lot.”
“Learned that from my parents,” he admitted softly, because neither of them gave up on their passions—whether it was their marriage, their kids or the family business. Juniper and Elijah Rhodes powered through every single day.
“You’re amazing, Little Rhodes. I don’t know if you’re aware or if anybody tells you that enough.”
Glancing at her, Gavin searched her eyes and smiled. “You’re pretty amazing yourself, Nia.”
“ThatI know. But thank you.”
Their lips met on a laugh and the happiness he was talking about before?
Exploded in his chest.
