17. Gavin
SEVENTEEN
GAVIN
With Millie here, I do the only thing I can. I drink. Copious amounts of liquor. And I avoid her. Avoid looking at her, avoid talking to her, and definitely avoid thinking about how good she looks.
Okay, the last one is a complete lie.
I do a really good job of avoiding her. I can’t go near her, not with the way my emotions are bubbling up to the surface. Like they’re written all over my face. Like “I fucked your daughter and I plan to do it again,” has been tattooed on my forehead.
Because yeah. Now that Millie is here, my thoughts and feelings are out of control. Despite the rules I’ve created for myself, the hold I have on my willpower is slipping.
But I can try. I can sit back and watch her play beer pong with Daniel and the other guys on my team. Guys who make me millions. Guys I cheer for, guys I bet on, and guys I genuinely like.
Today, though, I hate every last one of them. Even Brooks. When he’s paired up with Millie for a round of beer pong, I hate him with a passion.
I would actually consider murdering my own brother if he laid a hand on her.
I’m so unbelievably fucked.
“The guys would let you play if you wanted,” Ford cajoles beside me at the firepit.
I grunt. “I’d wipe the floor with them.”
Beckett, on my other side, sighs and brings a cigar to his lips. He hasn’t lit it all night. He just holds it, sniffs it, fondles it.
Guess he doesn’t want to smell like it, or maybe he’s worried about setting a bad example in front of Finn.
I’m abstaining too, because if I partake, there’s no way I won’t get sick. I’ve had far too much whiskey today while avoiding the peach margaritas Millie doled out to the whole crowd.
“I think I’ve hit my limit for fun.” Lake snuggles against Ford’s chest, her legs covered in a soft blanket.
He drops a kiss to her forehead. “Close your eyes here. I’ll carry you in.”
Damn. Guy’s so desperate for his wife’s company he won’t even let her go to bed when she’s half-asleep.
She gives him a secretive smile and murmurs an okay . Then her eyes fall shut almost instantly.
“You can go play, ya know. Don’t have to keep us old married men company,” Ford teases.
“Speak for yourself,” Beckett grouses. “I’m not old.”
Liv appears at his side with a sleeping Addie in her arms. “Yes, you are, baby. As am I, so if you could take Little One before I fall over, I’d appreciate it.”
Before she’s finished her request, Beckett’s up and grabbing their daughter, who’s fast asleep.
With more care than seems possible for a man so cranky most of the time, he shifts her in his arms and murmurs into her hair.
Once the little girl is clinging to his neck with her head nestled beneath his chin, he looks up at his wife. “Ready to head out, Livy?”
“Yeah, I think this part of the party is for the graduate and the kids his age. You want to ride back with us, Gav?”
Ouch. Her words hit me like a slap. Because she’s right. I’m too damn old to be hanging out with the kids still partying. I glance over at the table where Millie is still playing games, hoping my expression gives nothing away. There’s no way I can leave without having a minute alone with her.
“Um, I’ll wait for Brooks.”
“Wait for me for what?” Brooks asks, suddenly appearing at Liv’s side.
“We’re heading out,” Beckett explains.
“Yeah, I’m going to head back too.” He dips his chin, a few strands of hair that have escaped his man bun swaying. “Aiden is going out with some of the guys, but I’m beat. I told Sar I’d watch a movie with her when I get back.”
It’s no surprise that my brother would rather go home and hang with his “best friend” than go out prowling for girls with the hockey team. His life revolves around two things: hockey and Sara Case.
“You ready, Gav?”
A commotion from the other side of the yard has us all turning to the group at the beer pong table. Every guy in the crowd is tearing off his shirt and stepping out of his shoes. Millie’s there too, pulling her dress over her head. Beneath, she’s in nothing but a minuscule bikini.
I can’t look away as she takes off for the pool and launches herself into the air. She pulls her knees up and cannonballs into the pool with a loud splash. Then, one by one, the guys on the team follow her in, including Daniel.
I turn to Ford, expecting him to throw a fit about the gang of NHL players in the pool with his drunk twenty-three-year-old daughter.
The air whooshes from my lungs when, instead of launching to his feet and going on a tirade, the man fucking laughs.
“Ah, it’s good to see those two here together again.
” He looks back at me with a big smile on his face.
“Why don’t you spend the night? Let me get Lake upstairs, and then you and I can have drinks by the fire.
” With a kiss to his wife’s head, he shifts forward in his seat.
“I’ve obviously lost any shot of hanging with my kids for the rest of the night. ”
The yes is out of my mouth before I even think about it. Hanging out with my best friend would be great, sure, but I’m staying because there is no way in hell I could go anywhere while Millie is practically naked in the pool with all of these men around.
I’m irrationally angry and have no right to be.
We’re not together. She has every right to do whatever she wants.
Except that’s bullshit. She’s been mine since the night she seduced me and gave me her virginity. If anyone gets to put his hands on that naked body tonight, it’s going to be me. Even if I go to hell for it.
Two hours later, most of the guests have filtered out. When Ford finally calls it, he shows me to my room. I hang tight for a solid ten minutes before I sneak out and head back outside to find his daughter.
I’m a fucking asshole.
The moment I step outside and the warm, musty June air hits me like a fog, Millie comes into view, and I sag in relief. She’s in the hot tub—alone, thank Christ—with her head tilted back and her face lifted to the sky.
She’s in an emerald-green bikini, and her curly dark-auburn hair is in a messy knot on the top of her head. The lights of the tub highlight the water on her skin, making her glisten, and as her chest rises and falls, so does the swell of her breasts.
“Are you gonna come in?” she asks, her eyes still closed and her head still tilted back.
My pulse takes off at a sprint. I clear my throat. “No. I’m gonna head to bed.”
She finally sits up and blinks her eyes open. “I did what you asked, and you’re still standing all the way over there.” She waves a hand up and down my body.
I take a step closer and lower my voice, hoping like hell there’s no one within earshot. “What I asked?”
“I talked to my dad.”
This is news to me. Welcome news, though. But I’m still cautious. This entire day has been a mindfuck.
“You told him how you felt when he gifted half of the company to Lake? How did he take it?”
She shakes her head. “I just mended things—you saw me hanging out with Lake tonight. We’re good.”
She did spend time with Lake, and they seemed to get on well. Still… “Really? But your music?—”
“I like my job, Gavin. Please, let’s not talk in circles. Are you getting in?” She sits up now and gives me a long, unforgiving perusal. The intensity in her expression makes my heart pound and my dick throb.
Fuck. The woman merely has to look at me, and I’m hard. Scratch that—her sheer existence leaves my cock weeping.
Lips pressed together, I scan the empty yard. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“You either get in with me, or I take off my clothes right now.”
My blood heats despite my apprehension. “ Millie .”
“You’re not my dad, Gavin. Don’t use that tone with me.”
I rest my hands on my head and tug at my hair, groaning. “You’re right, but your dad is five fucking feet away.”
“Don’t be dramatic. It’s at least thirty feet, and he’s asleep.”
Jaw locked tight, I stare her down. Dammit. She’s not bluffing, and I’m so goddamn weak. With a huff, I pull my shirt over my head. Then I shuck off my shorts. “Happy?”
The grin that spreads across her face is wicked and hot as fuck. “I’ll be happier riding your cock, but this is a start.”
I drop my head back and curse at the sky. This fucking girl. “Don’t start. I’m getting in, but nothing is happening.”
She hums as if she doesn’t believe my protests and sinks lower.
Boxers on—and staying that way—I put one foot into the water, then the other. “Shit, do we have towels?”
She sighs and tips her head back against the cushion. “Are you always so practical while women are throwing themselves at you?”
I bark out a laugh, even as my chest constricts. “Millie, you don’t have to throw yourself at me. You know how I feel. But nothing is happening while we’re in your dad’s hot tub.”
One brow raised as if she’s unamused, she points to a cabinet behind us. “Towels are in there. Don’t worry, my dad is as uptight as you are, so he thinks of everything.”
Before I’m even fully seated, she swims toward me and climbs into my lap.
Of their own volition, my palms settle on the smooth skin of her thighs. “New rule. No talking about your dad while you’re on top of me.”
Her responding smirk sends a frisson of need through me, dammit. “Finally, we agree on something.”
“Enough out of you,” I chide, squeezing her generous thighs.
For a moment, we sit silently, taking one another in. “Hi, Peaches,” I whisper. It’s impossible not to feel at ease when this woman is in my arms.
She smiles. “Are you going to kiss me now? I’ve been a good girl.”
“You are anything but a good girl.”
“Mmm. True, but don’t lie; you like it.”
The growl that slips from my throat makes it clear how much I like every little thing she does. Especially the way she licks at her lips, teasing me.
She’s too fucking good at tormenting me. That one move is all it takes for me to snap. With one hand still on her thigh, I grasp her neck with the other and pull her close.