27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Griffin’s Beach Gavin
W aking up, Gavin curses the sun streaming through the blinds he wishes he closed and pulls a pillow over his face. He had more to drink last night than he thought he had. What the fuck happened?
He runs through the events of the night before. He remembers starting the night off by visiting Emme at work. She had to close, and she said she had plans later with friends. Which was kind of a letdown because he was horny and wanted a quick fuck.
She surprised him with a text to meet her in the back of her car. Her break was coming up, and he didn’t hesitate. He waited in the backseat, naked and hard as a rock, until she came and joined him. It was quick and dirty, and both were satisfied when she adjusted her uniform outside of her car.
He’d just gotten home when she sent him another text to meet her in the cleaning closet just off of the kitchen for her second break around ten. Not in the position to turn down another round from a hot and willing participant, he walked into the hotel and into the closet.
Again, it was quick and dirty, but their performance earned him applause from the staff as they walked out adjusting their clothes. One of the cooks even handed Gavin a taco, which was more than needed.
Going home a second time, Gavin decided to get drunk. As much fun as he had with Emme, he couldn’t stop thinking about Hailey. His mind wandered to her a lot more lately, even with the club going a little crazy.
He doesn’t know much. All he, Kent, and the new Prospect who just started know is that Brock and Beckett are in prison. And Shannon’s missing. As a son of the club, he was trusted more than he is now that he’s a Prospect, but it was just another reason to drink his sorrows away.
Turning to his side, he feels someone next to him, and he pulls the pillow off his face. He nearly jumps when he sees the naked brunette sleeping next to him. Hailey.
Fuck, I remember now. Hailey showed up. Her new roommate moved in, and they went to a party together. She showed up, drank with me instead, and we had amazing sex. How the fuck did I forget that?
But, wait. She never stays. Hailey always leaves.
Hailey stirs and opens her eyes, wincing the same way Gavin had. “Ow.”
“Morning.”
“I didn’t think I drank enough last night to have a hangover. That was a miscalculation on my part.”
“You drank enough to stay over,” Gavin says before he can stop himself.
Leaning back, Hailey frowns at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you normally leave when I fall asleep. Always gone when I wake up.”
“I thought I was being considerate.”
He reaches over and brushes a strand of hair behind her ear with a sad smile. “It’s not considerate. It’s heartbreaking.”
“Why?”
“Because—”
“Gavin?”
His eyes widen as the front door shuts. Emme. How the hell did she get in here?
“I’m horny as fuck, and the two quickies we had last night didn’t tide me over— Oh, you have company,” Emme says, her shirt in her hand. “Hey.”
“Wait, I know you,” Hailey says, sitting up and holding the sheet to her chest. “You’re that waitress from the hotel restaurant.”
She nods and smiles. “Yeah, and you’re Hailey. You were there with that hunk and his wife. Oh, how I’d like to get some action with the two of them. They look like a great time.”
Did she really just tell them she wants to fuck Colt and Lex? Actually, I’m not really surprised, and I don’t know want specifics.
“I’m a little busy right now,” Gavin says when he realizes they both stare at him expectantly. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay,” she says with a shrug and slips her shirt back on.
The front door shuts again, and he shakes his head. “How the fuck did she get in here?”
Hailey jumps up and begins to dress in haste. “You have a girlfriend?”
“No, Emme’s not my girlfriend. We just… send time together. It’s casual.”
The look of disgust on her face shocks him. “So much for only sleeping with women who mean something to you. It was just a line, wasn’t it? God, and here I thought I was special to you.”
She’s angry with him ? “Hold up, psycho woman. You don’t get to be pissed off here,” he says and stands to slip on his boxers. The last thing he needs is to be the one at a complete disadvantage by being naked.
“The hell I don’t!”
“What are you so pissed about, Hailey? That you slept with me and forgot to slip away in the middle of the night, or are you angry to find out that I’m finding comfort with someone else after you threw me away?”
“Threw you away? Yeah, okay. Whatever you have to tell yourself to make it okay for you. I can’t believe you. I never thought you’d be the one to play me.”
He grabs her arm and turns her to face him as she tries to storm out. “No, it’s normally you playing me. It’s your game, and I’m just a piece on the gameboard.”
“Whatever, Gavin.”
“You left me!” he shouts. “I was willing to find a way to make this work, but you decided—all on your own—that it would be better to have a clean break. But then you keep crawling back into my bed and leaving me all over again.”
Ripping her arm from his hand, she crosses her arms under her chest. “I thought it would be easier if we had a clean break. We talked about this.”
“What part of what’s happening here do you consider a clean break, Hailey?” Gavin cries, his arms out wide. “I love you, but you’re always fucking leaving me. You don’t have a right to be pissed at me right now.”
She doesn’t say a word and storms out. Even if Gavin doesn’t believe Hailey has a right to be angry, it doesn’t change the guilt he feels. Sitting on his bed, he puts his head in his hands. Of course, the one time Hailey actually stays the night is when Emme shows up.
Riverview Hailey
“ T he nerve of him!” Hailey mutters as she parks in the dorm parking lot.
Last night, she drove to see Gavin after going to a party with Lindsey, her new roommate. Guys hit on her, but all she saw when she looked at any of them was Gavin. She knew she’d made a mistake, and she went to see him.
He answered the door drunk, and she wanted to wait until they were both sober to tell him she wanted to try to make things work. She even stayed the night to make sure she didn’t lose her nerve.
“Wait, did he fuck her last night before me?” she asks. “That’s what the waitress said. She said the two quickies they had didn’t tide her over. Asshole.”
Lucas calls, and even though she’s livid, she answers. She misses her little brother. “Hey.”
“Hey. Why was Gavin just here looking for you? Did you come home and not tell me?”
He sounds hurt, and it pains her. But then she reminds herself he chose to be adopted, and legally, they’re not related anymore.
“I went to have sex with Gavin, and then I found out he’s dating another chick when she walked into his apartment with her shirt off talking about how she didn’t get enough the night before and was horny.
Oh, she did comment how she’d like to have sex with Colt and Lex. ”
“Wait… woah. Back up. What?”
“Yeah, can you believe it? Of all the things he could do to hurt me, sleeping with someone else has to be the worst.”
Tears sting at her eyes, and it doesn’t help when Lucas pauses before responding. It means he’s about to tell her something she doesn’t want to hear, and now Hailey wishes she’d let the call go to voicemail.
“Hailey, you know you don’t have a right to be angry, right? I guess, maybe a little that he had sex with both of you in the same night, but he didn’t cheat.”
“Are you fucking with me right now?”
“You broke up with him. Not that I like hearing about your sex life, but you don’t get to feel hurt at how he chose to deal with it. I mean, it was going to happen eventually. The breaking up part, I mean.”
Leaning back, she shakes her head. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I love you, Hails. You know that. But you leave everyone before they have a chance to leave you. You bolt before you can get too attached, you push boundaries, and you defy everyone to keep them at a distance. Leave before you get left, remember?”
“That’s not fair.”
“You did it to Gavin. He was always at arm’s length, and you did it to Lex and Colt, too. They wanted to adopt you, and you said no. They’re more patient than anyone else ever has been.”
“You know what? I gotta go. Thanks for the support, Luke, really. Glad to know I really am completely alone now that you have a new family.”
“Hailey—”
She hangs up and walks inside to find Lindsey sitting on the bed flipping through a magazine. Her roommate is a lanky girl with almost no curves, and she looks even younger in person than she did in pictures.
Her white-blonde hair sits in pigtail braids, and her face is smattered with freckles. To complete her farm girl preteen look, she wears a pink T-shirt under jean overalls.
“You look upset. Are you okay?” Lindsey asks, kicking her legs over the side of the bed and sits up.
“I was with my ex-boyfriend last night. And it’s so over now.”
Her dull blue eyes widen. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“He’s fucking a waitress,” she says. “I don’t want to talk about me. How was the rest of the party?”
“It was great,” she says with a wide smile. “I met a guy.”
Be careful. He’ll just shatter your heart.
“Yeah?”
“Are you sure you want to hear about this?”
Hailey sighs. “I would love to hear about it.”
Hugging her knees to her chest, Lindsey shakes with giddiness. “He’s older. He says he thinks I’m sexy, and we’re going out tonight. I’m excited.”
Everything about this girl screams virgin, so this recap sounds a little suspicious to Hailey. “Be careful, okay?”
“Oh, I went on the pill last month, and I have condoms in my purse. I’m looking forward to finally having sex with a hot guy. I want the full life experience in college.”
“You don’t have hot guys back in Oregon?” Hailey asks and takes in the Lindsey’s side of the room.
The girl has unicorn sheets on her bed, and Care Bear decals on the wall. Hailey didn’t know they even made them still. Lindsey’s one My Little Pony away from being the adult version of a six-year-old.
“My parents are really strict, and I have four older brothers. Everyone treats me like a baby, and my high school boyfriend was almost too scared to kiss me. He grabbed my boob once, but then he freaked out and said we had to stop.”
“Are you sure he wasn’t gay?”
This is a great distraction from Gavin and how much I miss him.
God, I miss him, but he’s fucking the waitress.
After he gave me that speech about how sex means something to him.
Then he goes out and fucks a woman who doesn’t mean something to him.
Or he lied about it. No matter what, it feels like I don’t even know him anymore.
“Hailey?”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I zoned out. What’d you say?”
“I asked if you have any family.”
Do I? Not really. “Nope.”
“You moved away to college, too?”
“No, I just don’t have a family. Parents are dead.”
Lindsey gasps and reaches out to take Hailey’s hand. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be your family. We can get through this college experience together, and we’ll be forever friends.”
Great. Just what I need. More temporary family.