Chapter Two
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Gavin leaned back against the pillar in the baggage terminal and eagerly scanned the arriving passengers for two of his favorite faces in the world. “See ’em yet?” he asked his twin. Autumn and Carly’s flight had arrived a few minutes early. They should be here any minute.
“Not yet.” Tristan eyed him in amusement. “And not sure if you know this, but checking your watch every five seconds isn’t gonna make them show up any faster.”
Gavin shoved his hand in his jeans pocket and adjusted his stance. He’d been counting down the days since Autumn had told him about her upcoming work conference here on the West Coast months ago. That was the last time he’d seen her in person, and the weeks had dragged for him since.
Now it was finally happening, and he was impatient to maximize his time with her and Carly before he and Tris had to report for their security detail in two days’ time with the rest of their Crimson Point Security team. The upcoming weekend summit in Portland was going to be a huge security operation for them, meaning all hands on deck, so even the owners would be on assignment.
Before then, he desperately needed as much time alone with Autumn as he could get to figure out whether she was open to the idea of moving them out of the friend zone. Permanently. Because he finally knew what he wanted, and he was playing for keeps.
“What’s up with you? You’re as wound up as a long-tailed cat in a rockin’ chair factory,” Tris muttered.
Gavin cracked a grin and stopped fidgeting. His twin had no clue about the recent, major shift his feelings had taken with Autumn, and though Gavin trusted him more than anyone else in the world, there were a few things he just didn’t want to share with him. This being the most important of them.
“Haven’t heard that expression in a while. And that made you sound like a total hick, by the way.” Their mom used to say that one when they were kids. Back before everything had gone to hell for all of them pretty much overnight.
“Well, I gotta keep rotating ’em, don’t I? Keep it fresh.”
Through the stream of passengers heading their way, he caught a glimpse of strawberry blond hair and zeroed in on it. Carly appeared through the crowd carrying a backpack. Autumn was right behind her, and something in the middle of his chest squeezed hard at the sight of her.
A sense of rightness, like a missing puzzle piece clicking into place. Suddenly everything in his world was right again.
Shelving that startling thought for the moment, he straightened and lifted a hand. Carly saw him first, broke into a wide smile and rushed toward him.
Gavin stepped past his brother to greet her. “Hey, squirt.” He picked her up off the ground in a big bear hug that made her giggle and melted his heart. She was so tall now. A few inches shy of his shoulder already, and she was only twelve. “Damn, you’ve grown since the last time I saw you. Didn’t I tell you to stop that?”
“Hi, Gavvy,” she said, her thin arms hugging him tight.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” He set her down and passed her off to Tristan, shifting his attention to Autumn. And shit, all his insides tightened when she got close.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when his feelings for her had taken a sharp U-turn, but he’d known the moment he’d seen her after coming home following his honorable discharge from the Corps several months ago. Having her right in front of him now, the way his pulse skipped confirmed what he’d been wrestling with all this time—that and the way he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
He was in love with his lifelong friend. And she had no damned idea.
Smiling, she moved toward them at a more sedate pace, wheeling her carry-on beside her. Her sandy-blond hair was tied back in a ponytail that swished along the tops of her shoulders with each step, and the black leggings she wore hugged every sexy line and curve of her legs and hips.
“Hi.” She stopped a few feet away rather than greeting him with a hug.
He frowned slightly, closed the distance and wrapped her up in one anyway. His entire body sighed in contentment at the feel of her. The top of her head came up to his chin, the familiar vanilla scent of her shampoo filling his nose. She’d always made his world feel right, but now that feeling was more powerful than ever.
“Good to see you,” he murmured. God, he’d missed her these past few months he’d been settling in out here on the West Coast.
She returned the hug for a moment, but it was almost over before it started. When she started to pull away he held on for another second, until the stiffness in her body registered.
He let her go, unsure what was going on. “How was the flight?” he asked, searching her eyes and trying to read her.
“Fine.” She stepped back and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, the gesture almost nervous, then quickly moved past him to hug Tristan. “Thanks for picking us up.” Her Kentucky drawl was sweet music to his ears. His and Tris’s had faded a little over the years since leaving home.
“Yeah, of course. How’ve you been?” Tristan asked as he embraced her.
Gavin might be overthinking it, but it seemed like Tristan’s hug was ten times longer than his own. He’d never been jealous of his twin before, but he definitely was now, and he didn’t enjoy the feeling.
“Good,” she answered. “Busy getting ready for the conference.” She stepped back from Tristan, not as far as she’d stepped away from Gavin, did that hair thing again that confirmed she was nervous, and avoided looking at him.
What was up with that? He couldn’t think of anything he’d done. “You guys ready to roll?” he asked, letting it go for now. He was all tied in knots over her and overthinking shit. Probably making something out of nothing, as Tris liked to tell him.
“Yes,” Carly said, coming up to wind an arm around his waist. At least she seemed genuinely glad to see him.
“We’re parked out front. You guys hungry?”
“ Starving ,” Carly said in that dramatic way pre-teen girls had. “All we got on the plane was a package of nuts, and it wasn’t very big.”
Sounded about right. “I know just the place, and it’s on the way to the coast,” he said, taking her suitcase and guiding her toward the exit with a hand on her shoulder. Autumn hung back with Tristan, who had taken her bag. What was going on with her? Her stiff, slightly remote reception to him was weird. “Can you hang in there another twenty, thirty minutes?” he asked Carly.
“Sure.”
“Perfect. It’s an Italian place.”
“I love Italian.”
“I know.” He’d known her all her life, which meant he also knew all her favorite things. Autumn’s too, and he planned to use that insider knowledge to his advantage over this week.
Autumn got in the back of his SUV with Carly. Tristan took shotgun. Gavin kept glancing at Autumn in the rearview mirror as she told them about her conference on the way to the restaurant.
At dinner, she took the seat across from Tristan rather than him, did the hair tuck thing twice when she made eye contact with him, and yeah, it wasn’t his imagination—she was definitely doing her best to avoid looking at him whenever possible. Like she was uncomfortable. What the hell?
Throughout dinner he was increasingly conscious of the distance coming from her, but the food was as good as always, and Carly was happy. The drive down to Crimson Point afterward took just under two hours. By the time they got there, the subtle, lingering tension coming from Autumn had his nerves on edge. Maybe she had somehow picked up on his more-than-friends vibe and felt awkward?
No, that was impossible. He’d been careful not to give away that things had changed drastically for him.
He and Tris carried the luggage up to their condo. The entire place was spotless and sparkling because they had both cleaned it from top to bottom this morning in anticipation of Autumn and Carly’s arrival.
“Wow, this place is all yours?” Carly asked from the living room, looking around the large, modern space with wide eyes.
Gavin grinned. This unit was a big step up from the one they had bought together back home. “Yep. And wait until morning. There’s an unobstructed view of the water from this whole side of the unit.”
“Which room’s mine?”
“You’re in Tristan’s.”
“Come on, I’ll take you,” Tris said, and led her down the hall.
Gavin turned to face Autumn. “You’re in my room.” He’d wanted her in his bed. In his sheets. In his shower. It was completely territorial and caveman, but having her in his most intimate space did it for him on a lot of levels. Though given her current standoffishness, his whole plan may have just gone to shit.
Her hand tightened on the handle of her suitcase briefly, her expression giving nothing away. “Okay. Down there?” She nodded in the opposite direction Tris and Carly had gone.
“Yep.” He took the handle from her and wheeled the case down the hall to his room.
His king-size bed dominated one side of it, the tufted charcoal leather headboard positioned against the wall and facing the huge window overlooking the bay. “I washed the sheets this morning, and all the towels in the ensuite are fresh.”
He wanted his scent all over her from being skin to skin with him, not from his sheets and towels.
“Thank you,” she murmured behind him.
He put her suitcase on the foot of the bed and turned around to face her. She was still hovering near the door. As if she didn’t want to get too close to him.
He couldn’t take any more. “Autumn. What’s going on?”
She blinked at him, those gorgeous green eyes a few shades lighter than his. “Nothing. Why?”
“You’re acting like you don’t want to be alone in the same room as me.” It cut deep.
“What? No, it’s—I’m just tired. Long day traveling, didn’t sleep much last night, and I’m preoccupied with the conference.”
He didn’t buy it, her actions and body language told him otherwise, but he knew her well enough not to push the issue now. So when Carly called for her and clear relief flashed across her face as she fled the room, he didn’t try to stop her.
Tris was waiting for him by the front door. “You ready to head out?”
They were bunking at Marley and Warwick’s place. “Yeah.” Carly and Autumn were both standing in the kitchen doorway, waiting to say goodbye. “Fridge and pantry are fully stocked, but if you need anything just message or call one of us,” he told them, fighting a deep disappointment that Autumn would probably reach out to Tris instead of him. He’d envisioned this all going so differently, and he didn’t know what was going on with her. It was making him nuts. “We’ll talk to you in the morning. Sleep well.”
Autumn nodded, put on a smile that was a tiny bit strained at the edges. “Thanks.”
He walked out to his vehicle with Tris, unable to figure out what was wrong. “Autumn seem off to you?” he asked as he started the engine.
“No. Why? She seem off to you?”
“Yeah.” He pulled away from the curb, glancing up at his lit bedroom window on the way by. Autumn was up there right now. Would be climbing into his bed soon. And, shit, what he wouldn’t give to be climbing into it with her and doing all the things he’d fantasized about for too damn long.
He’d planned to feel things out over the next few days before she left for the conference and he and Tristan started the security gig in Portland, see how things went before he told her about his true feelings for her. But given her reaction to him tonight...
Hell, he didn’t know what to do now, didn’t know what was bothering her. Unless... Wait.
There was something between them that had never been dealt with. Something huge they’d both just ignored and never talked about again.
No, he thought with a mental shake of his head, that made no sense. Why would that suddenly be an issue now?
Neither of them had ever brought up what had happened the night before he’d left for boot camp. Not once, for a variety of reasons. But something told him they had to now. It was long past time they talked about it like adults and got it out of the way so they could both move forward.
Hopefully together.
For more than two decades, she’d seen him as her best friend, the sarcastic, fun-loving, sometimes reckless guy she’d grown up hanging out with. He needed to make her see him in a whole new light.
And step one meant laying everything on the line and telling her how he felt.