Chapter 15
Chapter fifteen
With his arms folded on top of the steering wheel Gavin waited and watched.
Parked under the shade of a large crepe myrtle tree at the corner of the street, he would go unnoticed unless someone looked.
With no music on, he let the silence extend around him, only broken occasionally by the odd passing of cars or the piercing morning call of a blue jay overhead.
Right now, he needed the silence. It acted as a counter balance to his spiraling thoughts.
The last time Ebony spoke to him was two days ago at Garrett's house.
The bastard had invited her over to study.
More like bait. Garrett had been the first one to tell him that this plan of his to step back from Ebony had been dumb as fuck.
He warned him he was just going to make things worse. Gavin ignored him.
What the hell did that overgrown bastard know?
He was currently shacked up with the love of his life waiting on her hand and foot, reshaping the na?ve woman's life until everything she would ever do and know would be Garrett alone.
She was falling right into the trap Garrett had built.
The bastard had everything he wanted. Worse, he had the option to have everything he wanted while Gavin was shackled down by everyone's expectations.
Just to fuck with him, Garrett had lured Ebony to his house under the excuse of helping her with calculus—something she used to rely on him for. Back before he fucked everything up. Gavin had shown up to the bastard's house ready to burn the place down when he realized the con and met Ruby.
The poor woman probably thought he was insane.
She had sat there with her tired but kind eyes and watched as he and Ebony bickered back and forth.
Pathetically, all Gavin could think about was how damn good it felt to have her looking at him again.
Watching the way her soft lips moved when she spoke, like nothing had changed, like she hadn’t wrecked him with her silence.
The urge to grab her and pull her close had him clenching his jaw and reminding himself over and over again with his vow as to why he couldn't. Why he could never have her.
By the time they left, he could hardly breathe and was regretting every decision he ever made.
A feeling that was becoming his new normal.
He thought pulling back from her would give him clarity.
Instead, it felt like a missing limb. The distance between them was like a physical weight on his chest. Pure torture.
Her sleepy smile in the morning, her laughter as they passed each other in the hall, her soft weight against him as they watched TV—it had all vanished.
Now all he had was her enduring silence and her shut bedroom door.
And like blood in the water, others started circling.
He saw it, the way guys at school lingered near her locker, hovered in the shadows like sharks scenting the cracks between them.
Their eyes followed the curve of her jeans like treasure they’d never been privileged to look at before. Like this may be their chance.
What's worse—she let them.
She used to flash those tight, dismissive smiles.
The kind that said don’t even try it in the politest of ways.
Now? It was different. The gates were wide open, and Ebony was standing at the threshold, looking those fucks dead in the eye with a smile that felt like the gates of heaven were opening just for them.
Making them believe they had a shot. She had already been a goddess—a work of art crafted by God himself—with tight curves, soft curls that begged a man to run his hands through them, and a smile that lit up the room.
But now, now, she returned looks with a smile edged in a challenge and it was devastating.
Like a prayer sculpted in flesh and breath, she was turning every man in her wake into fools, and him into something worse.
Gavin watched it all with something black and vicious crawling under his skin. Because she wasn’t just letting them look, she was daring him to react.
Rage twisted in his gut. Sitting back in his seat Gavin breathed heavily through his nose.
Then he caught it, a flash of blue. Powder blue against dark skin caught his eye.
Her curly hair pulled up in a ponytail, Ebony jogged up the private drive from their house.
She crossed the street, kept her pace for a few more steps, then turned and waved at someone.
Gavin closed his eyes for a moment, already knowing who he was going to see. Cameron jogged down the opposite street. Gavin watched them exchange smiles and fall into step, moving in sync as they jogged.
Stone still, Gavin watched their forms shrink down the block, a cold fury tightening his muscles until he thought he might snap the steering wheel off its base.
He could envision himself breaking every one of Cameron's fucking fingers.
One by one. Smiling at the pain he caused, the suffering in his eyes.
Closing his eyes, Gavin leaned back and breathed. He was trying to do the right thing. But she was slipping away.
But that was it, wasn't it? Gavin opened his eyes and stared at the spot where they disappeared. Because she wasn’t just slipping away. She was being stolen.
He wasn't sure how much longer he could stay away.