38. Gavin
THIRTY-EIGHT
gavin
I WOKE UP in Daire’s bed again the next morning. Technically, it was closing in on noon, but the last couple of nights we hadn’t gotten much sleep when we were tangled up in each other.
I was not complaining, but as I rolled over in his bed to reach for him, all I found were empty sheets.
Well, that wasn’t promising.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sat up and looked toward the open door of the bathroom, figuring he’d taken a shower, but the lights were off. The bedroom door was closed too, but I could hear movement somewhere in the apartment.
I reached for the pajama pants I’d thrown on the floor in the early-morning hours, and as I bent over, I could feel every aching muscle in my body—including ones I didn’t know I had.
This weekend had been the best of my life, but apparently it wasn’t without a price. I didn’t care; I would gladly pay it a million times over to be with the brooding bad boy who wasn’t all that he seemed.
Besides, it was my own damn fault I didn’t spend enough hours in the gym building up my leg muscles so I could ride him like a bucking bronco.
I’d have to work on that. Preferably with him, not in the gym.
I ran a hand over my hair and checked that I wasn’t too much of a hot mess before wandering out to see what Daire was up to.
The smell of coffee filled my nostrils, but it was the view in front of me that had me stopping in my tracks.
Daire leaned against the kitchen island, fully dressed and gorgeous, casually sipping on his coffee. Had he been alone, I might’ve said or done something a little indecent, but the blond guy sitting on a stool chatting it up—in a conversation that was no doubt one-sided—had me rethinking that plan.
My brother glanced over his shoulder at me, then did a double take. His eyes widened as he looked at what little I was wearing…and whose bedroom I’d just walked out of.
“What the…” As if to check he wasn’t hallucinating, Donovan swiveled his head toward my closed bedroom door and back to Daire’s before pinning me with an incredulous look. “No fucking way.”
Behind his mug, I swore I saw Daire crack a hint of a smile, and I grinned at my brother as I went to join them. Like yesterday, Daire had had several platters of food brought up, more of a brunch spread this time, and the smell of maple syrup had my stomach growling.
“Morning,” I said, not sure who I should go over to first. But when Daire met my gaze, winked, and turned away to make another coffee, I had my answer. “What brings you by, Van?”
“Did you just…come out of Daire’s room?”
I glanced behind me at the door I’d left open, the rumpled sheets in clear view. “Looks like it.”
“He also came in it too,” Daire said.
My brother gaped like a fish. “But…” he sputtered. “I thought you two weren’t even talking. Not after?—”
“I fucked him in the Sprinter?” Daire said, smirking as the espresso began to pour into a mug.
“Oh my God.” Donovan rubbed his temples, closing his eyes. Like he could block out what he’d just seen and heard. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“There a problem?” I moved to the spot Daire had been, grabbing one of the empty plates he’d set out and piling on the food.
Donovan stared as I took at least one of everything, like he couldn’t imagine why I wasn’t drinking a green juice, but weekends were for splurging, especially after the amount of calories I’d burned.
I smiled sweetly at my brother before taking a bite of the drenched-in-syrup waffle. Heaven. Pure heaven.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Daire open the fridge and pour a little milk into the mug, and I frowned. That wasn’t how he took his coffee. I’d watched him enough to know.
As he stirred, Daire moved in beside me and then slid the perfectly-made-just-the-way-I-like-it coffee my way.
I almost choked on my food at the unexpected gesture that touched me in a way I couldn’t explain. It was so simple, but it said so much. He’d watched me the way I’d watched him. Knew my likes, my habits…how I took my coffee.
Daire didn’t go out of his way for anyone, hadn’t in all the years I’d known him. This was different. This was him making an effort.
My heart squeezed as I smiled up at him, and then I lifted up onto my toes to press a kiss to his lips.
If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. He kissed me back, curling an arm around my waist. It felt so good, so natural, that I sank into him, and it wasn’t until Donovan cleared his throat to remind us he was there that I pulled away.
“Thank you,” I said against Daire’s lips, and then I picked up the mug and took a long, appreciative swallow.
Perfect.
“Okay, one of you needs to start talking,” Donovan said, staring between the two of us. “Are you actually dating? Is that what’s happening here?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that, because hell if I knew—though if it were up to me, I knew what my response would be.
So when Daire shrugged and said, “Yep,” I stopped breathing.
From the looks of it, so had Donovan.
Daire’s hand brushed against my lower back. “Aren’t you going to be late?” he said, looking pointedly at my brother.
“What?” Donovan shook his head and checked his watch. “Oh. Right. Yeah, I need to get going soon.”
“Working today?” I finished off my waffle and moved on to the fluffy scrambled eggs.
“Yeah, I’ve got a shoot in Williamsburg, and I thought you might wanna come.” He glanced between us. “I mean, if you’re not busy. I just figured it’d be good to catch up, and there’s a flea market nearby you’d like.”
My brows shot up at the invitation. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d hung out, just the two of us, and I had to admit, it wasn’t a bad idea after several awkward, kinda tense months. It was thoughtful of him to ask, especially with the market incentive for when he was shooting.
“That would be great, actually,” I said, and glanced at Daire. “Is that cool with you?”
He nodded, and the hand he had on my back dipped down into the waist of my pants. “Long as I get you later.”
Butterflies burst in my stomach, and not even Donovan’s “ew” could tame them.
I grabbed a scone and threw it at Donovan’s head, but he ducked just in time, or there would’ve been blueberries and crumbs all over that model face.
He stood up and checked his watch again. “You’ve got ten minutes, so scarf it and get dressed.”
“Want me to meet you downstairs?” I said.
“No.” Donovan’s eyes narrowed slightly on Daire. “I wanna talk to this one. Alone.”
THE DRIVE TO Brooklyn was surprisingly quick, and I barely got a chance to grill Donovan about what he said to Daire before we arrived.
I followed him into the hair and makeup trailer, swiping us a couple of drinks at the craft services table on the way.
Several stations were already set up in front of blindingly bright mirrors and what seemed like every hair tool and makeup palette known to man.
Donovan, of course, just had to be the first one there, and he chose the seat in the far back that had a bench for me so we could talk and I’d be out of the stylist’s way.
“So you didn’t threaten Daire’s life, is that what you’re telling me?” I handed Donovan a water and then popped the top of my ice-cold soda.
“Could anybody do that? I don’t have a death wish.” Donovan took a long swallow of his drink and then capped the top. “Now, that’s not to say I wouldn’t do some serious damage in other ways if he’s fucking around with you.”
I smirked. “I thought we already established he is?”
“Oh for the love of—” Donovan squeezed the bridge of his nose. “This is payback, isn’t it?”
“No. Payback would be you having to watch.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the lighting or what, but Donovan turned visibly green.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” He blew out a breath. “I swear to God, if I could turn back time, I would’ve just told you so you didn’t have to see all that.”
And by that , he meant the porn scenes he’d secretly shot with Kelly that all our friends had watched in our apartment one day. No one had caught on because he was always in a mask, but there was a distinguishable birthmark I’d seen that day…
I shuddered, not wanting to relive that particular memory. I’d lost my shit on Donovan about it, because hello, how could I not want to stab my eyeballs out after that?
“And,” Donovan continued, “I’m also sorry that you felt you needed to move out. That was never my intention.”
“You thought we’d all be happy roomies after that? When we shared a wall and not even noise-canceling headphones could block you two out?”
Donovan had the sense to at least look apologetic. But hell, it wasn’t his fault his romantic life had been thriving when my own had been in the shitter.
“Look, it wasn’t all your fault,” I said. “Things weren’t good with Joey back then, and maybe I was a little…”
“Jealous?”
“Resentful.” I twisted the tab of my soda back and forth until it snapped off. “It’s not like I didn’t want you to be happy. But seeing it made me realize my own relationship wasn’t great, and it sucked.”
“Yeah, you were a shithead for a while there,” he agreed, but then his expression turned dark. “About that… What don’t I know?”
“Meaning?”
“With you and Joey. He shows up with a black eye after you break up, and so does Daire. Why? And don’t tell me nothing. Daire’s fucking crazy, but he wouldn’t do something like that without a reason.”
Damn, I’d forgotten he only knew about the bullying after we broke up. Daire was the only one who knew there was more to it, and it made me feel good to know I could trust him with my deepest, darkest secrets.
Well, even if he did retaliate against that asshole—but looking back, I couldn’t blame him for doing it. No point in protecting Joey now.
“He put his hands on me. Daire saw the bruises.”
I didn’t know my brother could look as murderous as he did right then.
“No,” he said, more to himself than me. He ran his fingers through his hair and gripped the ends tight. “What the fuck? Why? Why didn’t you tell me? Tell someone .”
“I left him. That was enough.”