Chapter 26
MOLLY
“Stay with me tonight?” Gavin asked, not turning toward her house but pointing his SUV toward his.
“I’m good.” She needed to get home so she could have all the moments to herself.
She refused to cry in front of anyone. Refused to let the reality that Agnes was leaving, and Gavin had met his Cassidy soulmate, seep in until she was good and alone.
“You’re not good, Mol.” He reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze that nearly—very nearly—pulled those tears that were threatening straight from her eyeballs.
“We need to do our post-date recap.” Her forehead pressed against the cool glass of the passenger window.
“That’s not due to be posted until tomorrow. We have some time.”
Except time was running out. Or time had already run out. She wasn’t precisely certain which it was.
“Ollie can’t stay at Rachel’s tonight,” she mumbled. “I have responsibilities. I can’t just la-de-da not take care of my son because my neighbor is moving away.” And Gavin met Ms. Perfect.
Gavin released her hand to turn the vehicle.
“We both know Agnes is more than your neighbor.” Gavin stopped at a red light.
She nodded. Agnes was so much more.
“She’s more than your landlady, too,” he said before she could add that part.
“She is,” Molly said to the glass, staring at nothing in particular outside of the vehicle. “But her life is moving forward.”
That’s what stung the most. That’s what hurt. In the end, Molly would only be a footnote.
She was tired of being the extra. The one left behind. The fun one who was great when someone needed a good laugh or a fun story, but not when they were looking for permanent.
“If we explain what happened, I bet Rachel will be more than happy to have an extra kiddo for the night,” Gavin suggested. He was being so gentle with her. Like he worried she’d break.
But she’d gotten this far in life and hadn’t broken. She didn’t have plans to start tonight.
Honestly? Molly had been planning to see if Ollie could sleep over anyway so she could have a good pity party
without witnesses.
“I want to go home,” she said, soft and quiet.
“Okay.” He turned left at the next light, redirecting them back toward her house.
She sent a quick message to Rachel, giving the Cliffs Notes of the situation. She didn’t even have to finish her text-extravaganza when Rachel responded, asking if Ollie could hang out with them for the night. The boys were jumping on the trampoline and didn’t want to stop.
Leave it to Rachel to know precisely what Molly needed—a little time alone to wallow before she stood up tall, fixed her curls, and started figuring shit out.
She caught herself biting at her fingernails—something she hadn’t done in years. Forcing herself to stop, she decided talking might actually help. Gavin was a smart guy. Maybe he’d even have a suggestion for her.
“I don’t know that I’m ready to move. I was going to wait until I had a little more money for a hefty down payment,” she said.
“I love my neighborhood. I mean, I could buy Charlie’s house.
It’s not a two-story like I wanted, but maybe that might work.
I can visit Rachel and not have to drive.
I’m close to Ollie’s school. And I like it here; I’m comfortable here. ”
“You might not have to leave right away,” Gavin said, breaking through the fog of her ramblings. “When Agnes sells, they may want a tenant.”
Molly nodded. Yes, she knew that. Knew that the new owners might be interested in a tenant.
“Maybe you could even buy the duplex?” Gavin suggested. “Make it an investment.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” she admitted. Though, it
wasn’t precisely what she had planned. It could work. If she crunched the numbers, she might even make enough renting out the duplex to put more money away for her future dream house.
Though, she’d need to do a thorough analysis into her finances to see where a duplex like this would fit into a long-term plan.
But if she did happen to win this competition, she’d be a whole lot more comfortable. Huh. Dang. She was still very much right in there. More than that, her couple was ready to pledge forever.
Gavin pulled into her driveway. He turned off the car.
He shouldn’t have turned off the car, because if they would not be making the post-date video, then he shouldn’t be staying. He should go home to his life.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Molly.” He held his hands at ten and two. She couldn’t help but notice the drawl in her name. Somehow she knew he didn’t mean for it to be there, which made it even more endearing.
Except he wasn’t allowed to be endearing right then. She needed him to drive her crazy. Make it easy for her to shut off everything between them. Make no mistake, she had to do the catch and release program so he could go be with his matchy-matched future.
“If you tell me to leave,” he said, the drawl still present, “I’ll go. This is your home. Who comes in and who goes? That’s a call only you get to make.” He leveled his stare at her. “But I’d very much like to come in to be sure you are okay.”
“I’m not okay,” she whispered. She really wasn’t okay.
Trying to be and being weren’t the same thing.
He reached for her cheek, running his thumb over the apple. “I know.”
Everything was a mess of confusion in her mind.
This kind of bone-deep shock rattled her marrow.
The kind that took time to sort out. Each individual knot needed untying.
There had been a time when Ollie’s dad left and she was used to the feeling.
But she’d gotten too complacent in the following years, and during that time she got comfortable.
“I need to come up with a plan,” she said, mostly to herself.
“Then let’s talk strategy,” he said, boardroom Gavin present and accounted for.
They climbed out of his Escalade, and he followed her into her kitchen. Her tiny kitchen. Nothing like his kitchen. Heck, even her toaster was a normal kind with only two slots. He could practically sous vide a steak. in his if he wanted to.
She wanted a sous vide toaster. She deserved one.
Yeah, she was going to buy one. And it could go in her new house. In her new kitchen.
“Let’s do a quick video recap.” She inhaled all the strength she could muster. “Simple. Mention things are going well between the two of them. Stay away from specifics, but make it clear the match looks permanent.”
He nodded. “We can do that.”
“We’ll be fun and upbeat.” Because she did now really want this cash.
“Okay, Molly,” he said, not arguing with her at all.
Which made her more than a little punchy.
“And no one needs to know that I’m a mess,” she added.
That seemed to get his hackles up. “You’re not a mess.”
“I feel like a mess.” What? She did.
“From where I’m standing, you look like a woman who is taking the hits and still standing.”
She was still standing. Always bouncing right back.
But… “I’m tired of standing, Gavin.”
He moved to her, hugged her. “Then lean on me for a minute.”
She let him hold her while she did just that.
A proverbial minute—that’s all she needed. Long enough to make their video. Long enough to do what she needed to do. Do what was required.
Then she could be alone.
There was a reason they’d started as pretend. A reason that they’d gone the route of fake.
She’d forgotten it for only a moment. That’s all.
That moment was now gone, and she was back to herself.
Back to reality.
Isn’t it nice to be back where things make sense?
The answer she had for herself was a resounding… maybe. Jury was still out and the verdict undecided.
She turned herself on autopilot. Set everything up for the video log and they did the recap to end all recaps.
“Oh, hey.” She waved. “It’s Molly.”
Funny. Flirty. Gavin kept her grounded. She was on point.
When it was done, she actually felt a little better.
Because she knew what she had to do. The free trial was over and she had her answer.
“Can I order dinner?” Gavin asked, like he was going to stick around. “Or I can fix you something?”
She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”
Food wasn’t really a priority when she was moving forward. Besides, she had a feeling things wouldn’t have a lot of flavor after he left.
He’d leave.
She’d take her moment to let herself fall apart. Then she’d pick herself back up.
She’d done it before. She’d do it again. And again. And however many times it took.
“I need to ask you something.” Molly wrung her hands together, realized what she was doing, and dropped them to her side. She bounced on her toes a little to cover the movement, to make it seem natural.
“Ask away,” Gavin said, sauntering toward her with that look of adoration he should save for someone else.
She didn’t ask, though. She should’ve. She should’ve asked him to leave.
But she didn’t.
She rolled up on her toes, and she kissed him. Kissed him with the force of a woman who spent years building a world only to have it start to crumble.
Arms wrapped around her, he used his lips and tongue to soothe the ache in her heart. Kissed her until she wasn’t thinking anymore.
That was her favorite thing about Gavin. The thing she’d miss the most.
His ability to give her mind a break for a time.
This moment was no different. But she took the lead, unbuttoning his shirt, pulling it from his shoulders, tonguing the skin of his neck.
Uh-huh, they were in her kitchen and her kitchen was
not big enough and her table was definitely not sturdy enough.
“Bedroom,” she said against his mouth.
“Where is it?” he replied, pulling her shirt from her jeans and getting it over her head.
“Stairs,” was all she could say because he did that thing to make her fall into the moment. Lose her sense of time and memory.
This once, she refused to let go completely. She held on. Kept control. Managed the kiss. Urged him further. Led him to her bedroom.
They were a tumble of skin and movement. He handled the protection, and she took no time in letting him in.