Chapter 34 – Gavin
“HERE?” I TURN to lift a brow at Alexis, making sure I’ve got the sofa exactly where she wants it.
She taps a finger against her lips, tilting her head to one side as she assesses the new layout of my living room. “Maybe back where it was before.”
I wait, trying to decipher the look on her face. “You’re either constipated, or you’re giving me shit.”
Alexis scoffs, her mouth dropping open. “I don’t look constipated.”
I leave the couch where it is then head for where she stands next to the dining room table that was just delivered. “That means you’re giving me shit then.” I narrow my eyes. “Again.”
She lifts a hand to the center of her chest, resting it against the tits I love so fucking much. “I would never do something like that.”
A grin takes over my face because I love how awful she is at teasing and sarcasm. “You’d never do it well, that’s for sure.”
Her hands drop to her sides. “You take that back.”
“Nope.”
I rush her, scooping Alexis up so fast she gasps. I seal my lips over hers, swallowing down the sound of surprise as I hike her higher on my body.
I’ve given her free reign over my place, and every week it looks more and more like a home. More and more like her. And that is exactly what I want. More of Al everywhere in my life.
Right now, I want more of her in my bedroom.
I’m halfway down the hall when someone knocks on my door, and I groan, letting my head tip back toward the ceiling.
“It’s probably Val.” Alexis wiggles her brows. “Bet she needs you to save another knocked-up dinosaur.”
“No more pregnant lizards.” I shoot Terri a grin where she’s perched in her new, custom-made enclosure, so she knows I’m not really mad. “No pregnant anything.”
For now.
Alexis and I are planning on moving her in as soon as her lease is up, and I have every intention of making that a lifelong sort of thing. One I hope will someday include kids. Never would I have expected to be in a relationship, let alone considering all the white picket fences I can find, but here I am.
All thanks to my best friend’s little sister. The girl who never treated me like The Wall. The woman who’s always held her own special place in my mind.
And my heart.
Whoever’s at my door knocks again and I sigh as I turn, carrying Alexis along with me. “This better be fucking important.” I whip the door open and stare at the man on the other side in shock.
“Hello, son.” My dad tips his head at Alexis. “Hi.”
Al looks from me to my dad then back to me again. “Hi?” She lets her legs drop, wiggling her way down my body as I continue to stare. I didn’t expect to see him again. Figured he’d have no use for me if I wasn’t feeding into his dumbassery. But here he is. Looking fucking contrite.
I have no clue what to say to him so I just stand there, feeling farther from him—from the life we used to share—than ever before.
My dad shifts on his feet. “Can I come in?”
I start to tell him no. I don’t want him near Alexis. Don’t want him to taint what we’re building.
But Al beats me to the punch. She angles a brow at my dad, giving him a look that could melt the paint off a car. “Are you going to be an asshat?”
Fucking hell. I love everything about Alexis, including her mouth’s tendency to run all on its own, but if my dad says something shitty to her, I might end up like Leo did a few months ago, and it took forever to clean that mess up.
My dad rocks back on his heels, eyes coming to me before going back to Alexis. “He told you about that, huh?”
Alexis crosses her arms, continuing to glare at him. “Which part are you referring to? The part where you told him to never trust a woman because we’re nothing but lying whores? Or the part where you objectified me the first time our paths crossed?”
My dad’s brows lift, climbing his forehead as Alexis continues to dress him down.
“If you’re here to try to put more of your idiot opinions into his head, then you can turn your ass right around and crawl back into whatever pit you escaped from.” Her chin lifts. “But, if you’re here in an attempt to apologize, then you should probably start talking.”
My dad blinks and I hold my breath, waiting to see how he reacts to the little ankle biter Alexis is becoming. He takes a breath, but instead of turning to me, his focus stays on Alexis. “I’m sorry for what I said about you. You didn’t deserve that.”
“It was gross.” She doesn’t back down. Doesn’t give him an inch. “You shouldn’t talk that way about any woman, much less one your son is with.”
Another deep breath from my father. “You’re right.”
Alexis studies him for a second before tipping her head my way. “Now apologize to him.”
If I wasn’t already obsessed with the woman beside me, the way she’s handling this situation would have put me there in record time. Seeing my dad again is a lot, and without her here, I would have simply slammed the door in his face.
My dad meets my eyes. “I’m sorry.” He pauses, lifting his shoulders. “For everything.”
Again, I don’t know what to say. It’s too much and not enough at the same time.
And again, Alexis steps in.
“That’s a good start, but you know you’re going to have to dig into the specifics if you really want to fix all the shit you fucked up, right?” She steps in front of me, eyes narrowing as she stares my dad down. “And just so you know, if you do anything to hurt him in any way, I will make sure you suffer.”
My dad nods. “Understood.”
Alexis lifts her chin high in the air. “Good.” She turns to me, running one hand down the center of my chest. “I should go check on the stuff in the oven.” She raises her brows in silent question, making it clear she won’t leave me on my own with him unless I want her to.
“Good idea.” I lean down to press a kiss to her lips. “Don’t want your first attempt at making Granny D’s butter cake to burn the building down.”
Al scrunches her nose at me. “Funny.”
“I’m hilarious, remember?” I kiss her wrinkled nose. “See you in a minute.”
She gives my dad another glare before disappearing behind me, leaving us alone.
“She’s real protective of you, isn’t she?” There’s something akin to awe in my dad’s voice. Like he can’t believe what he’s seeing.
“She is.” I cross my arms and lean against the door frame. “And I’m real protective of her.”
My dad nods and goes quiet for a minute. When he speaks again, his voice is softer. “I miss you, son.” He glances down the hall before continuing. “I want to fix this.”
“To fix this, you have to fix you.” I still love my dad, but I won’t let him be around Alexis if he’s going to be the man I know him to be. He has to be different. Better.
“I know, and I’m trying.” He scrubs one hand down the back of his neck. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about things, and I started to realize I might have fucked up as much as your mom did.”
This is the first time I’ve ever heard my dad take accountability for anything. It’s weird.
“Maybe I can take you and…” His eyes drift into my condo.
“Alexis.”
“Maybe I can take you and Alexis out for dinner sometime.” He peers around me, like he expects her to come back to lay into him again at any moment. “Or just coffee. Whatever you want.”
It’s funny how quickly he walked back from dinner, but it’s hilarious that my little spitfire of a girlfriend is probably why he decided to offer something with a shorter time frame.
“I’ll think about it.” I’m not committing to anything. Not until I talk to Alexis. Not because I want to make sure she’s okay with going—I know she will always support me—but because I need to figure out if I’m okay with going.
Things are so good between us. Fucking perfect. I won’t risk that for anything.
Not even my dad.
“Fair enough.” He gives me a tight smile. “Let me know what you decide.”
“I will.”
I watch as he leaves, waiting until he’s in the elevator to go inside. I find Alexis sitting on the sofa with Cilantro, aggressively working on the project she’s been fighting with for weeks.
“You might want to calm down before you start dropping stitches and get really pissed.” I sit next to her, carefully taking the scarf she’s torn apart and reworked more times than I can count. “You sure you don’t want me to do this for you?”
“It’s your scarf. The point of it is that I’m the one who makes it.” She snags it from my hands and goes back to fighting the loops. “That way it’s filled with all my love for you.”
I squint. “Is it though? Because you’re usually cussing at it.”
“Listen.” She all but throws the scarf onto the coffee table, nearly taking out the selection of candles and artfully arranged decorations that now line its surface. “I never promised my love didn’t include cussing.”
I grab Al, pulling her across my lap so her knees straddle my thighs. Raking both hands through her blonde hair I breathe in the soft scent of her skin. “Thank you.”
Her expression softens. “Was I too mean to him?”
I shake my head. “You were just the right amount of mean.”
Her lips curve. “I think I’m going to put that on a T-shirt.”
I let my thumbs skim over her cheeks. “You don’t think your face conveys it enough?”
Her eyes widen. “If it wasn’t for this face, you would be beating every woman in Sweet Side off you when we go out.”
I nod in agreement. “You are kinda scary.”
“Damn right I am.” Al leans in to press a kiss to my lips before leaning back to grab the scarf she launched seconds ago. “Now help me make this damn scarf of love so I can give it to you.”
Thank you so much for reading Mistle-Ho!