Chapter 17
Zoe didn’t know what was going on with Gavin. He hadn’t said anything about her twoI love you’sso she hadn’t asked. And that was uncharacteristic of her. She knew that, but she also knew Gavin needed to be handled differently. He’d grown more skittish, sometimes lost in thought, and startled easily. But he didn’t suffer nightmares, so she had a feeling his preoccupation had to do with something else. Her? His job? That weird get-together he’d had with Mark this morning?
Since Gavin was currently at his counseling session, she couldn’t ask him about it. Mark had been closemouthed about their time, only saying that Gavin was indeed a natural athlete. And if the bastard practiced much more, he might actually beat Mark—an impossible feat.
She grinned at the thought, then sobered. She couldn’t keep ignoring the big, fat loving elephant in the room. She’d saidI love you. He had not, and now he spent each night making love to her until she could barely breathe.
Granted, she had no complaints about being screwed silly six ways from Sunday, but at some point they would need to talk before his dick fell off.
Gavin texted her that he planned on staying at his home alone this evening, needing to think through some things Lee had told him.
No problem, she texted back, wishing he would share more but understanding he needed his space to work things out. Dealing with Aubrey’s loss got easier as time passed, but Zoe still missed her twin. Gavin, on the other hand, had seen some horrible things and was dealing with a lot more than just death. She never wanted to be someone who’d stand in the way of another getting well. The fact that Gavin sometimes seemed withdrawn or quiet about his therapy told her he felt some sense of shame about it. Oh, he joked and acted as if outing himself as the “family screwup” was no big deal. But she knew better.
She called Ava and asked about getting together tonight for some wine and received an invitation to join Ava and Landon at Ava’s place. Zoe arrived two hours later after stopping by the store for a plate of cheese and crackers. Following the directions, she walked past the unlocked iron gate and entered the covered condo hallway, then walked down the stairs to Unit 2B. She’d barely knocked before Landon answered, grabbed the food from her hands, and pointed her to the shoe mat. “Shoes. Coat goes in there.” He nodded to the closet, then walked away with the tray, already prying it open.
Ava stood in the living room with her hands on her hips, her hair pinned up in a loose bun, glasses on her face, looking very doctor-like, even in loose cotton pants and a sweatshirt. She huffed. “Great hospitality, Landon. Good Lord. No wonder no one ever invites us over.”
He shrugged and shoved a large square of cheese in his mouth. “Meh. She’s family. She doesn’t care. Besides, I’m starved. You wouldn’t let me eat any of our dinner, and she tempted me with cheese. I blame both of you,” he said with his mouth full and disappeared into another room.
“Come in, Zoe. Sorry about that.” Ava waved in his direction.
Zoe laughed. “No problem. You really do have to feed them, Ava. Or you chance them going rabid.”
“Seriously.” Ava laughed and removed her glasses. She set them on the table behind the couch and motioned Zoe in. “This is the place. Living room here. In there’s the tiny galley kitchen.” She pointed to the doorway where Landon had disappeared. As Zoe neared, she saw the main area had an L shape. The living room bent into an open dining area with a large pass-through, making the kitchen visible. But what struck Zoe was the lovely view of the park and Lake Union past the wall of windows behind Ava.
“Wow. That’s so pretty.”
“Yeah. The condo isn’t that big, so we’ll eventually need to move. But we have kind of a flipped unit. The living area and kitchen are here, and downstairs we have a bedroom, study/spare room, and two bathrooms. Oh, and if you need it, the upstairs bathroom is over there.” She pointed to a small powder room behind Zoe.
“This place is beautiful.”
“We like it.” Landon came out of the kitchen holding a glass of wine for her. “Sorry. Low blood sugar. Gavin’s like this too, so if he’s acting like a jerk, feed him.” He grinned at Ava. “Or give him lots of sex. That helps too.”
“Landon.” Ava sounded scandalized.
“Easy, Doc. I’m kidding.” He leaned closer to Zoe, winked, and whispered, “I’m really not.”
She chuckled. “Thanks, Landon. For the wine, not the advice.”
“Whatever. I tried to help.”
Ava yanked him out of her way. “Put on some music, would you? And Zoe, sit down.”
“I just came for wine and company. You didn’t have to go all out.”
“I made a late dinner, and I’ve been wanting to have you over for a while. Two birds, one stone. Have you eaten?”
“Late night for me too.” She sipped the wine, a crisp white, and sat at the dining table. Landon put the tray of goodies, now accompanied by olives and some more crackers, in the center of the table and joined her with a beer. “Gavin is staying at his place tonight, processing his therapy,” she blurted. “I’m worried about him.”
“We all are,” Landon said quietly. “Lee’s been good for him, though. Christ, you should have seen Gavin when he first got back. He was a hot mess.”
“Landon.” Ava joined them at the table. “He’s not wrong about Lee, though. I told Gavin about him, in hopes Gavin would see him. He’s been going weekly for a while, but you know that.”
She nodded. “Gavin told me.”
“Lee’s been a real help. Not that Lee told me; it’s just what I’ve seen from Gavin. He’s more open, clear, and he seems a lot more in control.”
“His nightmares aren’t so bad either,” Landon said. He stared at Zoe.
