I wakeup with something sitting on my bare chest. When I blink my eyes open, it’s Kate’s cat. We spent the night.
We never spend the night.
I wonder if Gavin is going to wake up and have an absolute meltdown, but when I look over, there’s no one else in the bed.
“Where are they?” I mumble to the cat.
He tilts his head at me, like he doesn’t have a single thought in his head. When I go to move him, he digs his claws into my bare skin and instead of pushing him off of me; I cradle him like a baby and make my way into the kitchen.
They each have a yogurt parfait in front of them and a third one sits waiting for me. I rub my eyes, and place the cat on the floor, and take a seat, glancing at my brother and then back at Kate.
“It’s not a big deal,” Gavin says, and Kate nods her head.
“I agree, sleepovers are fine. Friends have sleepovers all the time,” she says, like she’s trying to make herself believe the words coming out of her mouth.
“Okay,” I say, spooning a mouthful and eating my breakfast.
“So, this weekend. You’ll come?” Gavin asks, bringing up the conversation from last night that got interrupted by more sex.
Kate’s cheeks blush, but she nods. “Well that’s entirely up to your and Ben’s stamina, isn’t it?”
“I think we more than proved ourselves in the stamina department last night,” Gavin says, arching a brow at her.
She lets out a breath of frustration like she wants to talk herself out of going, but nods. “Fine, I’ll come.”
“Good, music to my ears,” Gavin says, going back to eating.
“Good,” I repeat, because I truly don’t know what else to say. Morning afters have never been a thing we’ve endured. It’s not awkward per se, but I’m not really sure how to act.
Kate kicks us out after breakfast, saying she has errands to run, and when I’m alone in the car with Gavin, I finally turn and face him.
“That was a lot of kissing,” I say, trying not to be too accusatory, because I’m not sure what I want out of this conversation.
Mostly I want to know that I’m not alone in this feeling, that he also feels this strange cosmic pull to this small woman, that she’s sunk her hooks into both of us, and what the fuck are we going to do about it?
“I don’t have an issue with kissing.”
“Oh, you’re so full of shit. You kissed her on the mouth at the restaurant before we were even fucking. Just kissed her to be nice. I think the last time I saw you kiss a girl because you wanted to was senior year at prom with Harley Paulson.”
“She jerked us off at the same time in the limo,” he says, reminiscing instead of owning up to what I’m saying.
“You kissed her. On the mouth, and everywhere else. Not to mention this whole leaving marks thing you’ve got going on right now.”
He slides his sunglasses over his eyes, keeping his focus on the road.
“What’s your point, Ben? Are you not also into Kate? We agreed to rules, it’s an agreement. You’re reading too much into it,” he says.
All I hear is denial leaking out of his lips, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Me and my brothers are all stubborn as hell, but Gavin might just take the cake in that regard.
“You like her,” I accuse and Gavin shrugs his shoulders.
“We both do. That’s the whole fucking point of this agreement. No need to go to Avalon and roll the dice on what kind of night we’re going to have. She’s a sure thing. There are rules in place. You’re making a big deal out of this for nothing. And for the record, I’m not anti-kissing.”
Fucking liar.
He turns to face me, though I can’t see his eyes through his sunglasses.
“What’s really bothering you? Do you like her more than a friend? Should we stop this before it even starts?”
