I go inside of my home, grabbing us two bottles of water and give the cats a few headscratchers before going outside. I’m about to hand Gavin some water as he’s crouched under my car when he makes a guttural noise in his throat.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he curses as he rips something from the bumper of my car. “This is how he’s been following you around. Do you see how serious this is now?”
I’m not sure why my first reaction is for tears to well in my eyes. Gavin’s face softens as he stands off the ground and wraps his arms around mine.
“Stay at our place until they get your security up, at least? Please,” he whispers against my hair, his tone soft with me.
“I can have Pat feed the cats,” I mumble against his chest.
“Thank fuck. Go pack a bag and I’ll drop you off at our place before I head into work.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
Gavin kisses the top of my head, and it makes me want to cry all over again. My feelings for him only get deeper and I’m not sure what’s going to break me more, the moment our arrangement is over or when I won’t have him to protect me anymore.
28
DOMESTIC BLISS
Gavin isin the world’s shittiest mood as we go through our employee meeting. We’ve nearly tripled how many employees we have over the last month with staffing for the club and the need for more reliant boat captains.
It’s been a lot to manage, but it’s more fulfilling than I thought it would be. I feel a sense of pride knowing that we employ so many people and are a part of them providing for our families.
Plus, I get to work with my brother, who’s my best friend and we’re doing what we love. Working on the water and offering a safe, comfortable place where people can come together and socialize and celebrate life.
I feel happier than I ever thought I would. I’m not delusional enough to think Kate isn’t a big part of why I’m feeling so hopeful about everything lately. God, I feel like some kid who got his first hard-on for a girl, jerking off twenty-four seven thinking about what it would finally be like to fuck her.
I’ve had crushes before. No, I’ve had infatuations before, but this is different. I could see Kate in my life, and beyond that, I could see her inourlife. There’s always been this lingering fearthat one day Gavin and I would be all grown up and I wouldn’t have my twin anymore—at least not in the same way we’ve always lived our lives. Maybe that’s codependent and unhealthy as fuck, but I love our life. We’re thirty-fucking-five. We’re not going to change when it comes to how much we need each other any time soon.
But Kate…Kate likes both of us, and she doesn’t treat either one of us like we’re better than the other. Something I know that eats away at Gavin. He’s so convinced that people prefer me over to him and he’s so fucking wrong.
Gavin is the most loving and understanding person out there and anyone who doesn’t see that isn’t worth his time. Kate sees it. I know she does. Just as she sees me. She sees the soft side I keep hidden along with the fun loving man I am.
I’m so absolutely fucked over the woman, and I don’t care.
Rick hands out the schedules for the week and goes over boat safety with our captains and once he’s done, everyone leaves the bar, except my brother, who pours—over pours—himself a glass of whiskey.
“Uh, you good?”
“Kate’s at our house,” he says and I can’t decipher his tone. Is he pissed about it? Happy about it?
“Why?”
“All they did was give her some bullshit temporary restraining order. You know what happens if he breaks it? It just gets extended or made permanent. He was outside of her fucking house. He’s been threatening her,” he says, downing the glass and swallowing heavily.
I know my brother almost as well as I know myself and I can see it in the way he speaks now. He’s not upset that Kate’s at our house. He’s upset because of the circumstances. He cares more deeply about her than I realized.
“Is she okay?”
“I’m not sure. I think the reality of it all is hitting her. She agreed to stay at our place until I had Mitch and his guys set up security at her house.”
He pours himself another glass, but this time he sips it.
“This all happened last night?” I ask.
“This morning technically.”
“You stayed at her house, in her bed?” I clarify.
