It was unlikely his birth mother’s abandonment and betrayal hadn’t left its mark on Gabe, but it wasn’t Eve’s place to second guess Gabe’s feelings. “That’s awful. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Blood doesn’t make parents.”
“It certainly doesn’t.” Brendan was living proof of that.
They were silent for a little while. He shifted, his leg slipping between hers. She rubbed her thigh against his crinkly hardness. “Eve,” he murmured.
“Yes?”
“We talked about how... this was sort of casual.”
Uh-oh. Had he seen something in how she looked at him? In the things she’d said? Had he realized how much she liked him? Her stupid crush?
It had been bad enough when he’d rejected her briefly in the cabin. To be rejected now, because he suspected her troublesome emotions? That was unthinkable. She wouldn’t be able to bear it, not on top of all the other tumult in the day.
The shell. Yes, fine. She was going in the shell. Because sometimes you needed the protection of a shell. “Yeah. Of course. It was such a great idea,” she said in a rush. “This was fun, right?”
He inhaled. “Yeah, fun.”
“I mean, it’s not like we could have anything more, ever,” she said, and her heart cracked. “But this was great sex.”
He pressed his face against her hair and gave her a kiss. “That’s what I’m good for.”
“I... I enjoyed myself a lot.”
He was smiling when he pulled away. “I’m glad.” He squeezed her. “I should go to bed. We all have a big day tomorrow.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him to stay here, and sleep with her, but she stuffed that desire down. “Right. Sure.”
Slowly, his arm left her, and he rolled out of bed. He drew on his boxers, and gathered his clothes. She pulled the blankets up over herself, the bed frigid without him.
When he looked at her, his eyes were calm and clear. He bent over and kissed her forehead. It was the kind of kiss you might give someone when you never expected to run into them again. “Good night.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He stroked her cheek. “Yeah,” he said, and then he walked away, shutting his door behind him. He didn’t see her sniffle, or shed a single tear. It was over, she told herself. And that was fine.
She closed her eyes, and let her tears seep into the pillow. It was fine.
Chapter 27
Eve walked down the hallway and scrubbed at her eyes. She was sure she had huge bags. It would require a mountain of makeup to get rid of them.
She met Sadia outside Livvy’s door. The other woman looked slightly more rested than Eve, but not by much. She probably hadn’t gotten much sleep either, though she’d missed being present for Brendan’s dramatic revelations.
“Hey,” Sadia said, subdued. “How are you doing?”
“Okay, I guess.”
Sadia squeezed her arm, which surprised Eve. “I know last night must have been especially hard on you. We can talk about it later, if you like. It might help to decompress with someone who has a little more perspective on both your families.”
Eve fiddled with her shirt. “I... Thanks. That means a lot.” She bit her lip. “You know, thanks for not holding how stupid I was with Livvy when she came back here against me. It’s really cool of you.”
Sadia raised her eyebrows. “I would never have done such a thing. It was an emotional time for all of us, I get it.”
Eve wasn’t accustomed to talking about emotions like they were an acceptable reason to behave erratically, but she was learning. “Thank you.”
Sadia pulled her close for a hug. “We’re sisters now, Eve. God knows, I don’t have enough of them.”
