Me:Ha!
Me:Panting. Again. What the hell are you doing to me, Mr. Worthington?
Gavin:You’re the one who kissed me.
Me:That’s not what happened. You pulled me against you, lifted me into the air, and laid one on me.
Gavin:Is that how it went down?
Me:I left out a few details, like the way you looked at me right before you kissed me.
Gavin:I can’t help it. You’re fucking gorgeous.
Me:
Me:So this weekend ... I know you mentioned getting together while we were at the coffee shop, but are you sure you want to send Ben to your parents’ house? I could always sneak over while he’s asleep. I don’t want to take away any of your time with him.
Gavin:I don’t want to wait until this weekend to see you.
Me:Good thing this weekend isn’t that far away.
Gavin:My mother is begging for Ben to come over and spend the night. I’ll take him there at 4. I’ll pick you up right after.
Me:Where are we going?
Gavin:You’re not getting that out of me.
Me:You’re the worst.
Gavin:Because I want to surprise you?
Me:A girl needs to plan, like what to wear, how to do my hair—all the things.
Gavin:That outfit you wore to Jordan’s, those tight workout pants and the Bears T-shirt you tied at your waist, I want you in that. But I want it to be a Deers T-shirt.
Me:How do you even remember that outfit?
Gavin:I see your curves in those pants and how your stomach was peeking out every goddamn day in my head.
Me:Ahhh. The outfit that made you get on your knees.
Gavin:Here’s the other thing, if I need you to be in something dressy or something specific or even something for overnight, I’ve got you.
Me:What does that even mean?
Gavin:When you come to my place on Saturday, you’ll be spending the night, and you don’t need to bring anything with you.
My stomach practically shuddered as I held my phone, rereading Gavin’s last message. Clothes, he would get for me. Spending-the-night essentials, he had covered. A man with money and power and knew how to use both.
My insides completely turned to liquid.
But it was the way he made me feel that mattered far more than what he could give me or what he could do for me.
A warmth that lived in my chest, a smile that permanently marked my lips.
Somehow I had to hide it, because Bettie’s discharge papers had been processed and she was leaving in the next few hours, which meant it was time to say goodbye. According to Gavin, she was on to us, so my mask needed to be thick.
I tucked the phone into my scrubs pocket and walked down the hallway, expecting to see her daughter in her room, who I was told would be picking her up, or Maya doing a final round of doting.
