He shoots me in the game before I even have a chance to get my bearings, and I realize I might be shit-out of luck here.
“Mom!” Gavin yells suddenly in my ear, causing me to yank the headphones away. When I hear Larkin, I put them back on.
“Why are you yelling? Geez, what’s up?”
“You have to stay quiet, okay?” he says like we’re in some huge conspiracy, and I almost laugh.
“Umm, okay.”
“I need you to check your phone in a couple of minutes.”
“What kind of cryptic stuff is going on here?” I hear Larkin say, and I have to hide my laugh.
“I just need you to help me really quickly,” Gavin says, avoiding every question she sends his way.
“You still there?” His voice becomes a little stronger, so I assume he’s talking to me.
“Yep, still here, bud.”
“Good. Text a picture of your license with your thumb at the top left corner.”
“Who in the hell are you asking for their license? Do I need to take the whole damn console away?” Larkin says.
“No, but I need to give him your number to send it to. You’ll see why when you see the picture,” Gavin says like this is the most logical way to go about things. I have to give him credit, though. He’s being extra cautious and not giving information out to just anyone. Pride for him beams through my chest as I pull my wallet out and take the exact picture he asked for.
“Okay, send it to this number.” I do as he says, and within a minute, I hear Larkin taking the headphones from him.
“Sorry about my lovely son. He tends to go a little overboard when it comes to Ainsley. How can I help?”
“Umm.” Her words catch me off guard, but I have to assume that Ainsley talked to her a little about what’s going on.
“I, umm, I need your address if that’s okay. I’d like to drive down tomorrow and see Ainsley.”
She hums under her breath as I hold mine.
“This is interesting. Her meeting is at nine tomorrow morning. Either Theo or I can be here to let you in when you get here. Just text us when you’re close.”
I blow out my breath and hear her getting more distant, telling Gavin bed is in ten minutes. My phone dings with a text, and I see Larkin sent me her address with an “I’m rooting for you” GIF.
Relief surges through me. This was an asinine plan, but desperation will make a man do crazy things.
“See you tomorrow?” Gavin asks.
“If your aunt doesn’t kick me out, definitely.”
“Sweet. Night, Ledger.”
“Night, Gavin.” I exit out of the game and just sit there, in Ainsley’s house, in silence.
I’m not sure what I’m going to say to Ainsley when I see her, but I know that regardless of how we left things, I need her to know that I’ll bethere for her. That we can work it out, talk things out, and really figure out how to make a real go of this, once and for all.
The drive is fairly boring, and I’m grateful to have Theo let me into the house right when I get there. We exchange basic pleasantries before he gives me a hard stare.
“Ainsley has had a lot going on in her life. She needs someone who is willing to work through the bumps while she irons everything out. If you are looking for the perfect relationship, turn around and go home.”
“With all due respect, I’d deal with a hell of a lot more than bumps in the road for Ainsley,” I tell him bluntly. We don’t know each other, but if he feels the need to pull a big-brother act, I’ll be sure to give him the overprotective-boyfriend act right back.
“Welcome to the family, Ledger,” he smirks and walks away.
