I knocked on his door, once… twice. I heard Magnum barking, and I waited with bated breath. He swung the door open and did a double take when he saw me. “Abigail…” he said, as if he wasn’t sure it was me.
“Who else would it be, silly.” I handed him a basket of lemon cupcakes.
He seemed reluctant when he accepted the basket. “Thank you,” he said quietly. He didn’t invite me in.
“Well, can I come in or what?”
“Well…” he winced as his gaze raked over me, from the top of my head down to my dirty sneakers. “Uh… sure. What the hell. I was just feeding Magnum.”
Thrilled to bits, I practically bounced into his kitchen. The scent of dog food was overpowering. I took a seat at the kitchen table and watched intently as he bent down to give Magnum his bowl of food. The dog quickly buried his face in it, and ate like he hadn't been fed in days.
Gavin laughed. “He’s always like this.”
My eyes danced over Gavin’s lean frame, a thin ratty v-neck t-shirt, dark jeans hanging off his hips, a messy beard. “He’s a hungry boy, I guess.”
Gavin was staring at Magnum, avoiding eye contact at all costs. “Thank you, Abigail, for the cupcakes. How did you know I had a sweet tooth?”
“Lucky guess.”Look at me, please. I made myself pretty for you today. I even wore some makeup.
Izzie and Adele were surprised when I asked them to go makeup shopping with me. Surprised and excited, and more than willing to make me over.
He reached for a cupcake. “Listen, Abigail. I appreciate you bringing cupcakes and stuff. You’re a sweetheart.” He slowly freed the cupcake from its pleated paper skirt. “You’re the only one around here who’s actually been nice to me…”
I listened attentively.
His lips drew thin. “But…”
But what?
“You coming here is not appropriate,” he went on. “You’re fourteen years old, Abigail. And I’m a twenty-four year old man. We can’t be friends.”
My heart sank, so low, I thought I might just die right there.
“Why not?” I cried. “So you’re a lot older than me. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal… is people. People talk, Abigail. And everyone already hates me around here.”
I thought of the rumors I’d heard. “Who cares about those people,” I scoffed. “They’re all idiots.”
“You’re too young, Abigail.”
I exhaled a long breath. “No one needs to know,” I pointed out. “We live at the end of the street. Think about it, Gavin… you’re tucked in between the forest and me. Old Mrs. Harris never leaves her trailer and keeps her curtains drawn. Sometimes I wonder if she’s even still alive in there, and the Rogers’ are always drunk and talking nonsense. Nobody takes them seriously.”
“Abigail…”
“You know I’m right. If I’m careful when I come over, no one needs to know.”
He shook his head. “It’s not—”
“Don’t you like me?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
His gaze dropped to the table. “I do… a lot… that’s the problem, Abigail.”
My whole core warmed at the sound of those words, words I’d wanted to hear for a long time. He liked me…too much.And I loved the way he said my name.Abigail.No one called me Abigail but him. I would replay that one sentence a thousand times in bed that night.
I made a decision right then. “I’m not going away,” I told him, resolute. “I’ll keep coming here. You’ll have to physically push me away.”
I didn’t realize at the time that we both so desperately needed each other. We were both so lonely and looking to truly connect with someone. Sure, I had Izzie, but our friendship wasn’t quite what it should have been. She never really cared.
He closed his eyes and took a bite of his cupcake.
