The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams Page 0,36
watching our every move?”
“They’re our friends, Thea.”
“They’re your friends, Gavin.”
“What does that mean?”
“Except for Nessa, I can’t stand most of those women. Or, more to the point, they can’t stand me.”
Gavin shook his head as if her words made no sense. “What are you talking about, Thea? Since when?”
“Since forever.” Thea filled her arms with canned goods and walked to the butler’s pantry.
“Is there more to that answer?” Gavin asked behind her. He stood in the doorway, arms braced against the frame and blocking them both in.
“It doesn’t matter,” she snapped. “We’ll go to Del’s tomorrow, and then I never have to hang out with those women again.”
She plowed past him and searched out the girls in the living room. They were sitting on the floor and watching a cartoon on PBS. Thea crouched down and kissed them both. She was doing this for them. She had to remember that.
Which she was able to do through much of the evening—during pizza, the girls’ bath, and bedtime. After getting both girls to sleep, she went to her own bedroom without a word to Gavin and shut the door. If she could make this her nightly routine, she just might survive this.
She had just stripped down to her bra and panties when the door opened.
* * *
• • •
Thea whipped around as Gavin strode in. “What are you doing?”
He closed the door and leaned against it, swallowing against his dry throat at the sight of her bare skin. “You established your conditions, Thea. Now it’s my turn.”
Thea’s eyes did a you have to be joking bug out before she shook her head with an angry exhale. “No. You don’t get to set any conditions.”
“First,” he said, peeling away from the door. “We attend the team Christmas party.”
Every year, the Legends hosted a black tie post-season bash at the ballpark for players, families, and other staff.
“No.” Thea shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
He sauntered closer. “Second, we go on a date every single week. Just the two of us.”
She laughed openly. “No.”
Gavin took another step. “A real date, Thea. Not grocery shopping or some other mundane activity you can think of to avoid being alone with me.”
“Sorry. Next?”
He closed what remained of the distance between them. “We kiss good-night. Every night. Starting tonight.”
“You can’t be serious,” Thea said, her jaw clenching. “No. No way.”
Gavin stepped back. Time to play his card. “OK, fine,” he said, raising his hands in a wide shrug. “Then let’s call this off right now. Let’s go get the girls, tell them we’re getting a divorce, and we’ll let the lawyers figure out who gets them on Christmas and which one of us keeps the house.”
The first chink in her armor was a rapid blink of her eyes. She wouldn’t do that to the girls, and Gavin knew it. Still, he found no joy in watching her eyes flicker with a pain that told him how right the guys were yesterday morning. There were things he needed to find out about his wife.
Thea clenched her jaw. “I can’t believe you would use the girls against me like this,” she seethed, shaking.
He winced inwardly but plowed forward. “You’ve left me with few options, Thea. Your conditions would have made it impossible for me to win.”
“Win? Is this a game to you?”
He lowered his gaze to her lips. “A game? No. A competition? Yes.”
Thea braced her hands on the edge of her dresser behind her as Gavin inched ever closer. Her eyes darted to his lips and lingered there. Blood roared through his ears as logic and reason failed him. Because instead of backing away like he should have, he leaned closer. Dipped his head. Nudged the tip of her nose with his.
“What’re you doing?” Thea whispered. She might have been aiming for angry, but the breathless anticipation in her voice gave her away. She was as turned on as he was.
“Sealing the deal,” he rasped.
Then he palmed the back of her head and he kissed her. He kissed her like he had last weekend, open-mouthed and probing. And just like last weekend, she greeted his passion with a split-second of resistance before all but melting into him with another one of those sighs that sent a surge of lust to his groin. Gavin changed the angle of his mouth and went deeper, pouring everything he couldn’t say and she didn’t want to hear into the push and pull of his lips against hers.