The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams Page 0,55
too personal.
Liv’s jaw practically broke because she clenched it so hard. “And you say he’s not an evil mastermind. He’s blackmailing you!”
“It doesn’t matter. Just because I go out with him doesn’t mean I’m going to cave.”
It was dark by the time Thea and Liv returned shortly after dinnertime. Gavin and the girls were hanging out in the living room when they walked in. He looked up with a smile that made Thea’s heart swipe right.
At the sound of Liv’s knowing snort, Thea wiped her expression clean.
“Have fun?” Gavin asked, draping an arm over the back of the couch.
“Yeah,” she breathed, bending to kiss the girls.
“We were just going to watch Elf,” Gavin said.
“Can we all watch it?” Ava asked.
“Sure,” Thea answered, glancing up at her sister. “Maybe Liv will make us some caramel corn.”
“Sure,” Liv drawled in a sickly, sweet tone. “And then we’ll just be one big happy family!”
Thea smothered her groan with a sigh.
When the movie ended, Gavin offered to put the girls to bed so Thea could continue her day of pampering with a long bubble bath. It sounded too heavenly to refuse, but when she emerged from the bathroom forty-five minutes later, she realized his suggestion hadn’t been entirely altruistic.
Gavin was sitting on their bed, reclined against the headboard with his legs crossed casually at the ankles. A present rested next to his hip, wrapped way too beautifully for Gavin to have done it himself. His present-wrapping skills usually involved an entire role of tape and a wad of paper five times bigger than was necessary.
“Did you need something?” she asked, crossing her arms over the plush robe that covered her nakedness.
Oh. Right. The good-night kiss. Her heart skidded sideways.
Gavin held out the present. “I got you something today.” When she made no move to accept it, he rose from the bed and brought it to her. “It’s nothing big, but I thought of you when I saw it.”
Reluctantly, Thea took the present from his fingers and slid a fingernail under a strip of tape along the back. The red-and-gold paper fell away in a single sheet and fell to the floor.
And then so did her stomach.
It was a book.
But not just any book. Their book. The one she’d been reading the day when he finally approached her in the coffee shop after weeks of shyly smiling. W-w-what are you reading? he asked.
And it was that book that he offered to read aloud to her when she came down with what she thought was a stomach flu three months into their relationship.
“Where did you get this?” she asked, because it was the only thing she could think to say. It’s not like it was hard to find a copy of a Faulkner novel.
“The bookstore downtown.” He cleared his throat. “I was thinking maybe w-w-we could read it again since we never finished it.”
No, they hadn’t. Because that stomach flu ended up being morning sickness, and the book was quickly forgotten. Thea wasn’t even sure what happened to her old copy. Probably packed away in a box in the attic along with her other neglected college textbooks.
The high from the day began to dissipate like a mist in the air. “I know what you’re doing, Gavin, and I-I appreciate the sentiment. But—”
“Yesterday sucked,” he blurted, cutting her off. “I know that.” He stumbled over his next words. “I w-w-want to try this again. Can we pretend the past twenty-four hours never happened?”
“Pretending everything is fine doesn’t solve anything, Gavin.” Her tone was combative and defensive, but that’s how she felt. Why bother hiding it?
“I just w-want us to read together like we used to,” he said.
“And then what? After you read, then what?”
“And then I’ll kiss you good-night and go back to my room. And tomorrow night, we’ll do it again, and the night after that.”
Thea sank to the mattress. Gavin must have mistaken it as a sign of her softening, because he approached the bed. “I’m trying to put us back together, Thea. Can’t you meet me halfway?”
At her silence, Gavin sidestepped her and sat down on the bed. He reclined into the same pose as when she walked out of the bathroom, only this time he cracked open the book. He looked up and cocked an eyebrow, daring her to join him.
Thea rolled her eyes. “Fine. We’ll read.” She stomped around to her side of the bed and climbed in next to him, holding her robe closed as she did. She fluffed the pillow