The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams Page 0,68
wide-eyed glance. He dropped a kiss on her lips. “Good morning,” he murmured.
“Morning,” she whispered.
“I had fun last night.”
Liv made a gagging noise.
Gavin looked over his shoulder and curled his lip. Liv narrowed her eyes. He bared his teeth. She waggled her fingers and hummed P!nk’s “U + UR Hand.”
Thea turned around with another sigh. “You two need to get over this.”
“She started it.”
Thea tilted her head. “I don’t even let the girls get away with that excuse.”
The twins, who’d been silently poking dribbly spoonfuls of Cheerios into their mouths, must have picked up on the weird tension in the room, because they started griping about who got more cereal. Gavin tore his gaze from Thea and intervened. “You each got the same amount, girls.”
“I’m done,” Ava said, pushing her bowl away, pouting for no good reason.
“Wait for your sister, and then we’ll go get you dressed,” Thea said, walking to where the girls sat. She started wiping mouths but paused when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She made an annoyed noise but pulled it out.
She froze.
“What’s wrong?” Gavin asked.
“It’s an email from Vanderbilt.”
Liv set down her coffee. “Shit.”
“Open it,” he said.
With a deep swallow, Thea swiped the screen a couple of times. Gavin held his breath as her eyes skimmed the screen.
A smile broke out on her face as she turned the screen around.
“Holy shit,” he breathed. “You got in?”
“I got in.” She raised her arms and let out a victory whoop. Liv did a dance around the island as the girls laughed at the hijinks. Gavin wanted to join in the celebratory melee. He wanted to wrap his arms around Thea and congratulate her with a kiss, but he chose restraint.
“That’s amazing, Thea,” he said from a safe distance. “Congratulations.”
“When do you start classes?” Liv asked.
Thea looked at the email again. “January 18.”
“We are sooo going to celebrate tonight,” Liv said, hugging Thea from behind.
Gavin bristled but fought it down. She and Liv already had plans together tonight to help Liv’s friend with the café. He’d save his celebration for another night, when they could be alone.
She looked up, and her cheeks flushed under his gaze. He must not have been very good at hiding his thoughts. “I have to get dressed,” she said.
Gavin cleaned up the girls’ cereal and helped them down from their chairs. Then he walked to the whiteboard, dug out a dry erase marker, and circled January 18 on the calendar.
“I wouldn’t plan too far out, Gavin,” Liv said, coming up behind him. “Your calendar ends at Christmas.”
Not if he could help it.
Last night had been a turning point for them. He could feel it. She’d revealed some things to him that she’d never told him before. She’d danced with him. Kissed him.
The guys were right. He needed to be patient. But Liv was right too. The calendar was not his friend, and her news about getting into Vanderbilt was a new plot twist he needed to figure out.
It was time to get serious.
Gavin hammered out a text message to the guys. Emergency meeting tonight. My house.
* * *
• • •
After dropping the girls off at school, Thea ran home to quickly shower and dress. Gavin, thankfully, was gone for his morning training session. She couldn’t handle any private conversations with him. Not after the way he’d looked at her this morning. Not after that sweet little kiss and all it implied.
Liv was right. She was caving. From a couple of tender kisses and one thoughtful date and— Thea shook her head. The email from Vanderbilt had arrived at the perfect time. He’d been spinning cobwebs in her brain, but getting notice from Vandy was like a sweep of the clarity broom.
She had too much to do, like drop off the paperwork that had been requested in her acceptance email, register for classes, and stop at the bookstore. A lot of it could have waited until later, but she’d been waiting almost four years to go back to school. She was tired of waiting.
The Vanderbilt campus was a half-hour drive from Franklin. Thea found a metered spot across from the administration building, poured a handful of quarters into it, and went inside. The admissions office was on the third floor. A secretary with cat-eye glasses gave her a quizzical look when Thea handed her the paperwork.
“You know, you can do all this online,” the woman said.