things.
Fortunately for me, she didn’t say anything else. Just smiled and glanced over at my dad.
“Congratulations,” Dad said with a nod.
Gavin’s gaze swung to me, his eyes wide with alarm, then back to Dad. “What?”
Dad gestured to the pumpkin crown. “The Pumpkin Plunge.”
He took the crown off and looked at it, like he’d forgotten it was on his head. “Oh, right. Thanks.”
“I remember the year your dad won,” Dad said. “Although I think Gerald made you hold out longer than anything Charlie had to contend with.”
“That’s right, I remember that,” Mom said, putting her hand on Dad’s arm. “He looks so much like Charlie, don’t you think?”
Dad looked at Gavin. “You really do. Spitting image of your father.”
The levity in Gavin’s expression melted away and he glanced down at the table. “Yeah, that’s what Gram says.”
“We should get in line to order,” Mom said, tugging on Dad’s arm.
“Bye Mom… and Dad,” I said, stumbling over the phrase. Saying it that way felt so odd, like they were actually a couple.
Gavin kept his eyes on the table as my parents walked away.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. Wanna get out of here?”
“Sure.”
Gavin said things like I’ll be fine, or it’ll be fine all the time, and usually he meant it. But this time, I could tell he didn’t.
I followed him out and we got in his truck. He turned on the engine, but didn’t drive away.
“I don’t remember them,” he said finally, his voice unusually quiet.
“Your parents?”
He nodded. “My brothers do, but I was only four. It feels like I never even met them.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I was an oops baby anyway. They didn’t mean to have more kids.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You’d think they’d have figured out how it worked by then, but I guess not.” He cracked a smile. “Asher and Evan are only a year apart, and then they had the twins two years later. The last thing they needed was another kid. But along came Gavin.”
“I’m sure they wanted you just as much as your brothers.”
He shrugged.
I reached over and clasped his hand. It was cold. “You’re still freezing.”
He met my eyes. “You want to warm me up?”
Just the suggestion sent a pleasant tingle of anticipation through my body. “One way to recover from prolonged exposure to cold is skin contact.”
“I love skin contact.”
“Me too.”
He looked at me for a long moment, a subtle smile on his face. “Thanks, Sky.”
“For what?”
“Making me feel better.”
“Already? I haven’t even taken my clothes off yet.”
“You don’t even have to. But I want you to anyway, just so we’re clear.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know.”
That wasn’t a problem, because right now nothing sounded better than getting naked with Gavin Bailey.
29
Gavin
Sky was right, I was still cold. The coffee helped, as did my hair finally drying. But I’d been in the water long enough that the chill had gone right to my bones. Usually I’d just take a hot shower after a dip in the frigid river. But getting naked with Skylar was going to be so much more fun.
I was still riding the high of the plunge, the excitement of the challenge pulsing through me. Chief’s mention of my dad had pulled me down a little, but now that I was taking Sky back to my place, I was soaring again.
After parking in the driveway—I was happy to see that my brothers still weren’t home—we went inside. Princess Squeaker came out yawning and brushed up against my leg.
I picked her up and nuzzled her nose with mine. “Hi, Princess.”
“She’s grown so much.” Skylar reached out to pet her, but Squeaker batted at her hand.
“Hey, now. You don’t need to be jealous.” I almost added, Skylar’s just a friend, but there was something about that sentence that I didn’t like. Which was weird—because it was true—but I still didn’t say it.
I put Squeaker down and grabbed Skylar’s hand, tugging her toward my room. The corners of her mouth lifted in a smile as she let me lead her in.
As much as I loved sex—and I really loved it—there was this moment of anticipation before sex that I loved almost as much. Just knowing that in a few minutes I was going to be inside her made my blood run hot.
I shut the door behind us and she took her coat off. Sliding my hands around her waist, I pulled her against me and leaned down to kiss her lips. She wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing herself close.
“Let’s get you warmed