Five
“Have you spoken to Gavin?Do you know why he’s had such a short fuse?”
Vince and Gavin had a close relationship, and out of anyone, I would guess he confided in Vince. A part of me felt guilty exploiting that, but I wanted to figure out what was going on.
He sighed. “You know how he is. He stalls himself out in his mind. His own worries and made-up situations turn into big deals even though nothing’s actually happened.”
I thought that was where he was going to stop, but he surprised me.
“I’m not sure if you know this about him, but he’s pretty self-conscious. He got the label of the nerd when we were younger because he was brilliant and always in the special advanced classes. He was the scrawny one out of us and was the last to start growing and filling out. I think he still thinks of himself as the tiny nerd and is hard on himself. He gets it in his head that you don’t like him as much or you aren’t attracted to him like you are to the rest of us. He thinks you might just be including him because you either don’t want to hurt his feelings or you think of him more as a friend.”
My jaw fell open. “Are you serious?”
Gavin had made a few comments about not being as muscular as Vince and Luca, but I never really thought much about them. I forgot as soon as he said it because it was ridiculous in my mind. He was different, of course, but he was just as insanely sexy as the others. Hadn’t I made that clear? Evidently not. Maybe he blew off my comments as I did his.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Vince said with a frown.
I didn’t want to pry anymore. This was something I needed to talk to Gavin about directly. As much as I wanted information, I wasn’t sure I wanted to open any more cans of utter crap.
“Is this a one-night offer?”
He flashed a grin, “Yeah.”
I groaned. What else did I want to know?
“Have you heard anything about my dad or Juliet from the council?”
“No, I would have told you that as soon as I did.”
I figured, but after everything else, I learned I needed to be sure. What else could I ask? I sat up and smiled. “Can I try on you?”
His eyes widened. “Try what?”
“My shield,” I explained, and he laughed.
“Yeah, sure.”
I watched him. “What did you think I was talking about?”
He busted out another laugh. “I had no idea. My mind went a hundred directions.”
I wagged my brows at him and wiggled my toes. “See, I knew you liked the socks.”
He rolled his eyes, and I focused on pulling up my shield. We watched as it expanded out of me, taking up half the couch, then the rest. Before I could actively think about it, he was inside staring at the surrounding shimmer.
“Wow. This is cooler than I thought it would be.”
I sighed and let it collapse back into me. “So you, Luca, my dad and Tessa.”
“Still can’t get Gavin in?”
I shook my head, mildly frustrated.
“If that’s the case, it might be on his end. Don’t think about it too much yet.”
“I’ll try.” I knew I’d obsess about it later. It didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to protect Gavin. Could he really be pushing me away? Somehow preventing the shield from working?
“Is that all you’ve got?” He cocked his head, and I pursed my lips while trying to come up with another question. I didn’t want to get heavy again. I came here because I wanted to get away from the hurt and drama. I wanted to calm down and relax.