“Fight left in me?” he bit out. Clicking the television off, he tossed the remote onto the glass table, its piercing sound making Olivia jump. He rose to his feet. “Why the fuck would I fight for someone who doesn’t love me back? I’m fucked up over what happened. Believe me, you have no clue the ideas that have spawned themselves to life in my head the past few weeks, kidnapping her being one of them. I’ll love that girl until the day I fucking die, but I’m no fucking sap. Your friend’s a little more warped than I imagined.”
Olivia studied him for a moment as he paced the room back and forth. “Warped? You do realize who opened your door showing off pretty red panties the morning after you dropped Emily off, correct?” He shot her an icy look, but she continued. “She’s ripped to pieces, Gavin. You have a long history of fucking women and then leaving them. My friend’s hurt because you fucked around behind her back. Did you expect a different reaction from her?”
Raking his hands through his hair, Gavin squeezed his eyes shut. “I didn’t fuck around behind her back!” When he opened them, he could see the shock on Olivia’s face, but he didn’t give a shit at that point. “You may be correct on not knowing me as well as you thought you did, but you do know the uncaring animal that I’ve turned into the past few years. Why the fuck would I go to her job, trying to get her back? Why would I pour my fucking heart out to the girl? For a piece of ass?” He chuckled, but that chuckle held no humor behind it. Digging into his pocket, he pulled his cell phone out and tossed it to her.
“Damn, Gavin.”
“Damn nothing. Look in my contacts list. There’s no shortage of ass that’s eagerly available to me. It’s plentiful. I make a phone call, and I can fuck for days if I wanted to. Gina came here that night drunk, telling me her father died. Yes, maybe I shouldn’t have let her in. Yes, maybe I should’ve thrown her out onto the street like the animal she turned me into.” Letting out a defeated sigh, he sat back down on the couch with his elbows on his knees as he gripped his hair. “But I didn’t,” he whispered. “I didn’t, and now Emily’s gone. The girl I love doesn’t believe me because I was stupid enough to let the girl I used to love into my house. She fell asleep on my couch with her pants off. I didn’t even want to touch her to get her out of here that night because she wasn’t dressed. I didn’t want my hands touching her because my hands had just touched Emily.”
He lifted his head and looked directly at Olivia where she sat unmoving. “I love Emily. Fuck, I love her enough that I would do it over again—pain and all—just to hold her again. But I didn’t do anything wrong other than let Gina in. So, no, Olivia, it has nothing to do with me being powerful or throwing in a towel. It has everything to do with the fact that Emily doesn’t believe me, and most of all…she doesn’t love me.”
After a few seconds of noticeably trying to take in everything he had said, Olivia stood up and sat herself next to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “She does love you, Gavin. She—”
“Come on, Liv,” he interrupted, reaching for his beer. He finished it in one gulp. “She told me she didn’t. Do you need me to quote her words? They’re as fresh as fuck in my mind. Buzzed or not, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I know what she told you.” She took the empty bottle from his hand and placed it on the table. “But I also know what she told me after you came to her that night.” He went to speak, but she silenced him with a classic Olivia smash of her fingers against his lips. “You’re correct that she doesn’t believe you right now. But you’re incorrect that she doesn’t love you. She said those things to you to try to hurt you the way she felt you hurt her. She’s been a mess, Gavin,” she whispered, her eyes soft. “Her nerves are shot. She’s been depressed, quiet, and throwing up over the whole situation. Even though she thinks she’ll be able to rid you from her mind and fall back in love with Dillon, anytime Dillon’s not with her, she’s crying…over you.”
“You say she loves me, she’s crying over me, and yet she’s marrying him?” he asked, completely unconvinced of anything she had just said.
“I know what you’re thinking, but—”
“Oh, do you? Because I’m not even sure I know what the fuck I’m thinking right now,” he said, rising to his feet. Beer wasn’t doing its job at this point. Stronger. He needed something stronger. Stalking into the kitchen, he swung the cabinet door open, pulling out a bottle of bourbon and a shot glass.
Olivia stood up, crossing her arms. “Are you going to let me finish what I was saying, dick?”
“I’m a cheater and a dick now? Sure, why the fuck not?” he replied, his tone thick with sarcasm. He promptly filled the shot glass. After tossing it back, he smacked his lips together and looked at her. “What kind of shit are you handing me, Olivia? None of it makes any sense. Not one fucking iota of it does.”
Moving to the kitchen, Olivia flipped her golden hair to the side and looked at Gavin as if he had ten heads. “What part don’t you understand, Blake?”
Now he returned the same look, but she continued.
“Dillon was a safe bet when she moved out here with him. She stumbled upon you, and as much as she tried to fight it, the girl never stood a chance against you, Gavin. Forget about the way you two met.” Pausing, a light laugh escaped her lips. “You had her from the moment she saw you. Believe me, I had to hear all about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Fuckable Handsome.”