Page 171 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

“Yeah, well, you should be.” Ben took a step closer, but Gavin was on his feet, holding him back.

“It’s okay, Ben.”

“It’s so not okay, Gav.”

Gavin shook his head. “I’m okay.”

Chapter Forty

Gavin

Was he okay? Gavin wasn’t sure. He’d said the words quickly enough, felt some sort of resolve in his bones, but now he wondered if that was just to keep Ben from committing a double homicide in their living room.

All eyes were on him, though, so he figured he should say something. “This is my home.” He spoke quietly, hoping to deescalate the situation. “My home with Ben. If this is all you have to say to me—not an apology or a congratulations for doing so well on my own after you threw me away—then you need to leave.”

He could practically feel the rage simmering in Ben when he took Ben’s hand and stood closer to him.

Neither of his parents said anything, so Gavin added, “I read the same Bible you did, and as far as I can see, you two have a lot more to worry about than I do.”

Carter shook his head, but he stood up as if he were about to go. “You’ve been lied to, son. But we’ll talk again about all this.”

“The fuck you will,” Ben said, his tone barely a whisper, deadly.

“Tina, get your things,” Carter said without a glance at Ben.

Gavin’s heart seemed to stop beating when Tina stood up. This was it. This was what Ben had tried to protect him from. This was the moment Ben wanted to keep at bay.

She stepped around the coffee table and took James from Patricia.

Ben spoke then, as if someone had opened a wound in him. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” He raked his hand through his hair, looked like he was ready to tear it out. “We watched her sweat and cry and bleed, watched her work her ass off…”

Gavin wasn’t sure what else Ben wanted to say, but he could guess. We gave her a family.

Tina shook her head and passed the baby to Ben, as if that might stop him from killing someone. She hadn’t known him long enough, apparently. Gavin had only seen Ben fight once in the years they’d been together, but he knew what Ben was capable of.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Tina said, her voice more sure, more confident, than Gavin had ever heard. “Brian told the truth,” she added, glancing at Gavin before turning her attention back to their parents. “He’s not the father. I’m not marrying him or anyone else.”

When Carter tried to speak, Tina cut him off. “I let you in, let you hold my son, so you could see what you’ve missed, see what you’ll never have. If I ever hear from you again, I’ll get a restraining order.” She looked at Ben and added, “Or just let Ben take care of it.”

Ben pulled away, stalked to the front door, and held it open.

Carter looked at Tina. “You’re making a mistake.” He nodded and Patricia stood, following him to the door.

“The only mistake I made was staying as long as I did,” Tina said.

When his parents walked out the door, Ben didn’t put a hand on them, but it looked like a near thing. He closed the door gently and then clicked the dead bolt before turning to look at Gavin.

“How the hell did they find where you lived?”

“Sorry,” Tina said quietly, looking like she might fall down, her strength gone. “They found my profile for tutoring and stuff, did a reverse search with my phone number…”

“We gotta up our online security.”

Gavin had to agree. “Or move.”

“Or just hang an upside-down cross on the front door.” Ben laughed like he was joking, but Gavin couldn’t tell for sure.

“That might be a toe over the line.” He tried to picture Nora’s face if she saw that on her next visit. It didn’t end well in his imagination.

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