Page 68 of Tangled Up In You

Gavin looked at her for a long moment before deciding that being brutally honest was the way to end this conversation. “Both.”

Her eyes widened and the hurt shimmered beneath tears she quickly blinked back when she found her anger. “Then I guess the word had a different meaning when you werefuckingme, didn’t it?”

There was no reply he could make that would help matters so he kept silent.

“You’re a selfish bastard,” she said, and swiftly moved past him.

He waited until he heard the front door slamming before going inside. The house was still and he wondered if Sophie had gone out again. He went upstairs and found her in the bedroom admiring several scarves laid out on the bed.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey. What do you think? Aren’t they cool?”

He went to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. He was acutely aware of the fact that she did not put her arm around him in return.

“Yeah, lovely.”

They stood there for a moment, staring at the bright colors of the scarves.

“Is she okay? She seemed upset. Again,” Sophie finally said.

“Ah, she’ll be fine. Did I tell you she’s a singer? We all met her a few years ago. Her first album was put out on a small label and she just got back from a European tour. Anyway, you know how singers can be, what with the mood swings and reckless emotions,” he said with a laugh.

She turned to him, slipping from his arm, and he saw a struggle work its way over her face. It was clear she was concerned about what this all meant. Her doubts were the last thing he wanted. But he thought going into the details of things with Julia would do more harm than good.

A change in direction seemed the best course of action. “Were you running away from me today, Sophie?”

“What?”

“You left without waking me. You stayed away all day.”

“No, not at all, baby. I went to shop and the time flew. And, I figured we probably need to ease into all of this, that you need your space.”

“I don’t want space. I wantyou,” he told her urgently, needing her to understand what he really meant was that she was theonlyone he wanted.

There was a moment before she smiled in return, her face and body relaxing. “You got me,” she said, and kissed him.

39

SOPHIE

At home and with yet another day’s purchases unloaded, Sophie grew restless in the quiet house. Gavin had left her a voicemail saying he was at Conor’s, and she decided to join him there. She figured she might arrive in time for them all to have dinner together.

Conor had purchased a modern home in Blackrock, a town near the coastline less than three miles south of Sandymount. As Sophie slowed the car to a stop in his pebble driveway, she admired Conor’s sensible approach of investing his earnings in real estate. He’d been the one to persuade Gavin to do the same, hoping the base it created would stem Gavin’s tendency to wander.

Conor answered after a short delay and didn’t hide his surprise to find Sophie at his doorstep.

“Hi, Soph. What are you doing here?” he asked.

“That’s not a very warm welcome!” she said with a laugh.

“Apologies, honey. Come in, please.” He offered her his hand and when she took it he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

He led her inside and down a short hall to an unadorned foyer.

“I thought I’d see if you and Gavin want to have dinner.”

“Sure, but where’s Gav?”

---