Page 109 of Body Check

“So, how much are you regretting spending the night here?” Dakota asked hoarsely.

Gavin turned his head, smiling at the sight of Dakota’s hair covering most of his face. “Not even a little bit.”

Dakota lifted up on one elbow, pushing his hair away and squinting tiredly at him. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Gavin said firmly. “I am. Now, let’s get dressed and see if we can do something to help Violet and Jeff.”

Dakota’s face softened. “You’re pretty great. You know that, right?”

“I just want to be good to you and your family,” Gavin said.

And maybe it was too much right now. Too nakedly honest. But it had the desired effect because Dakota’s face went soft, and he stretched out to kiss Gavin’s cheek. “You know, I don’t think you have anything to worry about there.”

Gavin pressed his lips to Dakota’s forehead, letting his lips linger. “C’mon, let’s go celebrate Christmas.”

Christmas morning was as chaotic and noisy as Gavin had anticipated. He wound up hovering awkwardly, not sure how to be helpful as Dakota fed the baby and Violet and Jeff tried to slow Daisy down before she tore through every present under the tree.

But eventually, Gavin realized he could be useful if he recorded the happy chaos, and he caught a grateful smile from Jeff as he did so.

There was a lot of laughter and some tired yawns as the sky began to lighten, and when the room was strewn with paper andbows and Daisy gleefully threw packing peanuts up in the air to watch them rain down again, a deep sense of contentment stole over Gavin.

“Thank you for inviting me,” he said thickly, turning to look at Dakota. “This meant so much to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent the holidays with—with a family.”

The look of mingled sadness and understanding in Dakota’s eyes made Gavin swallow, and he was grateful for the soft touch of Dakota’s fingers on his jaw and the barely there tickle of his lips as Dakota leaned in to kiss his cheek.

Because when Gavin had spent Christmas with Rory, it had been … hollow. They’d had the perfectly decorated tree and they’d taken photos of themselves in front of it, the ostentatiously large pile of presents in full view when they posted them on social media.

It had been all about the look of things. Not about creating treasured memories of their time together.

Even if this barely begun relationship with Dakota didn’t work out, Gavin would look back fondly on the time this lovely family had welcomed him into their home. He’d remember the stories Violet and Jeff had told about the ornaments on their tree—Christmas presents they bought each other every year—and the memory of Daisy’s delighted shrieks as she opened gifts.

He’d think about the warm weight of Lily in his arms, holding her when the other adults were busy cleaning up the mess. He looked down into her face now, wide-eyed but content, and wondered if hedidwant kids.

If Dakota did.

Gavin had no idea how Jeff and Violet had gone about growing their family—frankly, he didn’t figure it was any of his business if they didn’t offer that information—but he and Dakota could do the same, if they wanted.

They could adopt or find a surrogate …

And maybe it was too soon to think about any of that. Maybe Dakota didn’t evenwantthat, but Gavin knew he wanted to know everything about Dakota.

And then he wondered if maybe it was time for him to tell Dakota about what had happened shortly after his and Thad’s draft.

Because if they were really doing this, if they werereallygoing to date, if Gavin was going to sweep Dakota off his feet and make him fall in love with him, Dakota needed to know the truth.

Not the story most people thought they knew, about the rebellious Thad Racine who had taken part in a burglary and fucked up his chances of playing pro hockey.

But the real, honest, ugly truth that it wasGavinwho had fucked over his twin brother.

It wasGavinwho had ruined both their futures.

TWENTY-FOUR

“I have something I need to tell you,” Gavin said. His voice was rough, his jaw clenched, and he had the look of a man about to go toe-to-toe with someone despite knowing he was outmatched.

Dakota frowned, unsure what the hell would have put that look on Gavin’s face. They’d had a really nice day so far.

After the Christmas festivities yesterday, they’d come back to Gavin’s condo.

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