Page 121 of One Good Puck
She walks off with the cash. I turn to Abby. “Are you really okay?”
“Yeah.” A second later, her expression turns hesitant. “So, um, you called me your girlfriend…”
I replay what I said to McCoy a minute ago.Shit.
Abby’s probably freaked out at hearing me say that. We agreed that we’re just friends, but then I called her my girlfriend in the middle of a fight with that shithead McCoy.
“Abby, I’m sorry, I…”
“Can we maybe talk about this outside? In private?” she says in a soft voice.
I swallow back my nerves and nod.
We head to our table. “We’re taking off,” I say to everyone. I can feel the quiet tension skimming off ofeveryone as they look at me. They’re probably all still processing what the hell just happened between McCoy and me.
Abby and I head out of the bar. I follow her as she walks to the end of the block, then rounds the corner into a darkened alley.
She walks halfway toward the end and looks at me, eyes big, cheeks flushed.
I tug a hand through my hair. “I’m so sorry, Abby. I got caught up in the moment, and I wasn’t thinking when I called you my girlfriend.”
Her brow furrows slightly, and she shakes her head. “Gavin, it’s okay. I…” She trails off, swallowing hard. “I like that you called me your girlfriend.”
I go quiet for a second and stare at her. “You do?”
She starts to smile. “Yeah.”
It takes an embarrassingly long moment for my brain to process what she’s saying.
“Wait, does that mean…do you want to be my girlfriend, Abby?”
Her smile widens, reaching her eyes. “Yeah.”
My heart pounds in my chest. I let out a breath, relieved and happy all at once.
And then I step closer, cup her face in my hands, and kiss her.
Chapter 47
Abby
My heart pounds in my chest as I kiss Gavin. My entire body is hot with how much I want him right now.
I still can’t believe the way he protected me from Zach. He marched right up to him, pulled him off of me, and tossed him against the bar. He did it without hesitation; without a second thought. Like his first instinct was to protect me.
And the way he reacted when Zach made that gross threat about assaulting me and taking explicit photos of me…
That made me sick to my stomach. But then I saw the way Gavin reacted. How he defended me and punched Zach’s lights out.
And then he called me his girlfriend.
My heartbeat quickens. I’m buzzing, aching, weak in the knees.
Because that’s when it hit me: Gavin doesn’t see me as just a friend or a hookup. I mean so much more than that to him.
When he growled the word “girlfriend,” I felt like his.
When we break our kiss, we’re panting. I close my eyes as I catch my breath. With my face still in his hands, he rests his forehead against mine.
