Chapter Nine

"Take my hands," Gavin says as I cling to the edge of the boat.

I grab his hands and he pulls me back into the boat. How he managed to not fall in himself, I don't know.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Yeah." I laugh. "I'm fine. Just soaking wet. I shouldn't have moved like that. You warned me about the boat tipping."

"I should've caught you. I tried, but it happened so fast."

I'm still laughing. For some reason I'm finding this funny, maybe because I always laugh when I watch those videos online of people falling out of boats, and now I've done it myself.

Gavin's smiling at me.

"What?" I ask. "Do I have lake junk in my hair?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm just amazed you're not mad."

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because you fell in a lake off a boat I made you go on."

"It wasn't your fault. I moved too fast and rocked the boat."

"Most girls would be pissed. But instead, you're laughing."

"Because it's funny." I laugh. "Actually it's hilarious. We're making out, all hot and heavy and then—"

He interrupts me with a kiss, then says, "You're fucking awesome, you know that?"

 "Um, okay. Although I don't know what's so awesome about falling in a lake."

"The awesome part is how you reacted. You didn't scream at me. Throw a tantrum. Demand I buy you a new outfit, which I will by the way. Whatever you want."

"I don't need a new outfit. I'll just wash this. It'll be fine."

"Okay, you need to stop." He slides the wet hair off my face. "You keep going, I might just fall in love with you."

I roll my eyes. "Because I can wash my clothes? That's a little extreme."

"Then can I say you're the coolest girl I've ever met?"

I smile. "You can say that."

He kisses me. "So before you went overboard, what exactly were you planning to do?"

"Have my way with you." I bite my lip.

"What happened to waiting?"

"Why wait? What if there's no tomorrow?"

"Shit, that's deep," he says all serious, but he's grinning. "Never had anyone use philosophical reasoning to justify sex." His lips brush over mine. "But I like it. You're very wise, Ms. Norris."

"Except when it comes to knowing how to keep myself in a boat."

A gust of wind blows over my wet skin and I shiver.

"We need to get you dried off." Gavin lets me go and grabs the oar. He sinks it into the water and starts furiously rowing back to shore.

"Gavin, I'm fine. You don't have to go so fast."

"You're freezing. You need to get in dry clothes."

"I'm not freezing. I just shivered when the breeze blew."

"Still, you can't be in wet clothes."

When we reach the dock, he helps me from the boat and we go in the cabin. Gavin starts searching for a towel but the only thing he can find is a roll of paper towels.

He hands them to me. "Sorry. Looks like this is all we have."

"That'll work." I tear off a few sheets and start wiping down my legs. Then I turn away from Gavin and take off my wet clothes.

"I'll go wait outside," I hear him say from behind me. I hear the door squeak open.

"Wait. Don't leave. I don't want to be alone in here."

"Why not?"

"In case something starts crawling on me. Spiders. A snake. A raccoon."

He laughs. "If a raccoon were in here, we'd know." He turns around and freezes when he sees me. I'm only wearing panties, nothing else. I should probably cover up but I like him looking at me like this. Looking like he wants me but is trying so hard to resist.

"Fuck," he mutters, his eyes taking me in.

I pretend not to notice and continue drying off.

"You're really testing my willpower here, Kate."

"You seem to be doing okay," I tease.

"Not really," he says, glancing down at his crotch, his jeans straining to contain him.

I smile. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we need to get out of here before something happens. My first time with you isn't going to be in some shitty cabin that smells like rotting fish."

Laughing, I grab more paper towels. "Good point."

"Here." He reaches up and yanks his t-shirt off and brings it to me. "Put this on."

My eyes get stuck on his chest. Just like I thought, he's all lean muscle. When I touched him I could feel it. I just couldn't see it. And now that I can, I pause a moment to take it in.

"Kate?"

"Yeah." I take the shirt from him and slide it on. It's soft, and warm from his body, covered with the light scent of his cologne. "Thanks. That's much better."

He grins. "I liked you the other way, but this will keep you warm." He gathers up the wet paper towels and takes them to the trash. Then he comes back and takes my hand. "Let's get you home."

On the drive back, he turns the heat up to high.

"Gavin, I don't need the heat. It's warm out, almost hot."

"But you were shivering."

"When I was wet, but now I'm fine."

He turns the heat off. "Anything else you need? There's a gas station up ahead. I could stop and get you something."

"Think they have dry underwear?"

He laughs. "Probably not. But I'm sure they have food if you're hungry."

"Actually I'm starving. I didn't have dinner."

"Why didn't you tell me that? I would've taken you somewhere."

"I wasn't hungry earlier. Just get me some chips or a candy bar. That's good enough."

He glances at me and smiles. "Seriously. Coolest girl ever."

"Who exactly did you date? Did these girls demand everything be perfect all the time?"

"More than perfect. If anything went even the slightest bit off track of what they wanted, they'd throw a tantrum."

"Even your ex?"

"She wasn't as bad as some of the others, but yeah. She threw a fit if things didn't go the way she wanted them to."

"Why did you date girls like that?"

"Because it's what I'm used to. The girls I grew up around were all that way." He pulls up to the gas station and parks. "I doubt they have much selection but any special requests?"

I smile. "Surprise me."

He gives me a quick kiss. "Be right back."

When he's out of the car, he clicks the remote to lock the doors. Yet another thoughtful gesture and not something I'm used to. Maybe I should've been dating Moorhurst guys this whole time instead of losers like Kurt.

Gavin returns with a plastic sack and two bottles of soda. He hands me the sack. "This should hold you."

"What'd you get?"

"One of everything they had. I wanted to make sure you had a selection to choose from."

I pull out a candy bar. "I'll start with this. You want anything?"

"No, I'm good."

"Thanks for dinner," I say jokingly as I unwrap my candy bar.

"When we get back I'll take you out for a real dinner."

"I'm just kidding. This is fine. Besides, it's late. Most restaurants are closed by now."

"Then I'll take you out Thursday, after I pick you up from work."

"Don't you have to study?"

"I can study during the day. I only have two classes on Thursday."

"I'm just saying, if you need to study, we could meet on Friday."

He smiles at me. "Too much for you?"

"Too much what?"

"Are we going out too much?"

"Normally I'd say yes. I usually wait a few days between dates but in our case? No, it's not too much."

His phone rings. He checks it. "Mind if I get this?"

"Go ahead."

He answers it. "Gramps, what's going on?" Gavin nods as he listens. "Yeah, I could probably do that. You mind if I bring someone?" He glances at me. "Assuming she agrees to it."

"What?" I ask.

He talks into the phone. "I want you to meet someone. I met her the other night. She's great. Her name is Kate." He offers me the phone.

I mouth the words 'no' as I take a big bite of my sticky caramel-filled candy bar.

"She wants to say hi," he says to his grandpa, then offers me the phone again.

I reluctantly take it, still chewing. "Hi, I'm Kate. A friend of Gavin's."

"I'm Henry. Gavin's grandpa."

"Nice to meet you."

"You must be a special girl." I hear the smile in his voice. "He usually doesn't introduce me to his girlfriends until much later."

"Oh, I'm not really his—"

"Where'd you two meet?"

"I was catering an event at his house."

"I see." His voice lowers, sounding more serious. "So you met my son."

"I didn't actually meet him. I just served him dinner."

"That's some house he has, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's impressive."

"It's pretentious is what it is," he scoffs. "The boy's just trying to impress people. Nobody needs a house that big. It's a waste of money."

I'm not sure how to respond to that so I say, "Gavin and I were just at your fishing cabin."

"He took you there? To that shitty cabin?"

"I didn't think it was that bad." Actually I did, but only if I had to stay there overnight. If you're just using it to hang out in between fishing, it was fine.

"Put me on speaker," Henry orders. I do and he says, "Gavin!"

"Yeah?"

"Why would you take a girl to that shitty cabin?"

"I wanted to use the boat. We went out on the lake."

"This late at night? The place is crawling with mosquitos! The poor girl must've been eaten alive."

"Were you?" Gavin asks me, looking concerned that he hadn't thought about that.

I shake my head. "I have like one bite. I'm fine."

"I hope you at least bought her a decent dinner first."

"Um, no. We didn't have time."

"Gavin Michael Bishop! Did I teach you nothing?"

Gavin laughs and says to me, "If he uses all three names, I'm really in trouble." Then he says to his grandpa, "I promised to take her out to a nice dinner later this week."

"So will I be meeting this young lady on Sunday?"

Gavin looks at me. "What do you say? You want to go to Hartford for a cookout? Gramps is making ribs."

I shrug. "Sure. Sounds good. What should I bring?"

"Just yourself," Henry says. "And that grandson of mine. Of course, I wouldn't turn down a six-pack of beer, Gavin."

"Got it," he says, smiling. "We'll see you then."

They say goodbye and Gavin sets his phone down between us. "So that's my grandpa."

"He sounds nice." And a lot different than Gavin's dad, who seemed stuffy, or as Henry said, pretentious.

"If you don't want to come, that's fine. I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that."

"I don't have any plans Sunday, and it sounds fun."

"You like ribs? Because he makes the best ribs. Smokes them all day."

"I love ribs. Haven't had them forever."

"Leighton wouldn't even try them. I brought her to meet my grandpa and he made the ribs and she wouldn't even taste them. She wanted sushi so I had to go out and get her some." He sighs. "Sorry. I shouldn't talk about her."

"Do you two still talk?"

"Not really. Sometimes she'll call or text to give me an update on our friends from school but that's about it." He turns onto the road that goes to my apartment. "That drive went really fast. Seems like we just left."

"Yeah, I know. I was thinking the same thing." I hold up the sack of food from the gas station. "I hardly ate any of this."

"It's yours. Take it home."

"Or I could save it for the next time we go to the lake."

He smiles at me. "You'd go there again?"

"Sure. I liked it. It was quiet. Peaceful."

"But you fell in the lake."

"Yeah, but now that I have a feel for the boat, it won't happen again. And going forward, I'll be sure to make moves on you only on dry land."

He chuckles as he parks in front of my building. "Looking forward to it."

I open my door but then realize I probably shouldn't get out wearing only his t-shirt. "Um, I might need you to go upstairs and get me something to cover my legs."

"Shit, that's right. You think your roommate's home?"

"If she is, she's probably asleep. Just go in my room. My jeans are in my dresser."

"Actually, I've got some basketball shorts in my trunk. Could you wear those?"

"Yeah, that'll work."

He gets them out of the back and comes around to the passenger side. I open my door and take the shorts and slip them on. "That's better. At least I can make it upstairs."

He helps me out of the car. The shorts are so big I have to bunch them up and hold them at my waist.

"Well, tonight didn't exactly go how I'd planned," Gavin says, "but I still had a good time."

"Me too."

"Can I walk you upstairs?"

"You don't need to. I'll be fine."

"Then I guess this is goodnight." He leans down and kisses me. A slow, lingering kiss, then says, "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye."

When I get upstairs, Megan isn't there. Ha! I knew it. I knew she'd end up staying with Decker.

Just then, the door swings open and Megan walks in. "Hey. Ran into your boyfriend in the parking lot. He said you forgot this." She hands me the sack from the gas station.

"Thanks. And he's not my boyfriend. We're just dating."

She looks me up and down. "Why are you wearing his clothes?"

"I fell in a lake," I say, laughing. I still find that funny.

"You went to a lake? At night?"

"Gavin's grandpa has a cabin on a lake. We went out on his boat."

"With his grandpa?"

"No, just Gavin and me."

She puts her hands on her hips. "You let a guy you just met take you to a lake? At night? With nobody else around? What were you thinking? You just met this guy. He could've killed you."

"Relax. He's not a killer. He's a nice guy."

"It's the nice ones you have to watch out for." She goes in the kitchen and takes out the orange juice. She always has juice after a night of drinking. She says it prevents hangovers, although she doesn't seem that drunk.

I sit on the barstool at the breakfast bar. "So what happened with you?"

"I hung out with Decker. Got to know him.

I crack a smile. "From the looks of it, you got to know him pretty well."

She whips around, almost spilling her juice. "What do you mean?"

"Gavin and I went looking for you outside the bar and saw you and Decker going at it on the picnic table."

She sets her glass down, her face turning red. "We were just kissing. That's it."

"Looked like more than that." I get up and go around her to get a glass for what's left of my soda.

"Do you think anyone else saw?"

"Probably not. I didn't see anyone else out there." I fill my glass with ice and pour my soda over it. "So you must really like this guy."

She shrugs. "He's okay."

"Oh, please. Don't even try to lie to me about this. You know you like him." I stand in front of her. "You, Megan Driscoll, like a Moorhurst guy. Admit it."

"I only like him because he scored a job at the magazine. That's a big deal for someone who hasn't even graduated from college. And he didn't use his dad's connections to get the job. Or maybe he lied about that. Who knows?"

"I'm sure he didn't lie. He seems like a good guy. And the, um..." I try not to laugh, "the bow tie is unique. You don't see that very often on guys his age."

"I know." Her lips turn up, her eyes distant like she's imagining him. "It's different, in that quirky, intellectual type of way."

"So did you stay at the bar the whole time?"

"No. We walked to campus. We sat on the steps of the library and talked." She sips her orange juice. "Then we went to his room and later he took me home." She races out the words, a sign she doesn't want to talk about it. Yeah, that's not happening.

"You went to his room?" I ask, brows raised.

"I have to go to bed." She sets her glass in the sink and hurries off to her room.

I follow her. "Did you have sex with him?"

She doesn't answer as she goes to her drawer to find pajamas.

"Megan. Did you or not?"

"I should be asking you that. You're the one wearing a guy's clothes."

"Gavin and I didn't have sex. But from the way you're acting, I'm pretty sure you and Decker did." I go up to her, blocking her path as she heads to her closet. "So how was it?"

"We didn't do it." She grins slightly. "But we did some other things that were um...good. Really good."

"That's all?" I ask as she goes around me. "I don't get details?"

"I don't hear you sharing any details."

"Okay." I sit on her bed. "Well, Gavin's a great kisser. And I'm sure he's great at other things but he only got to second base."

"That's it? You've been out three times."

"Only two were considered dates. And things would've gone farther tonight but just as they were heating up, I fell in the lake. Lesson learned. Don't try to do it in a boat. So tell me about you and Decker."

"He made it to third. Enough said." She goes in the bathroom to change.

"Are you going out with him again?"

She opens the bathroom door, now wearing a long t-shirt to sleep in. "I haven't decided yet. The whole Moorhurst thing is a strike against him. And then there's the fact that he's younger than me."

"By two years. Big deal. And you need to stop this obsession with Moorhurst. There's nothing going on there."

She crawls into bed, yawning. "I have to get to sleep. See you in the morning?"

"Probably not. I have to go prep for a luncheon and Carol wants us there by eight."

"How about tomorrow night? Are you going out with Gavin?"

"No. He has class but I'll see him on Thursday."

"You two getting serious?"

"I'm not sure. I'm going to meet his grandpa this weekend so I guess that could be considered serious."

"I thought you were going to see your dad this weekend," she says cautiously, knowing it's a touchy subject.

"I don't think I'm ready to yet. Maybe the following weekend."

"The more you keep putting it off, the harder it'll get. Why don't you just call him?"

"Maybe I will. I have to think about it." I head to the door. "Goodnight."

When I get back to my room, I turn on my laptop and find the last email I got from my dad. Earlier that day, I'd gone to see him and found him drunk in his living room, watching TV. The week before I'd suspected he might be drinking again when I found a liquor bottle in the trash. He promised me it wasn't his, saying his friend brought it over and he made him throw it out. But it was all a lie. A lie he'd told me one too many times. I told him I'd had enough and not to contact me again until he'd cleaned up for good.

That night, he sent me an email that read, Kate. I'm sorry you found me like that today. I swear to you this hasn't been going on for long. I've been sober for almost six years. But then something happened and...well, I can't explain it, but it led to me drinking. I know that's not an excuse and I'm sorry. I love you, honey. When you're ready, please call me.

I never did. That was almost two years ago. Since then, he hasn't sent me another email, but he has sent me letters, asking me to give him another chance. And he's sent cards. Birthday cards. Christmas cards. Easter cards. He even sent a Halloween card.

He wants his daughter back. And I want my dad back. I miss him.

I'm over my anger and really want to see him. I'm just not sure I'm ready to be disappointed again.