Page 65 of Tempest

“Separated,” she says so quietly.

“Fucking hell, Ode.” I clasp her chin, pulling her face to mine. “I’m right here. Right fucking here, offering you everything I have. I’d cut my own heart out and drain myself dry for just a shot at a second chance with you. Can he say the same?”

“I’ve never had to ask.”

“Will he divorce for you?”

“Would you have?” she snaps. She has me there; up against the boards, fucked either way.

21

Odette

The rest of the night is strained between Gavin and me. Though, we both put on a good face. I think Cillian, Isla, and Britton are the only ones that really notice the tension.

Regardless of their attention, I don’t feel bad about what I asked him. The truth is he didn’t ever leave Caroline for me, and when she left him, he didn’t come running.

Would it have made a difference if he had showed up at my doorstep, freshly divorced? I can’t answer that, but at least I’d have known he thought about me. As it stands now, I still feel like I wasn’t a consideration at all until I met Tori.

Bringing up Preston was a low blow. Gavin’s been back in my life for a few months. I’ve had a lifetime of imagining him with other women. I fucking watched him kiss his bride. He doesn’t understand the turmoil I’ve been through.

Or what I go through every day now. Because, fuck, I like him. As a person, as a father, as a great support to his team. He’s dedicated, strong, loyal to all of them. Plus, I adore Tori. It would be easy to fall back in love with him.

If only I could forget the rest.

It’s not even hard for me to hear about Caroline so much, it was more the fact that he had seen her when he was back in New York. It’s not a detail he shared with me. Tori wasn’t with him, so was there an obligation to see her? Is that what it would always be like if Gavin and I were together? Would she be a constant figure?

Of course, I don’t expect him to forget it all. But I could never be with someone who didn’t make me a priority. I’d need to be the top woman in his life, minus his daughter, of course.

I’m not sure I’d ever feel that with Gavin.

I know I’m not with Preston, and again, there’s comfort there. A safety net that doesn’t allow me to ever fall in love with him. No married man I’ve ever been with has said they’d leave their wife for me. It’s not something I ever wanted anyway.

The men that have promised me forever weren’t emotionally stable enough to keep it. Gavin may be, but I don’t trust it all the same.

“I was thinking of going home with Hugo tonight,” Britton says. “But if you need a good girl talk, I can postpone.”

“No, Britt. Go and have fun. I’m fine, I promise.”

“You sure? That conversation looked intense.”

“I’m positive. Besides, I wouldn’t want to break Blom’s heart, he’s been looking at you like a puppy dog in love for two hours straight.”

“I know, it’s pretty adorable.”

“It is,” I say, linking my arm with hers as we walk to the doors.

“Looks like they got word of you,” Gavin tells Britton. “We’re going to go out in a group, women in the middle, guys will surround you.”

“Well, fuck. There goes a nice evening.” She pouts.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart, we got this,” Hugo says, coming to stand at her side.

“Stay close to me,” Gavin says. “Blom is parked right next to my car, we’ll load Britton into the passenger side of his rig and you get in the driver’s seat of mine and scoot over. Okay?”

I nod and we all start moving through the double doors to a crowd of shouts and camera flashes. Gavin keeps an arm wrapped around me with Letty following close behind. But before we can make it to the vehicles, an overzealous cameraman lunges in, pushing me aside to get a shot at Britton.

Stumbling, the only thing that stops me from hitting the ground is Gavin, who lifts me off my feet and hands me to Letty as if I weigh nothing more than a sack of potatoes.

---