Page 53 of Mistle-Ho

“Mmmhmm.” Gavin’s eyes move over my face. “And you were just gonna walk out without giving me a kiss goodbye or telling me when I get to see you again?”

“Well…” I run out of words, because what he’s describing doesn’t sound like the situation this started as. It sounds more like a relationship. And I’m not sure how to unpack the baggage I’m carrying for that.

Gavin leans down, pressing a sweet, soft kiss to my lips. He stays so close his nose nearly touches mine and says, “I’ll see you tonight. I’ve still got something I want to show you.”

“Kay.” I don’t know what else to say, and I can’t trust my idiot mouth to handle itself with any sort of respectability.

He leans back, turns me toward the door, then opens it. I’m in the hall when he says my name once again.

“Alexis.”

Pausing, I turn to find him relaxing against the opening, lips tipped up in a smirk.

His eyes run down my frame before coming back to my face. “For the record, I’m not concerned about the state of your butt crack. At all.”

24

Drawing Lines and Cutting Ties

Gavin

I STAND IN the doorway like the simp I am, watching Al’s ass as she walks down the hall to the elevator. It takes an amazing amount of restraint to stay put when she turns and gives me a sweet smile. I haven’t been angry at Leo much in the years we’ve known each other, but I could kick his ass for dragging her away from me.

Alexis lifts one hand, offering a small wave as the bell dings, signifying the elevator’s arrival. I’m still returning her wave as she starts to step in. An odd expression flashes over her pretty features as she sidesteps through the open doors, the smile she offered me flattening into something akin to a scowl.

When I see what caused both the look on her face and her maneuvering, my stomach sinks.

My dad steps out of the cab, turning back to stare between the doors as they close. Once Alexis is sealed in, he faces me, brows lifted. “I take it you’re a tit man?” He chuckles. “Cause that little thing had one hell of a rack on her.”

I’m used to my dad objectifying women. Trashing or talking them down with nearly every word that comes out of his mouth.

But this time it isn’t women. This time it’s Al. And it has my hands clenching into fists as anger burns my gut.

“Don’t fucking talk about her like that.” I’ve never said a harsh word to my dad. Never told him how I really feel about his bullshit. I should have—I know that. It shouldn’t have taken him turning his lewd opinions onto Alexis for me to draw the line.

But at least I’m drawing it now.

My dad stops short, hands lifting, palms facing me like he’s innocent and I’m overreacting. “Don’t get all bent out of shape about it. She’s just a woman. There’s a million more like her just waiting to tear you apart.”

My molars grind together and the vein in my head starts to throb. “She’s not like that.”

My dad looks me over, hands dropping to rest on his hips as he snorts out a bitter laugh. “You said that about the last one too.”

I’m not surprised he’s bringing this up. He always does. “That was over a decade ago.”

“Doesn’t change the facts.” My dad comes my way, slowly closing the distance between us. “You trusted a woman. Gave her your heart and your love and your time.” He stops in front of me, dropping a heavy hand on my shoulder. “And she went and found someone else without so much as a fuck you.”

I wait for it. Brace for the stab of pain to cut into that old wound. I’ve carried it for years and my dad has poked it at every opportunity, making sure it festered. Ensuring it dictated my actions and thoughts.

But the slicing sear of rejection and betrayal that kept me from ever letting—wanting—a woman close to me, doesn’t come. Because it doesn’t matter. Not anymore.

“I was a kid, Dad. So was she.” The lens I’ve been viewing the world through is suddenly different. Clearer. “And even if she wasn’t, who the fuck cares? It’s not like I wish I was with her now.”

For six months I’ve been trying to figure out what changed. Why my old ways no longer held the same appeal. Now I know.

It’s me. I’m what’s changed.

My dad’s expression hardens. “Don’t be stupid, son. Women can’t be trusted, you know that. All they do is lie and cheat. They’re just waiting to fuck you over and leave you behind.”

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