Page 27 of For Three Seconds

It was foreign, but I wasn’t scared. Not with Gav.

“You make me feel,” I said. “Please, Gavin, make me feel.”

That seemed to be all the encouragement he needed because he pushed inside me slowly. It burned as he stretched me. My body was slick and ready for him, but it still adjusted to his length and girth.

“Fuck, you feel like heaven,” he said before he stopped.

We looked at each other, our eyes locking as he broke my innocence. Tears came to my eyes as the pain spread. He dipped his head and kissed the side of my eyes where water had leaked. Gavin moved slowly, in and out, and I held on to him.

Gavin stopped deep inside of me, and he held my gaze.

“It’s always been you,” his grave voice confessed.

His admission spread through my body, straight to my soul, and I moaned, barely holding back that I felt the same.

It was wrong, reckless, but I didn’t think I’d have it any other way.

“Fuck,” he cursed before he pulled out and finished on my stomach.

He then kissed my lips and my forehead. He used his shirt to clean me up. Then after a few minutes, we did it all over again.

And again, until the sun started to come out.

I gave my body to Gavin Dunn, wishing like hell it could have been my heart.

Sneaking out on him was hard.

Hearing that he and Gigi were still together was harder.

As if one betrayal wasn’t enough, he told Nick about my almost drowning. One meltdown was already one too many for my brother, and he had me committed.

Gavin Dunn was my curse, even when he ended up being my salvation.

Present

Ten

There isnothing in the world that hurts worse than a broken heart.

Bones break and mend. Skin scars and fades.

A heart echoes with the pain. And mine still remembered Gavin. He was a part of my life, and I was back where I left things off three years ago. It was like time “healed” me and dumped me in a vortex of unresolved emotions.

Sleep was hard to come by last night. I tossed and turned, not able to find comfort. It wasn’t fate that brought Gavin and me together again; the college where Nick worked was close to where we’d grown up. Nick had finally gotten the coaching position of his dreams because of him—because Gavin made it possible. He couldn’t have known that with Nick, I would come along. Not after all these years.

The morning light peeked through my windows, and I knew I should get up and start my morning before I got sleepier later. If I let it, this numbing feeling would take over me, and all I would want to do was lie around and sleep.

For the first time in years, I wondered what had happened to Dylan and Jordan. To the people who were close to me—or as close as I allowed after my parents’ deaths. I didn’t have much time to wonder when my phone started ringing.

“Seriously? It’s fucking early,” I whined as I answered the phone.

My brother chuckled. “You sound awake. Come on, meet me at my place.”

I groaned, but still got out of bed.

“Give me twenty.”

“Ten,” he answered back.

---