Page 11 of Agony of Our Regret

“You did what was best for Vince, long term.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You thought about his future and what might happen to him if he let his control slip. His strength is an asset as much as a danger. He wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he hurt someone, and you prevented that.”

Gavin slowly nodded. “He still hasn’t spoken to me since I told him.”

The door opened. Luca peered in and smiled before stepping inside and closing it again.

“Luca talked to him,” Gavin continued. “Hopefully, eventually, he’ll see things from my perspective and know I didn’t do it to be malicious.”

Luca scoffed as he sat. “That would take Vince maturing, and I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

I didn’t want to think about him right now. Even though I believed now that Gavin did the right thing, I couldn’t stop thinking about what might have been—even though I needed to.

“What’s up?” Luca crossed his ankle over his knee.

“I was in the school planning meeting,” I began. “And started to feel sick. I ran for the bathroom.”

Gavin cringed. “Didn’t make it?”

“No. I mean, I did,” I said, nearly laughing. “That would be a different emergency call.”

“Are you still feeling sick?” Luca asked.

“No, but I lost my lunch.” My nose crinkled.

“I’m sorry, love. Are you hungry?” Luca moved. “Do you want me to go grab you something else?”

“No,” I hurried and waved him off. “That’s not what I wanted to tell you.” If I called them together every time I threw up, none of us would get work done. “Wes was waiting for me outside the restroom. He wanted to check on me since he noticed it wasn’t the first time I’ve run out of our meetings since the accident.”

Gavin shifted. “What did he say?”

“I tried to say I was nauseated from the concussion, but then he got more concerned and said that wasn’t normal. He said I should go to the doctor. Then it was like it clicked or something. He looked at me like he knew, and I just broke.” Remembering made me teary all over again. Damned hormones!

“So, he knows?” Luca guessed.

“Well, I was crying, and he hugged me. Then Chris appeared out of nowhere. Wes tried to cover and say I just needed to go home and rest, and Chris offered to drive me home.” I sniffed and tried to ignore that I was crying again. “It was so nice. He was willing to take care of me—even though Sky and I aren’t even together right now.”

“He still cares about you. All our parents do.” Gavin rounded the desk and pulled me into his arms. “That shouldn’t surprise you.”

“Well, it did.” I pulled back, trying not to smear mascara on his shirt. “He even offered to take me to the hospital to get checked out.”

Luca joined us, leaning against my desk and rubbing my shoulder. “That was really nice.”

I nodded. “It was.”

“Then what?” Gavin urged.

“Your mom found us. She came looking for me and thought maybe I was in pain or something. Then she and Wes did this weird telepathy thing. She pointed out that I’d been sick a lot lately, and I swear she looked at my stomach. I panicked and told them I was fine and ran back to the meeting. The second it was over, I found you guys.”

“Well, that’s not suspicious at all,” Luca chuckled.

“Yeah, way to play it cool,” Gavin teased, and I glared at both of them.

“I’d like to see you guys do better.”

“So your mom and Wes might know,” Luca concluded. “How long until all the parents do?”

“A day?” Gavin guessed.

I shook my head. “They wouldn’t tell people unless they knew for sure, right?”

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