Page 65 of Mr. Misunderstood

I look up at him. His dark eyes stare back at me. When he looks at me like that—as if he understands me, as if he accepts me just like this—it’s tempting to toss the “fake” part of our relationship out the floor-to-ceiling window of his penthouse. I could fall in love with my best friend. I could set aside my fears about what marriage to a man like him would do to me and accept his maybe-we-should proposal.

After I save his public image so he can maintain his place as the Boy Wonder of the software world.

I offer a half-hearted smile. “Do you remember how many hours you poured into your company back then? Around the time of my one-year wedding anniversary you worked as if everything you built might disappear overnight.”

He nods. “We needed a second successful product on the market.”

“While you were focused your company, I was fading.” I never thought about the timeline. But now I realize that Gavin didn’t witness my descent. He was a part of my life. But he didn’t have a front row seat. He saw the aftermath. He found me when I needed a rescue and he rushed in to save me, never questioning how I got there. He didn’t ask what I’d done to end up broken and lost. Just like I never suggested he should carry any of the blame for the bullies who tormented him in school.

“You were happy in the beginning,” he says bitterly.

“I wouldn’t have married him if I didn’t like some parts of him.”

“I don’t want to hear about those parts.”

I cock my head. If I didn’t know better, I would think … But no, after thirty years of friendship, he couldn’t possibly be …

“Gavin, are you jealous?” I hear the note of laughter in my tone.

“Yes.”

His dark gaze glides over my body as if he’s mentally undressing me across the table. We’ve shared hundreds of meals together, but he’s never looked at me as if he wanted to push aside the containers and take me right here on the table.

“I’m trying to fight it,” he continues, “I know you’ve had enough domineering men in your life. But I would be lying if I told you I didn’t want to punch Jason again because he’s seen you naked.”

“We were married,” I point out. “And how many women have seen you naked?”

“I didn’t say I was right. I’m just telling you the truth.” He rises from the floor and Ava stands up, ready to follow him. “I’m going to grab a beer. Want one? Or a glass of wine?”

“Beer’s fine.”

I wait until he disappears into the kitchen, with Cleveland and Ava on his heels, to steal a piece of his dragon roll. Then I turn back to my curry. Three bites later, Gavin returns with two open bottles of Long Island City microbrew.

“Thanks,” I say.

“How did it happen?” he asks as he settles down on the floor. The dogs retreat to their beds, realizing they are not getting a surprise lunch or walk. “How did you go from happy to miserable? I want to understand what went wrong.”

So you don’t make the same mistake?

I shrug. “It just happened.”

“Please Kayla,” he says. “It will at least make me feel better about hitting him.”

“It was little things,” I say with a sigh. “He didn’t hit me, or abuse me. I think that was why it took me so long to leave. There wasn’t a single moment or event that I could point to and say that’s when he hurt me.”

“I would have noticed.” He tips his beer bottle to me. “If that bastard laid a hand on you, I would have sought him out and beat the crap out of him.”

“At the time, everything seemed so small,” I say. “I felt as if I was getting worked up over nothing. Jason commented on how I dressed from the beginning, but I brushed it off. After he became this big shot who was invited to all the fancy clubs and parties, and I was a teacher who wasn’t teaching, who didn’t have kids …”

I take a sip of beer.

“You wanted kids?” he asked.

“I was open to the idea. But I wasn’t willing to try alternative methods when it didn’t happen for us. Maybe part of me knew that having a family with Jason was a bad idea.”

His brow furrows. “I remember you told me you were going to a doctor to see if anything was wrong. You never said anything else about it.”

“And you decided my visits to the gynecologist were none of your business?”

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