Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(64)
“What the hell!” he muttered as he walked over to inspect the damage.
Fortunately, his truck had been hit in the rear, which was preferable to the engine. The impact had pressed the back right panel into the tire, which would rub when the axle turned, but it looked as though he might be able to pull the metal back far enough to make the vehicle drivable until he could get it repaired. That was the good news. But why was that crazy person on his street to begin with? Especially so late at night?
Was it Scott? That hadn’t been a Camaro, but Scott could’ve been with someone else...
Because Savanna had just moved in, it didn’t occur to him that whoever it was had been visiting her—until he heard footsteps running across the bridge.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, coming up behind him. “I can’t believe she did this!”
He turned to face her. “She?”
“That was Gordon’s mom. She came all the way out here from Utah, arrived a few minutes ago. We argued on my porch, but not for long. Something suddenly came over her, and she jumped back into her car and took off.”
“You don’t know why.”
She shook her head. “I thought it would be much more difficult to get rid of her. I’m still trying to figure out what happened.”
It wasn’t until that moment, when Savanna stepped up next to him, that he even thought about the fact that he hadn’t taken the time to dress before dashing out of the house. He was standing outside in his underwear and no shoes. But he wasn’t concerned for the sake of modesty. Savanna had seen him before. He wasn’t completely naked, anyway.
Resting his hands on his hips, he frowned at the crushed metal. “Was she drunk?”
“I don’t think so. To be honest, she sounded more lucid than usual.”
“So what’d she come here for?”
“To get what she’s wanted from the start—money for Gordon’s defense.”
He pulled his hair back. “What’d you tell her?”
“I refused to give her any. I thought I’d have a real fight on my hands. I had Branson’s baseball bat hidden behind the door, in case I had to defend myself. That shows you what I was expecting. She’d sent me a text earlier saying she was going to make me sorry for abandoning Gordon, as if she was coming out, looking for revenge. So I was shocked when she left out of the blue and without getting too ugly.”
Gavin scowled at her. “If she’s been threatening you, and you thought she might act on those threats, why didn’t you call me? Or at least let me know the moment she arrived?”
Looking a bit rattled, she hugged herself. “I didn’t want to wake you. And it seems as if, I don’t know, as if you don’t really want to see me anymore. I want to give you your space, if that’s true. Don’t want to keep bothering you, especially for more favors.”
That was why she’d asked if she could accept Eli’s invitation to the barbecue. She thought he was trying to pull away, and he was, but not for the reasons she supposed.
“What’s happening in my life has nothing to do with you,” he said, but he realized almost as soon as he’d spoken those words that they weren’t strictly true. He’d barely met her, and yet she’d made a huge impact on everything. He couldn’t imagine himself being quite this reluctant to get back with Heather, to do the right thing by the child she carried, if he didn’t have someone else he wanted more so close at hand.
“I came on too strong the other night. I’m sorry about that,” she said. “My whole world is jumbled right now. I’m not thinking straight, not acting like I should. Most people get to know each other before...well, before that. Hitting you up so soon must’ve put you in an awkward position. Just because I’m flailing around like a drowning person doesn’t mean I need to drag you down with me.” She laughed, a short, self-deprecating chuckle. “Anyway, you’ve been great. Really. I hope you’ll forgive me. I hate that I might’ve messed up our friendship.”
“Savanna...”
She rubbed her arms as she gazed up at him. “What?”
He heard the uncertainty in her voice. “You haven’t messed up anything.”
Her eyebrows gathered. “But you just want to be platonic friends, right? I crossed the line? I mean...I thought you were into it, too, but...I’ve been thinking about how forward I was that night and feeling like an idiot.”
“There’s no need to feel like an idiot. I wanted you then. And I want you now.” Taking her hands, he pulled her against him and lowered his head to kiss her.
She seemed startled when what started as a soft exploration of her mouth turned into an intense and hungry devouring. He knew it wasn’t consistent with the subdued response he’d been giving her recently. But the desire that welled up was carrying him away like a tidal wave. He couldn’t summon any resistance; he wanted her too badly. “You taste like honey,” he told her. “And you feel—God, you feel like heaven.”
He’d never had sex outside, but he’d lived in the country for only two months. He loved the privacy his new place gave him, because he didn’t want to let her go. He knew his conscience would reassert itself if he broke away, even for a short time. Or she’d say she had to get back to her house or something.