Collide (Collide #1)(153)

Olivia threw the door open, quickly stepped out into the hallway, and snapped the door closed behind her. Crossing her arms, she glared at Gavin.

Gavin stared at her for a moment, his intuition eating away at his stomach. "What the hell's going on? Is he in there with her?"

"No. He's not in there with her, Gavin. She's in bed sick and very alone. She just passed out from some medicine I gave her earlier."

"First of all, she just texted me less than five minutes ago. Second, why did she change her story all of a sudden?"

"Well, she has a low tolerance for any kind of meds. And, like I said, I gave it to her a good half hour before she texted you." Olivia drew in a deep breath. "To address her changing her story, let's just say she's had a painstakingly tough day, and she looks like shit. She didn't want you to see her like that."

The corner of his mouth turned up a smirk. "Do I look like some kind of f*cking moron to you, Olivia?" he blurted out, garnering a surprised look from her. "Because if I do, you're sorely mistaken. If she's in there trying to work shit out with him, the least she could do is f*cking tell me instead of lying."

"I just told you he's not here. You've known me long enough to know that I'm not a conniving sneaky liar, Gavin." Letting out a melodramatic sigh, she nonchalantly looked down to her nails. "It's a shame I can't say the same thing about certain people I know."

Although confused by it, Gavin could tell there was more behind Olivia's statement, but he wasn't about to get into it with her - not then. However, he was definitely going to make sure he wasn't being played. Walking right past her, he reached for the door and made his way in. With his heart thumping erratically, hitting the pit of his stomach, his eyes scanned the living room for Emily.

"I told you she's in bed sleeping," Olivia said insistently.

The word "bed" reverberated through Gavin's head like a drumroll as a wave of nausea crept over him. Without thinking - and feeling quite like the certified paranoid psychopath he was convinced he was turning into - Gavin bolted down the hall toward Emily's room.

"Holy shit! What the f*ck are you doing, Blake?" Olivia let out, following right behind him. "She's sleeping."

Hoping to God Olivia wasn't lying to him, he slowly opened her door, still trying to keep the woman he loved in his forethoughts. With only the faintest light spilling into the room from the kitchen - indeed showing Emily alone in her bed - Gavin was sure that the sigh of relief that seared from his lungs and passed through his lips had awoken her. He pulled in a heavy breath, leaned against the doorway, and plowed his hands through his hair.

"See? She's sleeping, Gavin," Olivia whispered. "Now come on. She doesn't feel good."

Gavin felt like a total * for not believing the woman he was supposed to trust. He couldn't leave. He felt frozen to the ground as his ears soaked in the sound of her breathing - the breathing of the woman who'd repeatedly said she loved him less than twenty-four hours ago. By God, he adored and loved her, but even if only for a beat, he'd doubted what she'd told him. He didn't intend to wake her, but he needed to touch her. He needed to feel some part of his angel's body. Against the harsh whispers of Olivia's pleas, Gavin found himself quietly moving across the room. He approached the bed where Emily lay asleep with her back turned toward him. He let a bittersweet smile form on his lips as his fingertips lightly brushed through her hair. He leaned over her, his body movements careful not to wake her, as he grazed the side of her jaw with his knuckles.