Chapter 94

Gavin’s POV

I immediately stepped away from her and wiped my mouth clean of her saliva. What the actual fuck just happened? Skyla’s face turned beat red at the sight of my obvious rejection of her advances. I turned my icy gaze to the paparazzi who noticed my fiery energy immediately and slowly lowered their cameras.

“Leave before I rip your throats out of your necks,” I said through my teeth, unleashing a bit of my wolf for extra strength. I knew that his eyes were shining through mine and turning my gaze glowing yellow. The paparazzi started to shake in their shoes as they murmured their apologies and quickly dispersed from the scene.

I was still fuming long after they had left; I was unable to move. I mindlinked Beta Taylor and told him to pick us up. I planned to just drop her off at the villa and then return to the mansion so I could see if Judy was okay.

I felt Skyla’s hand on my back after what felt like a long and awkward silence. I immediately tensed, my wolf growling and snapped in my mind and I held him back before he hurt her.

“Don’t touch me,” I said through my teeth and stepped away from her.

“Gavin—”

“It’s Alpha,” I snapped, turning my fiery gaze on her and flaring my nostrils as anger surged through me. “You crossed a line tonight, Skyla. You shouldn’t have done that!”

“I…I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I just wanted to get them off my back. They wouldn’t stop until we gave them an answer they wanted.”

“I seemed to have stopped them perfectly fine without lying to them,” I seethed.

“You think that stopped them?” Skyla laughed, shaking her head. “They aren’t through with us just yet…”

“We are done here,” I said just as Taylor pulled up in the car. “Get in the car and speak nothing about this to anyone.”

She stared at me for a brief moment and then she smiled sweetly.

“Of course,” she said, brushing past me. “I won’t have to speak about this to anyone. They’ll already be talking about it by tomorrow.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I decided to ignore her. I sat in the front seat with Taylor while Skyla sat in the back seat. The further I was from her, the better it would be. My only thought at the moment was to get to Judy.

…..

Judy’s POV

“Maybe it doesn’t mean anything,” Nan told me on the phone. I curled up in bed, tears staining my cheeks. Why was I acting like this? I don’t even know the full story yet. I had no reason to act like I lost everything… I mean, Chester flirted with me and that doesn’t mean I’m about to screw his brains out. Maybe it’s the same thing for Gavin and Skyla…

Then why does it feel like my heart had been ripped out of my chest and stomped on? Why is my wolf in despair as if she had lost someone as well? These feelings were confusing, and I wasn’t really sure what to do about them.

“I don’t know,” I murmured. “I’m so tired and seeing them together earlier… it hurt, Nan.”

“Why would Irene show you that?” Nan asked bitterly. “She knew you had a thing for him, didn’t she?”

“I don’t know if she did or didn’t… but I thought she at least suspected,” I said softly. More tears burned in my eyes, but I blinked them away. “She’s been acting strangely lately. I’m not sure what’s wrong with her, but I don’t think she really wants to be my friend anymore.”

“Good,” Nan told me. “You shouldn’t be friends with your ex’s mistress anyway.”

“She didn’t know she was a mistress. I can’t blame her for what Ethan had done. We are both victims. The only difference is, I know I’m a victim and Irene doesn’t. I feel sorry for her… I want to continue being her friend, but she’s been avoiding me and acting strangely.”

“Don’t stress too much about her; I don’t think she’s worth it. If Gavin truly likes you, he’s not going to do anything with this girl. Trust me,” she told me gently.

“That’s the problem, Nan,” I whispered.; “I don’t know if he does truly like me, or if this is just sex.”

There was silence on the other end for a moment.

“Maybe you should be talking to him about it?” She suggested. “You seem to have a lot of confusion, and it should be cleared up if you continue to spend time with him and live in his mansion,” Nan told me.

I was about to reply, but then the door of the room opened, and Gavin stood at the entryway. It was late in the evening and my heart started to beat fast at the sight of him. He looked so tired. I wasn’t expecting to see him tonight and I was borderline, mortified that he was now seeing me with my face all blotchy and my eyes filled with tears.

I quickly tried to hide my face and wipe the tears away before they became obvious to him.

“Nan, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I told her quickly, my voice dropping to a whisper.

“Did he just walk in?” She asked curiously. She knew me well.

“Yes,” I whispered hoarsely.

“Good luck and remember, take a deep breath and don’t jump to conclusions. Let him explain first before you go off. Update me on everything tomorrow!”

“I will,” I assured her and then I hung up the phone.

I put the phone on the nightstand and plugged it into the charger before turning to look at him. He still remained at the doorway, studying me with a frown.

“Irene said you were unwell,” he told me. “You were fine this morning.”

I nodded and wiped my cheeks again, hoping he didn’t notice how blotchy my face was and the tears that were still in my eyes. I hated how weak I was in front of him, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Yeah, I was just a little under the weather,” I lied. “I think I might have eaten something bad.”

“Was it whatever Chester made you?” He asked through his teeth. “I’ll fire him and—”

“No!” I said quickly. “Don’t fire him; he didn’t do anything. It was something I ate at school. Nothing more.”

He looked almost disappointed; I knew he kind of wanted to fire Chester because he rubbed Gavin the wrong way, but I wasn’t going to let him. I liked Chester; he was funny, and he made being here less lonely. Between him and Harper, I felt like I belonged around here.

At least I did until I spotted Skyla and Gavin together. That sick feeling returned to my belly and stared down at my lap, willing my tears away before they slipped down my cheeks.

“How was your date?” I murmured, unable to hide the bitterness in my tone.

“It wasn’t a date,” he said immediately. “It was a casual dinner. Chanse thought it would be good if I took her to dinner and—” his voice trailed off. “Wait, I didn’t say anything about it in the text. How did you know?”

I bit my lip as my cheeks burned with embarrassment. I had nothing to be embarrassed about though; I didn’t ask Irene to send me a photo of Gavin and Skyla leaving. She captioned it, “My father going on his first real date in years! Don’t they look beautiful together?”

I felt sick to my stomach, and I have been crying ever since. I hated the effect it had on me, but I couldn’t help myself. They did look great together; Skyla in her shimmering red dress, pressed herself up against Gavin who was dressed in a nice suit. He was dressed in something more casual now and I wondered if Skyla helped him take off his suit.

“Irene sent me a picture,” I admitted. “She wanted me to see how lovely the two of you were together.”

I looked up at him and saw that his eyes were dark with rage. I shuddered at the sight of him and swallowed the lump in my throat.

“I’ll have a conversation with her about that,” he muttered. “But it wasn’t a date.”

I nodded, wanting to believe him.

He stepped closer to the bed.

“Are you still feeling sick?” He asked.

I nodded; I was feeling sick, but not because I ate something bad.

“I’ll get you some tea then,” he said; before I could protest, he was already out of the room.

I sighed and leaned my head against my pillow, feeling frustrated and hurt all at the same time.

Gavin returned a little later with a mug of tea, made exactly how I liked it. I was surprised that he remembered such details about me. I thanked him and sipped the tea silently, with him watching me. We didn’t talk for the rest of the night; I wasn’t even expecting him to stay the night. But he did.

He slept beside me as if it was the most normal thing in the world. When I woke the next morning, the bed was empty, but I heard the shower on in the bathroom and I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. He was still there, and he was taking a shower.

I started to feel a bit lighter knowing that he came to me right after his date and spent the night with me under the impression that I was sick. He made me tea and was tentative about my needs last night; he didn’t try to have sex with me or anything.

Maybe he did care about me after all.

I grabbed my phone, and I saw that Nan had called me and she sent me a text as well. I frowned, wondering what was so urgent that she needed to get a hold of me so early this morning.

I opened the text and saw her message, my heart weighing heavily in my chest.

Nan: Whatever you do, don’t open the internet today! Please!!

There was a sinking feeling in my chest, and I knew I had to find out what she was talking about. I immediately went to the internet and the news headline was large and in front of my face, making that sick feeling in my stomach return.

Skyla Sinclare Spotted with New Boyfriend, Gavin Landry!

Tears filled my eyes and started to spill down my cheeks before I could stop them. I pressed the caption and let it take me to the article… and that was when I saw the photo…

It was Gavin and Skyla, and they were kissing!