Page 86 of Stealing Home

“I opened our text thread last night,” he admitted. “I typed out that Ethan was coming, but I couldn’t send it.”

“I don’t understand, Gavin,” he said quietly. “Why?”

“Because it felt like something you should know.” Gavin swallowed. “And I didn’t understand why. We’ve been out once, but telling you felt like the kind of thing I’d do if this was already more serious than it could possibly be.”

“So you decided it wasn’t.”

“I tried to.” Gavin closed his eyes. “That didn’t work.”

Through the silence, Gavin heard Lucia make a small sound in the background. He pictured Dom reaching for her automatically, one hand settling against her stomach or her tiny fingers curling around his.

“What did Ethan want?” Dom asked.

“The settlement is large enough to rebuild the company. He wanted me to move back to Northern California and start over with him.”

“The company?”

“At first.” Gavin forced himself to say the rest. Dom deserved that much. “He thinks we ended the marriage because we couldn’t see past everything we’d lost. He wanted to know if we could rebuild more than the business.”

Another silence opened between them.

“Hey.” Gavin straightened. “I said no. I don’t want Ethan back. I don’t want that marriage or that life anymore.”

“Okay.”

“I signed the settlement and the distribution paperwork. I still have to wait for the money, but there is nothing left to connect us legally or financially.”

“Okay,” Dom repeated.

“That’s all you’re going to say?”

“What else am I supposed to ask, Gavin?” Dom’s voice sounded small.

Gavin rubbed his palm over the center of his chest. “Whether I’m sure. Whether I still love him. Whether you should believe me.”

“Are you sure?” Dom asked.

“Yes.”

“Then I believe you.”

The words came without hesitation. Gavin was ready to explain every detail of the meeting, but Dom accepted the one answer that mattered and left the rest alone.

“You can be angry,” Gavin said.

“I’m not angry that you saw him.” Dom paused. “I’m hurt that you decided what this might mean to me without giving me a chance to figure it out myself.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” Dom questioned.

“Yes.” Gavin gripped the steering wheel. “I needed to think of this as something casual because I didn’t think either of us was ready for anything more serious than that. It felt safer. But I don’t know how to treat you like someone casual when nothing about us feels that way.”

Dom’s breath caught softly.

“That doesn’t mean I’m expecting anything from you,” Gavin continued quickly. “I’m not asking for promises or decisions on where this is going. I’m trying very hard not get ahead of us, but I need to stop pretending I care less than I do just because the truth makes me uncomfortable.”

Lucia began fussing in the background. Dom murmured in Italian before returning to the phone.