“I don’t think I—” Thea stopped herself mid-sentence. She was about to run through the litany of reasons why she couldn’t. She had to get groceries, fold some laundry, plan the family menu for the next week. But why shouldn’t she do something relaxing and totally for herself today? Gavin had the girls, and even if they weren’t gone very long, he could be home with them all day. And since Liv had the day off, why the hell not?

Thea nodded. “You know what? You’re right. Let’s go crazy and get sushi too.”

* * *

• • •

“This reminds me of watching you get ready for your wedding.”

Thea met her sister’s gaze in the mirror of the dressing room. It had taken some major coaxing on Liv’s part, but Thea had finally agreed to hit the mall for some shopping. A mall on Black Friday was pretty much the last place Thea wanted to be, but Liv reminded her she needed to replace her Southern Belle wardrobe.

“I remember you trying to zip me into that dress,” Thea responded, turning to see how the black dress she was trying on looked from behind.

“It fit.”

“Barely.”

“You were pregnant with twins.”

“My ass had its own zip code.”

“You were happy.”

“Was I?”

Liv sat up straight, and one eyebrow went stratospheric. “Weren’t you?”

“I was nervous,” Thea clarified. “I wasn’t sure if I looked happy.”

Liz snorted. “Nice save.”

It wasn’t a save. Thea had been happy. Terrified, but happy and hopeful and one hundred percent naïve. If only she’d known then what she knew now.

“Well, Gavin definitely looked happy that day. Never would’ve guessed that he’d end up being just another asshole.”

Thea slipped out of the black dress and started to put her own clothes back on. “I don’t want you to hate him, Liv.”

“I don’t hate him. I’m disappointed in him.”

Thea once again met her sister’s eyes in the mirror. “What do you mean?”

“You guys were my OTP.” One true pairing. “It sort of gave me hope that maybe there actually were some decent men left in the world.”

“He is a decent man.”

Liv gathered a stack of clothes into her arms and shoved them at Thea. “Why are you defending him?”

“I’m not. I just—” Thea hefted the load of clothes she’d decided to buy higher in her arms.

“Just what?”

“I just think it’s dangerous to expect anyone to be perfect.”

Liv snorted. “Well there’s a cryptic statement.”

One that Thea had no intention of expanding on, but Liv wasn’t easily swayed. By the time their food arrived at a nearby sushi restaurant, her sister was primed and ready for attack.

“So, what gives?” Liv asked, dipping a spicy tuna roll into soy sauce.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you going easy on him, all of a sudden?”

“I’m not. All I did was point out that he’s not some kind of evil mastermind.”

“Something has changed. What is it?”

He offered to deal with Dad for me. He kissed me and made me want to forget everything bad. He made pancakes with the girls. Thea shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Don’t shut me out, Thea.” Liv looped her pinkie finger with Thea’s. “You and me against the world, remember?”

Thea sucked in a breath. Liv wasn’t going to let this go. “Okay, there is something I haven’t told you.”

“I knew it,” Liv hissed. “What did he do?”

Thea explained about his conditions, leaving out the part about kissing. That one was too personal.

Liv’s jaw practically broke because she clenched it so hard. “And you say he’s not an evil mastermind. He’s blackmailing you!”

“It doesn’t matter. Just because I go out with him doesn’t mean I’m going to cave.”

It was dark by the time Thea and Liv returned shortly after dinnertime. Gavin and the girls were hanging out in the living room when they walked in. He looked up with a smile that made Thea’s heart swipe right.

At the sound of Liv’s knowing snort, Thea wiped her expression clean.

“Have fun?” Gavin asked, draping an arm over the back of the couch.

“Yeah,” she breathed, bending to kiss the girls.

“We were just going to watch Elf,” Gavin said.

“Can we all watch it?” Ava asked.

“Sure,” Thea answered, glancing up at her sister. “Maybe Liv will make us some caramel corn.”

“Sure,” Liv drawled in a sickly, sweet tone. “And then we’ll just be one big happy family!”

Thea smothered her groan with a sigh.

When the movie ended, Gavin offered to put the girls to bed so Thea could continue her day of pampering with a long bubble bath. It sounded too heavenly to refuse, but when she emerged from the bathroom forty-five minutes later, she realized his suggestion hadn’t been entirely altruistic.

Gavin was sitting on their bed, reclined against the headboard with his legs crossed casually at the ankles. A present rested next to his hip, wrapped way too beautifully for Gavin to have done it himself. His present-wrapping skills usually involved an entire role of tape and a wad of paper five times bigger than was necessary.

“Did you need something?” she asked, crossing her arms over the plush robe that covered her nakedness.

Oh. Right. The good-night kiss. Her heart skidded sideways.

Gavin held out the present. “I got you something today.” When she made no move to accept it, he rose from the bed and brought it to her. “It’s nothing big, but I thought of you when I saw it.”

Reluctantly, Thea took the present from his fingers and slid a fingernail under a strip of tape along the back. The red-and-gold paper fell away in a single sheet and fell to the floor.

And then so did her stomach.

It was a book.

But not just any book. Their book. The one she’d been reading the day when he finally approached her in the coffee shop after weeks of shyly smiling. W-w-what are you reading? he asked.

And it was that book that he offered to read aloud to her when she came down with what she thought was a stomach flu three months into their relationship.

“Where did you get this?” she asked, because it was the only thing she could think to say. It’s not like it was hard to find a copy of a Faulkner novel.

“The bookstore downtown.” He cleared his throat. “I was thinking maybe w-w-we could read it again since we never finished it.”

No, they hadn’t. Because that stomach flu ended up being morning sickness, and the book was quickly forgotten. Thea wasn’t even sure what happened to her old copy. Probably packed away in a box in the attic along with her other neglected college textbooks.

The high from the day began to dissipate like a mist in the air. “I know what you’re doing, Gavin, and I-I appreciate the sentiment. But—”

“Yesterday sucked,” he blurted, cutting her off. “I know that.” He stumbled over his next words. “I w-w-want to try this again. Can we pretend the past twenty-four hours never happened?”

“Pretending everything is fine doesn’t solve anything, Gavin.” Her tone was combative and defensive, but that’s how she felt. Why bother hiding it?

“I just w-want us to read together like we used to,” he said.

“And then what? After you read, then what?”

“And then I’ll kiss you good-night and go back to my room. And tomorrow night, we’ll do it again, and the night after that.”

Thea sank to the mattress. Gavin must have mistaken it as a sign of her softening, because he approached the bed. “I’m trying to put us back together, Thea. Can’t you meet me halfway?”

At her silence, Gavin sidestepped her and sat down on the bed. He reclined into the same pose as when she walked out of the bathroom, only this time he cracked open the book. He looked up and cocked an eyebrow, daring her to join him.

Thea rolled her eyes. “Fine. We’ll read.” She stomped around to her side of the bed and climbed in next to him, holding her robe closed as she did. She fluffed the pillow behind her head and fell back against it. Her head clunked the headboard. She tried again.

His quiet chuckle vibrated the bed. “Comfortable?”

“Fine.”

His smile actually made noise. “Just checking.”

Thea let out another annoyed breath. “Are you going to pick up where we left off?”

Gavin made an mmm noise. “I think maybe we should start over.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Gavin started over by lying to his wife bright and early Monday morning.

“I have a training session,” he told her, pouring cereal into the girls’ bowls. They sat sleepily in matching red T-shirts in their booster seats at the island countertop. “I’ll be back around noon.”

“OK,” Thea said, handing him the milk over the girls’ heads. Their fingers touched in the exchange, and she didn’t react, which was progress. A pleasant truce had settled between them since Friday night. He read to her and kissed her chastely before bed every night. She hadn’t exactly warmed up to him yet, but she’d let him put his arm around her while watching a movie with the girls on the couch last night. It was like working with a skittish stray dog.

“I like a lot of milk, Daddy,” Amelia said.

“I know, baby.” He filled her bowl to the brim and then splashed half as much into Ava’s, who he secretly believed wanted less just to be different from her sister.

“Can you write everything on the whiteboard so I’ll know what your schedule is?” Thea said, putting the milk back in the fridge. She looked at the girls, who were still in the yawning-and-staring phase of waking up. “Eat. We’re gonna be late.” She looked back at him. “I gotta run into the school to pick up my letter of recommendation, and then I’m meeting with the guidance counselor.”