“That sounds way too easy,” Delilah said.
Gavin pulled her on top of him, ignoring the sick dread he felt when she said this. Instead, he slid her legs to either side of his hips and closed his eyes at the warmth of her skin. “It doesn’t matter. We just have to make it through tomorrow and that’s it. The rest will figure itself out.”
? ? ?
Gavin had kissed Delilah good-bye before the sun was even up. They’d cleaned the music room, stacked the mats back in the gym office, and tied the trash into a tiny bag to take with them. He’d watched her dress, surrendering his casual glances for outright staring as she’d pulled on her skirt and then her bra. He wasn’t embarrassed when she caught him, and he hadn’t looked away when she’d laughed and thrown his shirt in his direction. She’d told him he was hers and she was his; he was allowed to look, encouraged even.
And that’s how they ended up here, Delilah pressed to the wall while he kissed her long and slow, while he tried to make it last. Gavin knew he’d never be the same after what happened in this room, that his life would forever be divided into two separate halves: everything before last night and everything after.
When he finally pulled away to breathe, Gavin pressed a kiss to her nose and the corner of her mouth before resting his forehead against hers. “You remember what I said?” he asked her.
Delilah nodded but kept her eyes closed. “Meet you at eleven.”
“And?” he pressed, lifting her chin gently so she would look at him.
She blew out a shaky breath. “And. . . if you’re not there. . . I’m to leave town by myself.”
“Okay, good.”
“But—”
Her phone chimed in her pocket. “Dhaval,” she said. “That’s his alert.”
Where are you? No idea what’s happening, but Gavin’s mom called. HIS MOM.
Delilah blinked up to Gavin with eyes so wide he thought they might burst.
“What?” he asked. She started typing so fast she almost dropped the phone twice. “Lilah? Did that say. . . ?”
WHAT DO YOU MEAN HIS MOM? she typed back.
His reply came only a moment later. JUST WHAT I SAID. She called and told my mom he didn’t come home last night. That she was worried.
“Your mom called,” she mumbled. “Your. . . momandIdon’tknowhow!”
Gavin felt like his legs might give out from under him. He reached for her phone, not bothering with text, and just pushed Dhaval’s contact picture, closing his eyes while it rang.
“Dee!”
“Dhaval, what happened?” Gavin asked, his voice hoarse and trembling. “She called? Where did she call from?”
Gavin listened as Dhaval explained, his arm slowly falling to his side until the phone fell to the floor. He could still hear Dhaval’s voice shouting through the line, but he didn’t care.
“Gav?” Delilah said. “What did he say?”
“He said she called from my home phone. She’s inside House.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Her
I’m coming with you,” she said. She could feel the stubborn set of her jaw. If anyone asked her right at this second, Delilah would swear she was eight feet tall and four feet wide. Nothing was getting between her and Gavin.
Gavin shook his head emphatically, and Delilah felt a rough growl escape her throat. “Lilah, no. I need to go back there, and you need to go to the bank.”
“Don’t you see that’s what House wants? It’s pretending to be your mother!”
“Look,” he said, his long fingers gripping her shoulders. “House has never mimicked a voice before, okay? If my mother. . .” He let the words trail off, closing his eyes. “I can’t leave town without knowing who called Dhaval.”