Broken Trouble (Broken Storm #1) (14 page)

              Gavin stomped around the corner, the puppy running and nipping at his heels. I put a hand over my mouth, like I was horrified, but in reality I was covering up a smile and stifling a laugh.

              Starre wasn't holding back.

              I heard Gavin growl, his eyes narrowing on us as he scooped up the little puppy, who started barking at him as he tried to speak. His hard eyes turned to the puppy and I could be imagining things, but it looked like the puppy glared right back, before its mouth opened in a tonguey smile. "What is this?" his voice rumbled.

              Starre was still laughing and gasping for air, so I elbowed her in an attempt to get her to stop.

              "It's a puppy," I stated the obvious.

              "Why is it here?" Gavin asked, his jaw ticking in annoyance, as if I was testing the last strand of his patience.

              Ah, how fun.

              "I got him," I paused, bracing myself, "for you."

              I met his eyes dead on, willing myself not to break eye contact first. Gavin seemed confused, then suspicious. His eyes narrowed on mine like snake wondering if the person in front of it was worth the effort of biting.

              He strode forward until he was directly in front of me, never breaking eye contact. I wasn't used to Gavin being so close to me, especially with his size and height. It was a bit intimidating, which is probably what he was going for, so I tried not to show it as I squared off with him.

              "Why? If you're trying to pay me off with a puppy, it's not going to work."

              "Your happy disposition reminds me of an adorable puppy," I stated sarcastically, forcing my stare to continue meeting his. "I'm not trying to pay you off." Well, I kind of was, but only a little bit. My eyes burned from not blinking.

              He blinked first. I took the opportunity to blink several times, relief flooding my eyes as they watered. I didn't want him to think I was crying, so I looked over at Starre, hoping it would hide my blurry eyes. Starre was watching the exchange like it was a show on TV. Place a container of popcorn in front of her and she'd be right at home.

              Gavin didn't speak, but I could see his thumb stroking the puppies fur.

              Aha, so he did like the puppy.

              "I can take him back if you don't want him," I offered, reaching out to take the puppy from him. He gave the exact reaction I wanted him to.

              "Get your fucking hands away from him," Gavin growled, moving the puppy away from me and out of my reach. "He's probably already scarred for life from you bringing him here."

              "I'm glad you like him."

              "I didn't say I liked him. I'll have to rehabilitate him so he doesn't have nightmares," Gavin grumbled, but for once I could finally see under his tough exterior. It was like chipping away a piece of a rock to find a fuzzy duckling, instead of more rock.

              I smiled, "Of course."

              "Smartass," Gavin grumbling as he turned away and sat the puppy down.

              Smartass was definitely an upgrade in insults.

              Polly came through the door with Dylan and Landon, and headed straight for the kitchen. I noticed Dylan sliding a new epipen into his back pocket, his eyes momentarily on mine. Had Polly taken him to the hospital after our date? I hadn't really paid much attention in the past when someone used their epipens, so maybe it was something you were supposed to do.

              Landon stopped and looked us over. When his eyes landed on the puppy scrambling around on the floor, his eyes illuminating as he yelled, "Puppy!" and he darted towards it. He knelt on the floor, using his hands to rough up the puppy’s fur, then moved his hand around as the puppy tried to play fight him. I saw the puppy sink his teeth into Landon's hand several times, but he seemed so into playing that he didn't even notice.

              Polly appeared at the doorway, looking down at the puppy, then exchanging a look with Starre. She didn't seem surprised, almost as if she already knew they would be bringing him home. Maybe Starre had texted Polly and told her.

              "Landon, go ring the bell. Gavin, wash up. I'll fix the puppy a plate of eggs," Polly ordered, then gestured to me and Starre, "Girls, can you set the table?"

              "Of course Polly," Starre said, and I nodded.

Starre grabbed a stack of plates and I grabbed a bunch of forks. We were out of earshot from Polly and the guys as we set the table. Starre turned to me, "Oh my gosh, the tension between you and Gavin?" She fanned herself with a plate. "He was kind of a jerk though."

              I frowned. "Yeah, at least he didn't tell me off this time."

              "Girl, you need to just keep working at him. He's crumbling like he's been turning to sand."

              Before I could respond, the puppy darted into the room with Gavin following behind, one hand holding a bowl of potatoes and the other holding a small plate of eggs.

              Both Starre and I paused from setting the table to watch Gavin bend down and set the plate on the floor. "Here Mutt," he said, frowning at the puppy as he waited for it to start eating the eggs.

              The puppy waddled up to the plate, sniffing at the eggs, then grabbed the edge of the plate, gnawing on it, and trying to tug it across the floor. Gavin grunted, grabbing the plate and pinning it to the floor. The puppy growled and launched himself at the plate, using his front paws in a digging motion to fling the eggs off the plate.

              "Stupid Mutt," Gavin grumbled, snatching up the eggs and putting them back on the plate.

              As we watched the puppy fling the eggs back off the plate again, both Starre and I couldn't help but laugh.

              "You got me this thing just to torment me, didn't you?" Gavin growled, his eyes searing into mine.

              Grinning, I placed the last fork beside a plate. "Yep."

              "I hate you," Gavin's eyebrows scrunched down and I heard the slightest huff. His voice didn't hold the same venom as it usually did. It wasn't really filled with hate, just annoyance.

              Maybe Starre was right, maybe I was making progress with him. Or maybe he's really just playing nice so he could hurt me later on. People did that to me plenty of times. They would wiggle their way past my walls with false promises and emotions, then attack, and rip me apart from the inside out like a rabid dog.

              Protecting myself had become my goal. I didn't think I could handle anymore emotional scars and the only way I knew I could do that was to keep people at a distance. I hadn't let anyone in for years, because I knew better. Didn't I?

              "Feeling's mutual," I muttered, rolling my eyes and turning my back to him as I headed to the kitchen. I really had no idea why I was going to the kitchen, other than to get away from him.

Polly turned and smiled at me when I entered the kitchen, her voice low to keep the others from hearing. "I'm so glad ya got him that puppy, Honey. He needed something else to focus on, and I have the feeling that puppy will do the trick. It was such a nice thing for ya to do."

              "It was Starre's idea." It didn't feel right to take the credit for something that hadn't been my idea. "Plus, he's in an oddly good mood today, I'm sure tomorrow he'll be back to his grumpy self."

              Polly's mouth tipped down as she thought over what I said, then spoke with such certainty I knew it had to be the truth, "Gavin may not show how much he cares, but he does. That's why he's the way he is, Honey.  He’s just trying to learn how to accept you."

              We were interrupted by Jayden and Trevor walking into the room. I didn't even know that Trevor was at the ranch, so it surprised me to see him there. I wondered who Trevor was friends with, he seemed to hang out with everyone, so maybe he was friends with them all. Other than Trevor being Starre's boyfriend, I really didn't know that much about him. His dark eyes landed on me as he nodded in a silent greeting, then looked to Polly, who was directing us on what to take to the table.

              Dylan smiled shyly at me when he caught my eyes, a smile automatically rose to my lips.

              Polly turned and handed me a basket of rolls to put on the table. On my way, I saw Gavin pinch off a bit of chicken and toss it to the puppy, who sniffed at it before finally eating it. It was obvious the puppy is going to be spoiled.

              We all took our places at the table and Chili said the prayer, then we all started digging in.

              "Hey Dylan, you never told me what all happened on the date," Jayden smirked, his eyes mischievous and I knew he must be up to something. I had thought they would ask Dylan all of those kinds of questions while I had been out with Starre. Why hadn't they?

              Dylan glanced up at me, looking a bit nervous about responding and I knew he was thinking about being stung by the bee. "It went well, I think." The corner of his mouth lifting as his eyes flickered to my lips briefly before returning to his food. There was no denying what he was thinking about the kiss now. I blushed at the memory, glad Dylan was keeping that part of our date a secret. The other guys had already been pushy on a chance for a date, I didn't look forward to their reaction to Dylan and I kissing.

              "It was great. The scenery was very nice too," I flirted, not just talking about the land. Dylan was definitely pleasant to look at.

              Dylan blushed and smiled at me, which made Jayden's eyes narrow. "Nice huh? When we go on a date, nice will definitely not be the first word on your mind," he said with not-so-hidden innuendo, a dark smirk pulling at his lips.

              "Well, I guess I'm glad we're not going on a date then," I stated, turning his words around on him.

              "I doubt you can resist going on a date with me Sweetheart. Dylan's not that good," Jayden leaned over the table, his eyes darkening as he did so, "and I'm bad in the best kind of way."

              My face heated up as I tried to think of a comeback. After spending the morning with Dylan, Jayden's intensity was a bit overwhelming, especially when he was basically undressing me with his eyes.

              Before I could respond, Starre spoke up, "Did I ever tell you how Trevor and I met?" Her eyes were bright, but I could tell she was trying to change the subject.

              "Not again," Gavin grumbled from his spot at the table as he fed the puppy more food.

              "Don't feed the dog under the table Gavin, he'll grow up with bad habits," Polly scolded.

              "The mutt's hungry," Gavin stated, as if that made it acceptable.

              Polly sighed, "Then feed him after dinner."

              "Fine," Gavin grumbled, going back to eating. A few seconds later, when Polly wasn't looking, I saw him throw the puppy some more food.

              I smirked.

              "Thinking of how pleasurable going on a date with me would be Sweetheart?" Jayden asked with a cocky grin.

              "Actually, I was just thinking about the different ways Starre and Trevor could have met." Good comeback? Who knew, but at least it switched the conversation away from dates. I was grateful when Starre took it as her signal to tell her story.

              "Well, I had gone to the movie theater in town to watch Tangled, which is an amazing movie that we really need to watch together sometime, Nova," Starre said, then her voice got all dreamy. "I bumped into him after the movie and he said 'I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say... Hi. How ya doin'?' and then he gave me the famous Flynn Rider smolder," Starre paused, her eyes starry, as if she was experiencing the moment all over again and was fangirling over it. "It was so perfect!"

              Gavin and Jayden made gagging noises and Landon started laughing, both Wyatt and Dylan smiling.

              "You guys have no sense of romance!" Starre exclaimed to them.

              "Thank God," Jayden exclaimed.

              "You all need to take note from Trevor! Then you might be a little better at getting a girl," Starre said.

              "I have no problems getting a girl," Jayden commented, leaning back in his chair.

              Starre narrowed her eyes on him before turning to me and continuing her story. "I think that was the moment I fell for him. We went and to lunch across the street, talking about the movie and just about everything else."

              "Some guys don't need to talk to make a girl’s day perfect," Jayden smirked.

              Trevor leveled his gaze on Jayden's. "Who has the girlfriend?"

              I saw a flash in Jayden's eyes, but he stayed quiet, causing the entire table to sit in an awkward silence for a few minutes.

              Chili was the first to speak, "When do you boys think you'll have the truck fixed?"