Page 36 of Next to Everything We Wanted

A few minutes later, I heard steady breathing as Gavin sat next to me, his ocean-scented cologne filling the air. “You never left.”

I searched for his hand before reminding myself that I probably shouldn’t touch him. “I couldn’t leave you knowing you were having a panic attack,” I said softly. “I wouldn’t want to find out that you’d passed out and I hadn’t done anything about it.” Though I’d never experienced someone pass out from a panic attack, it’d been a fear of mine since Raina had started getting hers. “Someone had to be here.”

Silence filled the room for a minute, other than the rest of Somewhere in the Sky performing on stage.

Finally, Gavin let out a soft sigh. “Thank you.”

I smiled, even though I could barely make him out in the dark. “You’re welcome.”

He rose from the floor and turned on the lights. Now I got a perfect view of all the stuff that’d been knocked over—a bunch of bags, some props, and instruments. The other side of the room reminded me of Oliver’s garage, with a table and a couch for lounging. A bookcase and TV rested against the brick walls. Had all of this accumulated since we’d performed here? Why had Gavin been sitting on the floor when he had a couch?

“Is this where you guys hang out?” I asked.

Gavin nodded, wiping sweat off his flushed forehead. “It’s our lounge before performances.” He sat down at the table and patted the spot next to him. “This is where we play cards.”

“You guys play cards?” I smiled, sitting beside him. “What’s your favorite game?”

“Oh, that’s a hard one.” He clicked his tongue. “I’d say UNO, since I’m the reigning champion. My winning streak is yet to be broken.”

“Oh, really?” I smirked. “People say the same about me.”

“Really?” He returned my smile. “How many times have you won in a row?”

“Twenty-three.” I kept track of all my wins in my sketchbook. Gosh, when was the last time I’d opened that thing?

His smile turned into a smirk. “Same.”

“Then let’s see who’ll ruin it for the other person.” I took the deck of UNO cards and shuffled them around. “Are you a good shuffler?”

He snorted. “Definitely not. When I shuffle, everyone ends up with only one or two colors. And then there’s that one person who always gets the good ones.” He shook his head. “It’s usually Celia. She typically wins when she’s not playing against me.”

“Then you’re lucky I’m the only person in my band who can shuffle UNO cards right.” I laughed. “One time, Dallas shuffled the cards, and I got only reds. He kept trying again and again, and I only got the same color.”

Gavin shook his head. “It’s so much harder than it looks! How do you make it look so easy?”

I shuffled the cards, admiring the flash of colors. “It just is for me.”

I placed seven cards for the both of us on the table before picking up my deck. It looked like I wasn’t the world’s best shuffle after all, because I didn’t have all the goodies I’d wanted to have. In fact, I didn’t have a single special card to help me win.

“I’ll go first.” Gavin put one of his cards down, and I put a card down as well.

Believe it or not, we were both struggling. We kept having to search the deck until we found the right color card that we put down after every few tries. Ten minutes into the game, we both had thirteen cards.

“This is ridiculous,” I said. “It usually isn’t so hard with only two people.”

“I know,” Gavin said with a sigh. “I can normally play this game in my sleep.”

His hands weren’t shaking as bad as they’d been when he was recovering from his panic attack. Everything inside of me hopedthat my company had calmed him down. That he felt safe in my presence.

Stop that!I shouted at myself.He has a girlfriend! A beautiful, talented girlfriend who he’s happy with. Once you walk out of this room, you’ll probably never be alone with him again. Then everything will be back to how it should be.

“Is this still fun?” Gavin asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“It is,” I said, placing a card down.

After another five minutes, we were both down to two cards. When Gavin’s turn came, he placed his card down and gave me an evil grin. “Uno.”

I groaned before noticing that I had the perfect card and placed it down. “Uno.”