Page 38 of Next to Everything We Wanted

Before leaving, I looked at Gavin one more time. His eyes didn’t even meet mine. I sighed before following the twins to the car.

I should’ve stayed home and cooked dinner instead.

CHAPTER 11

Gavin

Have you ever been scared that the moment you were about to take your last breath had finally arrived?

Yeah, that was me right now.

Forrest’s hazel eyes narrowed at me, nothing short of dark and untrusting. He’d never looked at me this way before. At Phoenix, yeah, but neverme.

“Something has clearly happened that you’re not telling us about,” Forrest said as he circled the room, arms crossed over his chest. If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought we were in an interrogation room. And, man, was I guilty. “We’re not supposed to keep secrets from each other. Aren’t we in thistogether?”

“Forrest,” I begged, sitting down. An hour ago, Sienna had ruined my winning streak at this table. Now I steadied my shaking hands on it, trying to control my breathing. I wasn’t even at panic-attack level—I was going to die of a heart attack before Forrest did.

If he didn’t try to kill me himself.

“Looks like you’re not going to explain.” Forrest whipped around to face Phoenix, who didn’t look half as scared as I was. “Do you know what’s going on with him?”

“Sienna was just checking on Gavin,” Phoenix said, tension straining in his voice as he sat across from me. “And I’m glad that she did, because you wouldn’t let us stay backstage with him longer. You were too concerned with pleasing the crowd.”

“Excuse me?” Forrest narrowed his eyes further.

Phoenix looked him dead in the face, not even flinching. “I didn’t hiccup.”

Forrest’s chest rose and fell heavily against his crossed arms. I could hear his blood roaring. Or maybe it was mine. “Are you assuming that I don’t care about him?” he demanded Phoenix.

“That’s not evencloseto what I said.” Phoenix put his hands on his sides.

“If I didn’t care about Gavin, I wouldn’t have checked on him in the first place.”

“Like I said, I never accused you of not caring about him.”

Forrest stepped closer to Phoenix. “I don’t believe you.”

Phoenix brows furrowed as he stepped even closer to him. He was a few inches taller, closing in on his frame. “Then maybe you’re right. Maybe I don’t think you care.”

“Guys!” Ellis stepped in front of the boys. “You’re both being stupid.”

“Oh, so I’m stupid?” Forrest challenged as he inched up on Ellis. “You really want to go there?”

Ellis’s face turned red, his blue-green eyes darkening. “Doyouwant to go there?”

“Enough!” Celeste clapped her hands, sitting up from the couch. “Thisis getting stupid. The last time I checked, our issues weren’t solved acting like kids fighting over who said ‘not-it’ last.” She pointed to the table I was sitting at. “Everyone sit down so we can handle things like adults.”

My muscles relaxed. Celeste always knew how to get us stupid guys into order.

Everyone else sat at the table, and I swallowed as I racked my brain for a decent explanation. “I had a panic attack, and Sienna checked on me,” I said. “We played UNO to help me calm down, and we got carried away. She even broke my winning streak.”

“Really?” Phoenix asked, his eyes wide. “No one has ever broken your winning streak—” Celeste bumped him in the arm, and he sighed. “See. I knew it wasn’t anything that bad.”

“What did you tell her about yourself?” Forrest asked, his voice wary. “And why would you let someone come back here to begin with? Did you unlock the door for her?”

“I think we forgot to lock the door.” We always kept the backstage door locked. Ellis had probably forgotten to lock it when he came in before our performance.

As if he could read my mind, Forrest glared at Ellis. “Thanks.”