“Maybe,” I said. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what we’d look for.”
“Work it out and let me know. I’m at your disposal, Avery. You can do with me whatever you want.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “See, it’s that sort of comment that makes me not want to do it.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll keep that to a minimum. I just can’t help it around you.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“You don’t? Avery, whenever I’m around you, all I can think about is sinking my cock deep between your legs. I want to feel those pretty lips wrapped around my cock so badly that I can barely walk straight.”
I couldn’t believe he was saying this. I was suddenly very aware of how close he was to me and of all the other people in the house. They had dropped back to background noise, but suddenly they were all there, staring at us. Gibson’s eyes tore into me, intense and steady.
I took a step away from him. “I, uh, need to use the bathroom.”
“Sure,” he said. “Upstairs and to the right.”
“Okay. Be right back.”
I walked off, glad to get some space from him. I didn’t know if I could trust myself there in that room, and I could feel people staring at us. Frankly, that attention made me super uncomfortable. Not the attention from Gibson; that I didn’t mind.
No, it was everyone else. Everyone knew Gibson, and just being around him made people stare at me. I could practically feel their judgmental comments behind my back already.
Maybe I was just being paranoid. I was so out of my depth here and just trying to figure this thing out. Maybe I was reading too deeply into everything. I made my way through the party, past the wasted kids and the flirting girls, until I reached the stairs. I slowly climbed up and then made a right.
Ahead, there was a small line. “Is this for the bathroom?” I asked the girl standing at the end.
She sighed. “Unfortunately.”
I smiled my thanks and got behind her. There were maybe five or six people ahead of me, but that was fine. I didn’t really need to go; I just needed an excuse to take a second to myself.
Gibson said he wanted me to run a study on him. And honestly, that was an incredibly opportunity. Just having him lend his name to the study would give it some importance and credibility.
But I didn’t want to use him for his name. I could already see that people did that sort of thing all the time to him, and it clearly was something he was worried about. I didn’t want to make Gibson think I was only interested in him for his fame.
Because I wasn’t. I couldn’t care less whether he played football or not. The only thing I cared about was the baby growing inside me, the baby he helped make. We had to deal with that together.
I didn’t ask for any of this and neither did he, but we were in it together. He was clearly trying, and maybe I needed to get over my own fears and give it a shot, too.
As the people went in and out of the bathroom and the line got shorter, I made my decision. Gibson was a good guy, although he was intense and gorgeous. He was trying to do the right thing, trying to get to know me, even if he was going about it in his own way. I had to give that a shot, too.
Just as it was almost my turn in line, a girl came up behind me. I recognized her from downstairs. She had been sitting next to Gibson when we had arrived. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail with a bow tied around it. She wore light blue eye shadow and her lips were a deep red.
“Hey,” she said to me.
“Hey,” I said back.
“You know Gibson?”
I shrugged. “I guess.”
“I saw you guys talking. You looked like you knew each other.”
“I guess we do.” I didn’t know what she wanted, but her tone of voice put me off instantly.
“My name is Cathy,” she said. “I’ve known Gibson, like, forever.”
“Okay, Cathy. I’m Avery. Nice to meet you.”
“Sure.” She frowned at me. The girl in the bathroom came out, and it was my turn. “Avery, just be careful, okay? Like, Gibson doesn’t need drama in his life right now.”
I gaped at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged. “It’s your turn.”
I looked at her for a second longer and then went into the bathroom.
I couldn’t believe that girl. She didn’t know me at all, but she was talking about drama to me like I was somehow coming after Gibson. Did he tell her about the baby?
I stared in the mirror as horror hit me in the gut. Maybe he was telling people about this baby. I hadn’t told him not to, at least not explicitly. I assumed we both wanted it kept secret, but maybe I was wrong.