“Yup.” I purse my lips, avoiding his eyes. “I’ll have a bruise and probably a limp for a few days, but I’m okay.”
“I think we’ve done enough fishing for one day.”
I hide my frown and kick myself for cutting our time together short with my carelessness.
“And I do owe someone a lemon cupcake.” The smile that covers Gavin’s face makes my heart race. For once, I notice his eyes crinkle and brighten, and I can’t ignore the dimple on his left cheek. My insides melt.
“I won’t say no to a lemon cupcake,” I smirk and wink, recovering from my fall and picking up the rod.
…
“You didn’t get accepted into Music Unplugged?” Gavin’s eyes widen.
“Yup. I almost quit after that, too. I figured if I wasn’t good enough to get into a show like that, there was no way in hell a label would want me.” I shrug and look down at my half-eaten cupcake.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t.” Gavin’s genuine words move through me.
“I’m glad I didn’t,” I respond. “It’s been a challenge like any dream can be, but it’s definitely been worth it.”
“What does your family say?” His eyebrows pull together. I have a weird fascination with men’s eyebrows, and Gavin’s are perfect—full, manly, and dark. Kelsey always makes fun of me because it’s the first thing I notice in men.
“They’re happy for me. I’m lucky that they’ve supported me from the beginning.”
“Yeah, that means a lot,” he nods knowingly.
“Well, my little sister did say that when I became a famous singer, I had to pay her tallied up fees for making her listen to me sing and give me feedback when we were younger.” I laugh at the memory, snorting.
Gavin chuckles when he hears it, his shoulders shaking as he leans back on his chair.
“It was that or give her a job as my manager.” My laughter dies out, but a wide smile remains on my face.
“How old is she?”
“She’s seventeen. She was way too smart for her age growing up. I blame it on having older siblings.”
“That’s how Sienna is. She’s the youngest out of all of us and probably the wisest when it comes to getting what she wants.”
“It must’ve been fun to grow up all together.” I take a bite of my cupcake, moaning and wiping away the crumbs. These are seriously the best cupcakes I’ve ever tried.
Gavin swallows and nods, his eyes diverting mine.
“It was fun. When Emily and Sienna came along, it was like having two dolls to play with. Well, for Abbie anyway. I wanted to teach them to ride right away, and one day I almost put a six-month-old Emily on a horse. Thankfully, my mom was around to catch me before Emily got hurt.”
“No way! That would’ve been bad. Although…” I scrunch up my nose.
“What did you do?” He narrows his eyes.
“In my defense—”
“Uh, oh. I’ve learned when someone begins with that, they’re guilty.” Gavin smirks.
“Oh, I’m totally guilty.” My head moves from side to side, and I shrug. “I can’t even deny it. But, in my defense,” I repeat on a giggle. “My brother was sitting on top of a slide, and there were a bunch of us behind him on the ladder and ground below, but he wouldn’t slide. He wanted my mom to watch him go down. I tapped his shoulder, urging him to slide and telling him she’d see him next time, but I must’ve shoved too hard, because he slid down and off the side, breaking his leg.”
Gavin covers his mouth with his hand, his chest shaking lightly.
“I’m not a horrible person,” I call out, and some of the people at The Mad Batter turn to look at me. Sliding down in my seat and hiding my face, I glare at Gavin, who is now full-blown belly laughing.
“You pushed your brother off a slide?” His amused grin makes me chuckle.
“Ugh, I did. I totally did. I felt terrible after. I didn’t mean for him to fall, but he was such a momma’s boy.” I roll my eyes.
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with us momma’s boys,” Gavin defends, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Oh,” I tilt my head. “Did I touch a nerve?”
“You’re gonna regret that.” He points at me.
“Really?” I bite my lower lip, mocking him. “Are you gonna push me off a slide?” I don’t even attempt to hide my smile.
Before I know it, he reaches for what’s left of my cupcake and shoves it in his mouth.
“Hey!” I lean forward, but it’s too late.
Gavin bursts out laughing, tipping his head back. I watch him as his body relaxes completely, and joy fills his face.
“That was not nice, cowboy.” I point at him and then hold my finger up. “Lesson número uno: Don’t get in the way of Sutton and her cupcake.”
“That was in defense for all the momma’s boys out there.” He stands from his chair, and I look up at him.
“Where are you going?”
“To order you another cupcake. I don’t need the Sutton Cupcake Monster getting revenge.”
I smile and settle my elbows on the table and placing my chin on my hands. Today has been amazing. What started as a shitty day has become unexpectedly perfect. The normally-shy Gavin is carefree and sharing pieces of himself with me. He isn’t holding himself back or carefully calculating his words.
“Here you go.” He places a plate in front of me with a new cupcake.
“You didn’t have to do that, but thanks.” I eye his plate. “What did you get? That’s not red velvet.”
“I got the carrot cake this time.”
“I bet that one’s really good, too.”
“Do you want to try it?” He offers up the cupcake.
“I have a better idea.” I peel the liner off my cupcake, Gavin watching intently, and cut off the bottom half like I always do. Instead of placing it on top of mine, I hand it to Gavin.
“Switch?” I lift my eyebrows.
“Interesting. If it tastes like shit, you owe me a cupcake,” he mocks.
“As if the cupcakes
