Chapter 209

Gavin’s POV

The last person I ever expected to see here was my mother. I stared blankly at her for a long while as her eyes darted between me and Judy.

Judy stood frozen beside me, now a fair distance from me and it took everything I had not to reach out and brought her back into my arms, holding her tight and not letting her go. But I restrained myself because my mother was standing in front of me looking at me like had just slapped her. I hadn’t spoken to my mother since she tried to set me up with Daisy for the hundredth time. That was almost a month ago. Now as she stood in front of me, I knew there were going to be questions that I would need to answer, but right now, I was on a date, and she needed to respect that.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” I told her, raising my brows. “I didn’t think fairs were your thing.”

“I could say the same to you,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “I would ask you what influenced you to come to a place like this… but I see the answer is standing right beside you. It’s nice to see you again, Judy.”

Nice to see you again.

They’ve met before??

When did this happen and why did neither of them say anything to me about this?

I turned to look at Judy and saw that her cheeks were flushed. She was finding it hard to keep her gaze from wandering over to my mother. She was staring at the ground, nibbling on her lower lip, a nervous habit I started to understand she does.

“It’s good to see you too” she murmured, though I knew that was a lie. I could tell from the way Judy was avoiding her gaze, and her cheeks were flushing that their last encounter was not a pleasant one.

“I wasn’t aware you two knew one another,” I said bluntly, trying to get one of them to talk and explain themselves.

“Oh yes. We met at the Whimsical Whisk the other day,” my mother explained. “We exchanged some pleasantries in passing.”

My jaw clenched; I knew the look my mother had on her face. Their exchange was anything but pleasant. I wanted to drill her and find out exactly what was said, but I kept my mouth sealed. I would ask Judy about it later and get the details. As of now, I needed to get Judy away from her because she looked as if she was about to pass out at any moment.

“Oh, Gavin. It’s great to see you,” another voice said, stepping beside my mother.

I froze when I saw Daisy; she handed my mother a bottle of water and turned to face us, a smile lighting up her face but then it faltered when she saw Judy standing by my side.

“And Judy… I shouldn’t be surprised to see you hanging onto his arm like a lost puppy,” Daisy remarked, narrowing her eyes at Judy.

“That’s enough,” I said, stepping in front of Judy to block her view of them and their view of her. I wasn’t going to let them ridicule her and embarrass her. “What are you two doing here? This isn’t Landry owned so I figured you had no business here.”

“Can’t we just go to a fair because we enjoy it?” Daisy asked, raising her brows. “I happen to love roller coasters and cotton candy.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her words and then I turned back to my mother.

“I’m not buying it,” I said bluntly. “What are you up to mother.”

“I’m insulted you think so little of me,” my mother said, her brows furrowed. “We are here to enjoy ourselves, just like you are. It’s a complete coincidence that we all happen to be here at the same time.”

“The firework display is about to begin,” Daisy said to my mother. “We should go and get good seats. We’ll see you later, Gavin.” She started to walk past as she brushed past Judy and paused. “It was so good to see you again, Judy. I do hope we can talk again soon.”

My mother also started to leave, but not before giving me a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. She turned to Judy and I swore I saw Judy flinching as if she expected my mother to strike her or something.

“I’ll see you soon,” she vowed before she turned and started to follow Daisy away.

I stared after them, a scowl on my lips as they disappeared through the crowd. Once they were out of sight, I turned to look at Judy who was pale in the face. Her breathing had gotten a lot worse and for a second, I thought she was about to have a panic attack.

“Hey,” I said to her, putting my hands on her small shoulders. “Just breathe. They are gone… it’s okay…”

Judy took in a deep breath as she fought to control her breath. Once she was finally calmer, her eyes peeked up at me through her long and dark lashes.

“Thanks,’ she whispered.

“Want to tell me why you didn’t tell me about your running in with my mother,” I asked, my voice firm, though I tried to keep it calm.

She bit her lower lip and looked away, but I grabbed her chin gently and brought her head back up so she was looking at me again.

“Tell me the truth,” I demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it wasn’t exactly a pleasant conversation and I didn’t want you to think so little of me,” she admitted, her eyes meeting mine.

My brows furrowed

“Think little of you?” I asked. “What happened?”

“I was out to dinner with my parents and I got up to go to the bathroom and they cornered me,” I explained, feeling my cheeks flushing.

I felt a surge of protectiveness coursing through my veins and a low growl escaped me.

“What did they say to you?” I asked through my teeth.

“Pretty much that I’m not good enough for you and that you’ll tire of me soon enough,” I murmur. “That you’re destined to marry Daisy and I’m just a distraction. That I won’t be a problem for long…”

Another growl escaped me; I was seeing fucking red.

How dare they corner Judy while she was out with her family and then feed her such lies. There was no way in hell I was ever going to mate and marry Daisy, even if Judy wasn’t in the picture.

I was furious and I wanted to rip someone’s head off their shoulders, but when I saw the tears filling Judy’s eyes, my anger started to fade and all I felt was pure guilt and remorse… not to mention protective.

“Hey…” I said softly, my thumb brushing her invisible tears off her cheeks as my fingers traced the nape of her neck. “Why would I think little of you?” I recalled her reasoning for not telling me this information in the first place.

She sniffled as a tear escaped her eyes, I had it wiped away before he even reached the apple of her cheek.

“Because I’m training to be an Elite Gamma… I won the Gamma competition… and yet I can’t stand up for myself when it comes to your mother and Daisy,” she whispered. “It was embarrassing, and I didn’t want you to think I was weak.”

I sighed and pressed my forehead against her, keeping my hand on the back of her neck to keep her in place as I absorbed not only her words but her scent as well.

“It isn’t your fault. My mother has a way of getting under your skin,” I told her. “Not fighting her was the best thing you could have done in that situation, so you've done well. Don’t beat yourself up over it. They shouldn’t have cornered you and they certainly shouldn’t have said those things to you. None of it is true, so I hope it didn’t hurt you too much.”

She looked uncertain and at that moment I realized it did hurt her. I guess considering our unconventional relationship, it wasn’t hard to believe the words my mother spat at her. I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her flesh against my chest, keeping her there as the music continued to play around us and people continued their dancing.

“The next time my mother speaks to you and I’m not present, I need you to tell me right away, do you understand?” I asked, my tone gruff as I thought about my mother cornering her again.

She was quiet for a moment longer, so I squeezed her a little tighter.

“I need you to answer me,” I said softly, my face buried in her hair. “Do you understand?”

She nodded her head and wrapped her arms tightly around my waist, holding herself n place.

“Yes,” she finally whispered. “I understand. The next time I’m cornered, I’ll come to you first.”

I let out a breath.

“Good girl,” I whispered. “That’s my good girl.”