Chapter 236
Judy’s POV
I sat on my bed, my heart deep in my stomach and tears filling my eyes. Gavin didn’t need to speak for me to know exactly what he was about to say. I already knew it… we weren’t going out tonight.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, my voice coming out hollow and unfamiliar.
“I’m sorry, Judy. I’m not entirely sure what to do,” he said, sounding defeated. “Irene is really upset that Ethan hasn’t reached out to her since she’s been in the hospital. She still claims ot be in a lot of pain and she doesn’t want to be alone.”
I bit my lower lip to keep it from trembling.
“Did she know you were going out tonight?” I asked the question before I could stop myself. I already knew the answer; of course, Irene knew he was going out with me tonight. That was why she insisted that he stayed behind so that he wouldn’t spend any time with me. It was a manipulative tactic, and he was falling for it because she was his daughter, and she could do no wrong.
I couldn’t compete with his daughter… not that I wanted to in the first place. But it still hurt that he wasn’t even going to try to call her out on her bullshit.
“Yes,” he replied. “What does that have ot do with anything?”
His tone hardened slightly, and I could tell he was getting protective. I shook my head, momentarily forgetting that he couldn’t see me.
“Nothing,” I lied. “So, are you staying home with her instead?”
“Don’t you think I should?” He asked, still sounding a bit defensive.
“Yeah, of course,” I told him. “I mean, it’s not like this was an actual date or anything.”
“We knew what this was,” Gavin said after a brief pause. “It’s a show.”
“I know,” I told him, though his words hurt, I didn’t let him know that they affected me in the way that they did. “ I get it… you should stay home with her.”
“Okay,” he said. “Yeah, you’re right.”
He was making it sound like this was my idea, but I knew he made up his mind before he even called me. I swallowed the tough lump in my throat, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach.
“I’ll make it up to you though,” he assured me. “We can go out another time.”
I bit my lower lip, hating how I was feeling right now. My wolf was so quiet, and it was almost eerie.
“Yeah, sure…” I said, my voice dropping to a whisper.
“Daddy, where did you go?” Irene asked in the background. “Who are you on the phone with?”
“It’s nobody,” he said, making my heart stutter. “Just business. Get back into bed and I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay,” Irene said softly. “I’m going to try and call Ethan again.”
I didn’t bother sticking around to hear his explanation as to why he couldn’t tell Irene who he was speaking to; my heart hurt enough, and I knew I was about to burst into tears at any moment. Without a word, I hung up the phone. I let out a frustrated groan as I stared at myself in the mirror. I hadn’t realized I was already crying until I saw the makeup streaks on my cheeks. All of Harper’s hard work had gone out the window, now I was even more a mess than I was when she started.
I slowly stripped off my dress and put my pajamas back on. I threw my hair in a messy bun and went into the bathroom to wash off the streaks of makeup. The tears wouldn’t seem to stop. I shouldn’t be this upset over the fact that Gavin canceled on me.
It’s not like he’s my actual boyfriend or anything. We were only using each other for sex and to get people off our backs. I wanted Ethan off my back, and he wanted his family off his. That was all this relationship was… we both got something out of this deal and that was that. I knew what this was long ago, and I shouldn’t be feeling this kind of disappointment.
Yet, it seemed as if my wolf didn’t get the memo because she was crushed just as she was when Ethan left us for someone else. I told myself I was never going to feel that way again and now I was the one being a fool.
I decided to just stay in my room for the rest of the night. I didn’t want to face Harper and tell her that my plans fell through; I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle her emotions and Chester’s emotions, along with dealing with my own. So, it was better if I just stayed in my room and tried to get some sleep.
I left early the next morning for school, successfully avoiding both Harper and Chester. I didn’t want them asking me how my night was…I didn’t want to talk about it. Leroy was waiting outside for me as he was every morning that I had school.
When he dropped me off at school, I thanked him before getting out of the car. I was grateful to be at school. It meant I was finally going to be able to see Nan and talk to her. I glanced at my phone with a frown; she hadn’t tried to call or text me for the rest of the weekend and I was worried about her. But hopefully, my questions will be cleared up once I saw her today.