Deal. Emily ran her hands through his hair. Shower?

Are you washing me?

Do you want me to?

Gavin lifted a brow. Is that a serious question?

Im just making sure. She pouted. Youre looking pretty ill.

Right, he agreed, sliding his hands through her hair. But a little dose of Emily might cure my nausea.

Come on, my sick man. She giggled and reached for his hand. Emily will take care of you.

And she did. After a very long and very thorough shower, Gavin felt less nauseated.

As the sizzling smell of burgers, hotdogs and chicken wings floated through the breeze, Gavin pulled out a chair and waited for Emily to finish up helping his mother inside the house. Everyone sat down to a hearty meal prepared by Gavins father.

Feeling better, man? Trevor asked, chomping into a piece of corn on the cob. Or do we need to be careful you might get sick all over the table?

Fallon rolled her eyes. Eew, Trevor, thats gross.

It is, isnt it? Gavin shook his head and chuckled. Just for that, if I do feel sick, Im aiming it at Trevor.

Okay, seriously? Olivia chirped, her forehead pinched in disgust. Were trying to eat here.

Why do women get freaked out over that? Jude scooped a monster-sized portion of potato salad onto his plate. Therere nastier things out there other than throwing up.

I agree. Gavin leaned back, folding his hands behind his head. A slow smirk lifted his mouth. Like my nephew with his finger shoved in his nose right now. Hes digging for something.

Everyone whipped their heads around to the table Melanie, Colton and the kids occupied. Sure enough, little Timothy had other plans for what he was going to enjoy for dessert.

An orchestra of revolted groans from Olivia and Fallon filtered through the air along with the sound of their chairs screeching back from the table as they plucked up their plates and walked away.

Colton, Gavin called out, smiling, bro, you might want to handle your kid.

Colton lifted his eyes from his plate. He flicked them between his two children, ultimately stopping on the guilty one. Timmy, get your finger out of your nose.

Melanie sighed, reaching for the unoffending hand. She swept him up from his chair. Come on. Its soap and water for you.

As the men laughed and joked about whatd just happened, Emily, Lillian, and Chad emerged from the house. They each took a seat at one of the two tables.

Emily placed her plate down, her expression curious. Why did Fallon and Olivia just storm inside? Did one of you guys insult them?

Another round of laughter went off, adding to Emilys confusion.

Jude stood and made his way inside. Gavin assumed he was attempting to go check on Olivia. Gavin draped his arm over Emilys chair. No, we didnt insult them. They just have weak stomachs.

Emily started piling cucumber salad onto her plate. Mmm hmm. Im not even going to ask.

Good. Youre better off, Em. Trevor took a swig from his beer and pushed his empty plate away. So whats the deal? You two have a name for the little one?

Emily looked at Gavin. We do.

Noah, Gavin answered, trying to keep his mind from straying to unwanted thoughts of him not being his son. Noah Alexander.

Trevor nodded. Good name.

Yeah, it is. Emily gave Gavin a weak smile, knowing his head was stuck in battle again. With a sigh, she turned to Trevor. So, Fallon said you two are moving in together.

Trevor beamed. Yep. She insisted.

Emily raised an incredulous brow. I heard it was the other way around.

Gavin chuckled and shook his head. She told us all about it the other day. The roses. The dinner with the nervous speech.

Okay. You caught me. Trevor finished off the rest of his beer. Like youre any better with Emily, you sap. Forget about speeches. Yours are infamous.

Ah. They are, and Im worse. Gavin smirked. But youll never catch me denying it, and my sappiness gains me swoon-worthy points.

Emily giggled.

Dude. Youre done for. Swoon worthy?

You got it, bro. Im as swoon worthy as they come. Gavin massaged his fingers through Emilys hair. Tell him, sweets.

Emily dropped her fork onto her plate and dropped herself into Gavins lap. She curled her arms around his neck and smiled. Hes the king of swoon, Trevor. You really should take some pointers.

Trevor stood, stretching his long arms. Im out. You two are scaring me in more ways than one. He swiped his plate from the table and made his way into the house.

Mmm, we scared him away, Gavin whispered, brushing his lightly stubbled jaw against Emilys cheek. Were bad, huh?

A sultry smile touched Emilys lips. So very bad.

After indulging in a few stolen moments with the only woman he wanted to consider him swoon worthy, Gavin watched Emily disappear inside to help his mother prepare some desserts. It triggered an upsurge of relief. The past couple of weeks, the two had become close, and thats all Gavin wanted to see. As he enjoyed the sounds of his niece and nephew playing tag, Gavin was glad hed cut this years party down to close friends and family. With the sun getting ready to retire for the day, he took a seat around the fire pit alongside his father and Colton.