Previously, Gideon was extremely sexist, controlling and annoying. Eva would say he was also sexy, but this isn’t The Host, I’m not sharing a body with Eva, so I refuse to add that.
Also, Eva went to lunch with her mother and Megumi, and on the way back her mom saw something outside of the Crossfire which scared her, but we don’t yet know what that is.
Take Our PollChapter 7
We open with Eva at Krav Maga, training with another returning minor character Parker Smith.
Day quickly realizes this is not the scene the people want to read, so she abruptly jumps ship:
When Parker came at me again, I blocked him. The tagging came fast and furious then, and I pushed all other thoughts aside until later, when I was home.
When Gideon came over about an hour later, he found me in the bath surrounded by vanilla-scented candles. He undressed to join me…
Eva tells Gideon about the weird thing that happened with her mother outside the office. She asks if he can check out the security footage from around that time to figure out what she saw.
Because of her need to create drama from nothing, Eva asks Gideon if one day he’ll ever tell her about his past. He says he will but that tonight he just wants to be with her with no drama. She can tell something is wrong, but tries to let it go.
There’s actually quite a cute scene of them afterwards watching Ghostbusters in bed, and Gideon teases Eva for saying every line along with the movie. No one starts any drama either! I almost don’t believe my eyes.
Oh, wait, and we’re back:
Nathan’s hand covered my mouth, mashing my lips. The weight of his body pressed down on me, squashing my head into the pillow. The more I fought, the more excited he became. Panting like the animal he was, he lunged into me, over and over . . . trying to shove himself inside me. My panties were in the way, protecting me from the tearing pain I’d lived through too many times to count.
As if he’d read my mind, he growled in my ear, “You haven’t felt pain yet. But you will.” I froze. Awareness hit me like a bucket of ice water. I knew that voice.
Gideon. No!
Basically that night it seems like Eva’s having another nightmare about Nathan, but really Gideon is having a nightmare and trying to attack Eva.
I attacked the man I loved, the man whose nightmares blended with mine in the most horrific way. We were both sexual -abuse survivors, but in my dreams I was still a victim. In his, he’d become the aggressor, viciously determined to inflict the same agony and humiliation on his attacker as he himself had suffered.
Gideon of course feels terrible, and he leaves. Eva doesn’t stop him, and she feels torn. She misses him as soon as he’s gone, but she also desperately wanted him to leave. It’s one of the more interesting dilemma’s Eva’s faced. I think instead of having secrets on secrets on secrets from each other in this book, enough relationship drama could have stemmed from this secret. And then of course the romantic rivals and jealousy, but that isn’t so much about secrets.
Ug, it gets stupid again when Cary runs out to comfort Eva after Gideon calls to let him know what happened. Cary advises Eva to cut things off with Gideon now before it messes her up even more, to which she responds, “You don’t understand. He’s saving me.” Oh Jesus, fuck. How?
The next day, Eva believes that Gideon is done with her. He’s left her apartment key on her kitchen counter and his text messages aren’t too promising. He says he’s going to meet with his therapist that night, and when Eva tells him she’s not running away, he says she should.
She heads to his apartment later that night, but immediately realizes he isn’t there because she can’t sense his energy. No, seriously.
But the moment I entered his apartment, I knew he wasn’t home. The energy that thrummed through a space when he occupied it was markedly absent.
While at Gideon’s place, Eva gets a call from Shawna, another minor character who quickly threatens to become one of Eva’s Gal Pals. They arrange to go to a concert together, and while they’re wrapping up their phone call, Gideon walks in.
They decide to order food while Eva keeps miserably telling us how she knows they’re about to break up. What makes it even harder is how Gideon orders food.
He ordered tomato soup and chicken noodle, which caused a painful tightness in my chest. Without being told, he’d ordered what I wanted. It was another of the many serendipitous things that always made me feel like we were destined to end up in the same place, together, if only we could make it that far.
They can’t be over, you guys!! I won’t stand for this! Not when they’re clearly destined to be together. That serendipitous way he orders tomato soup for Eva is so fucking romantic.
Turns out Gideon isn’t breaking up with Eva (twist!), he just left his key to make her feel safe. What a wacky misunderstanding! She gives the key back to him and he laments how he’s destroying Eva, and she claims he’s making her stronger.
Their therapist had some sound advice for Gideon that night, but of course our idiots won’t take it.
“Yes.” His jaw clenched. “And he said the same thing he started on last week. That we’re in too deep. We’re drowning each other. He thinks we need to pull back, date platonically , sleep separately, spend more time together with others and less time alone.”
You can’t really date platonically, that’s idiotic, but I get that the gist of it is to ease up on the sex and let their relationship develop further without relying on it. THAT SOUNDS GOOD, LET’S DO THAT!
It would be better, I thought. Better for our sanity, better for our chances. “I hope he’s got a Plan B.”
Translation: It’s the best idea there is, but the solution is too simple. Let’s ignore it and keep being stupid!
They agree to sleep separately, though, so that’s a thing. The chapter ends with Eva saying nothing else matters except they’re together! This is clearly bull shit, though, because they’re always together and she always finds something to get upset about!