Gable (10 page)

A little unsettled, I picked up my tray and walked away to deliver the drinks to my customers. Okay, so the jig was up. No big deal. We were both now culpable for keeping it secret. But because I was as stubborn as I was, I was going to leave it to him to ‘fess up first.

Oh, and maybe because I was a huge coward.

~*~*~*~

I took a break at ten going out back to get some air when the door opened a few minutes later. Gable.

“You stalking me?” I asked giving him a sneer from where I stood leaning against the wall and drinking a bottle of water.

“Maybe,” he answered, the half grin making an appearance as he walked toward me, his beautiful brown eyes on mine.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I stammered when he stopped right in front of me. I set my water bottle on a milk crate next to me and wondered what he was up to as I looked up at him, half panicking.

He looked down at me, his eyes dancing with mirth at seeing how uncomfortable I’d grown. “You feel it as much as I do, Priss. The sexual tension between us could be cut with a fucking knife.” His lips curled up as he watched the alarm flash across my face.

Oh, my God. Was he playing with me? If so, I’d kill him.

He pressed me back against the wall and the next thing I knew his hands came up to hold my face. “Why don’t we just give in?” Before I knew what was happening his mouth was on mine.

Holy shit!

And, wow, his lips were as soft as I knew they’d be. And he tasted wonderful, all minty and fresh. And his body. Dear baby Jesus. It was as hard as I thought it’d be… and he was hard everywhere. Wow. When he thrust his tongue inside my mouth to tangle with mine, I found myself gripping his shoulders, pulling him closer as I emitted a huge whore moan. It’d been a while since I’d been kissed, and right now I was kissing Gable Powers and just couldn’t help myself.

His hands moved down my neck and over my shoulders then slid around to my back then lower where he grabbed my butt pulling me flush against him as our smoking hot kiss continued. Oh, God, I was so wet for him, feeling him so hard against my bare stomach and I knew I was losing myself in him when my leg came up and curled around the back of his as I ground myself against his thigh wanting more. More.
More!
Oh, my God, I’d never wanted anyone as much as I wanted him.

His lips moved over my jaw to a spot below my ear that he sucked lightly, making me shiver in his arms. One of his hands slid around to my belly, the backs of his fingers smoothing sensually across my exposed skin then he turned his hand to where his palm was flat against me and I felt it glide down where the tips of his fingers slipped just inside my jeans. Oh, God, yes!

“Mmm, you taste good,” he muttered against my neck and I froze.

Wait. What?

And that became the moment of my getting a fucking clue.

My hands suddenly moved from his shoulders to his chest and I shoved him away from me hard, and glory be to all things holy, he actually went back on a foot.

“Are you kidding me!” I spat.

He jerked his head back in surprise, narrowing his eyes at me.

“I’m not Alyssa!”

“Didn’t say you were,” he answered, his brow creased as if he had no clue what I was talking about.

“I’m not one of your easy lays either!” I turned my head away, pissed that I’d gotten so carried away with that damned kiss.

He put a hand against the wall to the side of my head and gripped my chin with the fingers of his other turning my head back, making me look at him. “Didn’t say that either.”

I jerked my chin out of his hand and ducked under his arm, spinning to face him, hands on my hips. “You’re unbelievable! The night you and Alyssa were out here, you said the same thing to her!”

I saw the shock on his face for a second before it disappeared but he just kept watching me as I glared at him, my lips still tingling from that fabulous freakin’ kiss. Damn him.

“I know you’re not like them, Priss,” he replied, taking a step toward me.

I took a step back, holding my palm up in warning for him to stay back. “Yeah? Well, since that seems to be what you’re looking for, you need to stay the fuck away from me,” I hissed then turned and went back inside quickly making my way to the bathroom where I looked at myself in the mirror, wiping away the tears that’d made their way down my cheeks. How could I have been so stupid to think I was something special to him? God!

The rest of the night was just fabulous as I continued having to get orders filled by him, ignoring him as he tried at first apologizing then getting angrier by the minute when he acted as if nothing had happened between us and he was  back in flirty asshole mode.

“Not gonna lie, Priss,” he said the last time I came to the bar for the night. When I continued giving him the cold-shoulder, he leaned toward me as he set the last pitcher on my tray. “You fucking did taste good.”

My eyes met his, and hard as I tried to give him my best apathetic look, I knew there was still hurt in them because I saw the concern in his before I spun to deliver my orders hearing him mutter out a “Fuck,” as I walked away.

When my shift was finally over, I got the hell out of there as fast as I could and drove home, and in the shower, I cried a bit over what had happened, absolutely hurt about it all. When I went to bed, I lay there thinking about what an ass he was and that was when my phone beeped.

______________________________________

From:
9543254

Subject:
True to form

Date:
October 12, 12:26 a.m.

To:
9565876

Ever make a complete ass of yourself?

Yeah, I have. When I let my guard down with you,
I thought as one last tear slipped its way out before I fell asleep.

Week Eight

______________________________________

From:
9543254

Subject:
Quiet

Date:
October 17, 11:16 p.m.

To:
9565876

Hey

______________________________________

From:
9543254

Subject:
Quiet

Date:
October 17, 11:20 p.m.

To:
9565876

You around?

______________________________________

From:
9543254

Subject:
Quiet

Date:
October 17, 11:41 p.m.

To:
9565876

Guess not

______________________________________

From:
9543254

Subject:
Quiet

Date:
October 17, 11:59 p.m.

To:
9565876

Six?

______________________________________

From:
9543254

Subject:
Quiet

Date:
October 18, 12:09 a.m.

To:
9565876

You okay?

______________________________________

From:
9543254

Subject:
Quiet

Date:
October 18, 12:15 a.m.

To:
9565876

Please answer me when you get this & let me know you’re okay

~*~*~*~

I avoided Gable the entire week, coming in late to psych class Monday, Wednesday and Friday just as Dr. Horner had started her lectures, and sat on the front row then left quickly after class before he could approach me. I didn’t reply to his emails and I even managed to change shifts with Natalie so I didn’t have to work with him.

Maybe this was stupid because it seemed that he and I did nothing but play hide and seek from each other every other week, but I was so angry and hurt about what had happened between us. And it didn’t help any that I couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. It’d been so perfect and
he’d
tasted so good and felt so amazing that I couldn’t help but want more of him. I’d even woken myself up a couple times, hand between my legs and moaning like a porn star since he’d been starring in my dreams all week. But then I’d remember that it meant nothing to him. That
I
meant nothing to him. I was just the same as all the others before me and that just pissed me off even more.

So knowing all this, I knew I needed to get a grip, let it go and face the fact that he and I would only be friends because I wasn’t about to become a member of the Revolving Door Brigade, aka the women that lined up to get a piece of the man himself.

And that made me sadder than sad.

~*~*~*~

“Priss. Long time no talk.”

I placed my tray on the bar. It was Friday night and I’d managed to stay out of his path all week. “Yeah, I’ve been busy.” I wasn’t going to be hateful to him; why would I when I really did care about him? So I tightened my resolve when he grinned at me and gave him a small smile back.

“Hi, handsome,” Alyssa crooned as she stepped up beside me, setting her tray down as she made googly eyes at Gable which made me want to punch her.

He turned and jerked his chin up at her, pretty much blowing her off as he filled her order.

Awkward.

“So, baby, we on for tonight?” she asked him.

He stood at the beer tap and I saw his spine go straight. When he turned and set two beer mugs and a pitcher on the counter, he leaned in and said to her, “I’m not your baby. Look, Alyssa, we had fun a few times. It’s run its course. Nothing personal.”

She stared at him with her mouth hanging open.

I take it back.
This
was awkward.

I watched her face twist into some demonic entity which made me step away from her then hands on her hips, she leaned right back and spit at him, “You think you’re so big and bad, Gable Powers. But let me tell you this, my boyfriend is
so
much better than you! So you can go fuck yourself for all I care!” She picked up her tray and spun around so fast that a new waitress would’ve spilled everything, but not Alyssa. She was a veteran at this and handled it pretty damned gracefully, I had to say.

I turned and regarded Gable with raised brows only to see his eyes dancing with humor.

“Wow,” I mumbled.

He leaned down placing his forearms on the counter getting right up in my face. “That? Huge mistake, Priss. To be honest, I only hit it once and it was done before it was over, and that was two months ago. I also didn’t know she had a boyfriend.”

I pulled back, looking skeptically at him. I also threw a little indifference in there.

He shrugged. “What can I say? Not lookin’ to be tied down. She’s hot. Made sense at the time.”

I shrugged offhandedly. Why did I care? I was sticking to the “just friends” rule I’d set anyway, so he owed me no explanations whatsoever as far as I was concerned.  

He filled my order and helped me put it all on the tray. “So, what’re you doing after work?” he asked, his honey eyes locking onto mine and holding me hostage.

I blinked myself out of the Gable-induced stupor I was in and frowned at him wondering what he was up to. “Probably just going home.”

“Come out with me,” he said.

I huffed out a small laugh of disbelief then shook my head, still frowning. “Gable… I can’t…”

“Please? I want to show you something that I think you’d like.” And believe it or not, he didn’t even turn that statement into anything sexual.

He looked so sincerely at me, so hopeful, that I couldn’t help myself. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them, I nodded at him which got me a stellar smile. God. He was something else. “I’ll see,” I answered. We were friends. Friends did things together, right?

“Good enough,” he replied, still smiling.

“And where would we be going?” I asked.

“It’s a surprise.” He smiled. “You get off at eleven, right?” he inquired.

All I could do was nod again.

“’Kay. I’m supposed to be here until midnight, but we’re slow and I’m sure Uncle Jack won’t mind if Aaron covers for me. Think you could stick around until eleven-fifteen?”

“I guess.” I hoped I wasn’t being a huge pushover, but, again, it wasn’t like we couldn’t be friends.

I reached to pick up my tray and he grabbed my hand. The cliché spark between us was still there and my eyes slid up to his to see him looking at me as if he was trying to convey several messages to me at once, maybe,
I’m sorry.
Or,
You’re different than the other girls. Give me a chance to prove it to you.
Or maybe I was hoping that was what he was trying to say.

Not lookin’ to be tied down.

That. That right there told me I was delusional and he wanted nothing more than to hang out, so I gave him another small smile then picked up my tray, heading to my tables to fill orders, all the while knowing what I’d read in his eyes had only been what I wanted to see.

So I pulled up my big-girl panties and put to rest any thoughts that Gable and I would ever be anything more than friends.

~*~*~*~

I was sitting in a daze wrapping silverware mooning over what had occurred earlier when I’d come back here to perform the mundane chore. I’d gone to grab more napkins when I’d seen the most spectacular thing ever. Gable had been in the bathroom with the door open changing his shirt, and holy God I almost hyperventilated. Good lord, the man was hot. I saw that his pecs were sculpted and defined and magnificent. Then there were his abs that were absolutely amazing, so cut and defined and I swear I drooled a little as I watched him. And all of that hadn’t even been the coup de grâce. His entire chest was covered in tattoos, a colorful conglomeration of patterns and designs that I knew right then and there that I wanted to spend hours studying, gazing upon and licking every last bit of each.  I’d continued staring as his biceps bunched beautifully as he pulled on another shirt, my mouth hanging open in awe. When he’d turned to see me looking at him, he gave me a lazy smirk then slowly closed the door. Its click brought me out of my trance and realizing I’d been gawking at him, my face instantly heated. Shit. I immediately grabbed the napkins and got the heck out of there, mentally reprimanding myself for being such a sucker for a hot body and forgetting my vow not to think of him carnally. Ugh. 

“Ready?”

I jumped when Gable whispered in my ear from behind bringing me out my musings of seeing him half-naked. I turned to tell him I’d be ready in a minute but his face was still right there so that our cheeks brushed and I felt his light scruff against my skin. If I turned just a bit more, our lips would be touching. At that alarming thought, I moved away from him quickly, standing up from the stool I’d been sitting on to wrap silverware, almost knocking it over. God. I had to stop letting him get me off balance all the time.

“Yeah, give me a minute,” I replied between gritted teeth, angry at myself for being such a fool for him, as I placed my last roll of utensils in the bin. I then glanced down at the half jersey I wore. “I’d really like to change first.”

“Okay,” he answered with a nod, helping me on with my coat that I’d grabbed from the hook on the back wall. “You want me to follow you to your place so you can change then you can ride with me?”

Hm. Did I want him to know where I lived? I stood there thinking about that and biting my lip for so long he finally took my hand and led me out the back. He walked me to my car and after I dug my keys out of my purse I looked up at him.

“I’ll be right behind you,” he said then waited for me to get in my car and start it before he jogged to his.

I glanced in my rearview mirror several times as he followed me, wondering what the hell the evening held for me and if I was being a dumbass. “Just friends,” I reminded myself as I pulled up to my apartment, parking and opening my door to see that he was already there holding his hand out to me. I took it guardedly and got out then he shut my door behind me. As we walked toward my apartment, I tried taking my hand from his but he held strong, not letting mine go; therefore, I was internally freaking out because I knew Amy would die if she saw it and would probably say something inappropriate, embarrassing the hell out of me. And God forbid if Bodhi was over. He’d probably ask Gable out himself.

Since I hadn’t seen either of their cars in the lot, I was hoping I was in the clear, yet I knew stranger things had happened. And since it was a Friday night, I knew Amy wouldn’t be in bed. I was praying that she was out with friends and not inside drinking beer and debating with Bodhi as I warily put the key into the lock. But when I opened the door, to my relief, the apartment was empty and I let out a huge breath.

“You okay?” Gable asked with a chuckle as we walked inside. “Got a jealous husband you were hoping wasn’t here or something?” He raised an eyebrow as he looked at me.

I chuckled. “No. I was just hoping my roommate wasn’t here.” He kept the eyebrow up and I explained. “Well, you’re
you
and everyone knows who you and your brothers are.” As he still kept his eyes on me, I continued. “She’d give me shit about it then wanna hold a three-hour Q and A session. I just didn’t feel up to it tonight.”

He frowned but nodded as if he understood, studying me like he was trying to figure me out which wasn’t a little unsettling.

“I’ll just, uh, go change. Make yourself comfortable. Not sure what’s in the fridge, but if you’re thirsty, I’m sure you can find something.” He nodded and I left him in the living room, heading to my room and closing the door once inside. I then grabbed my phone out of my pocket. “Hey,” I said quietly when Amy picked up. “Gable’s here and he’s taking me somewhere but won’t tell me where,” I whispered.

I listened first of all to her scream over loud music then I heard her inform Bodhi of what was going on, who grabbed her phone and asked excitedly, “Gable Powers is at your apartment?”

“Yeah. Don’t get your panties in a twist. We’re just friends,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, but he likes you, Scout. I know he wants more with you.”

“How can you know that, Bodhi?” I mean, I really wanted to know. Bodhi was a guy. He’d know this stuff.

“Because he’s trying. If you were just someone he wanted to fuck, do you think he’d even be giving you the time of day?”

I thought about that for a moment but felt it wasn’t enough. Hm. Bodhi was really falling down on his dude intuition. “Well, he just said earlier that he wasn’t looking to be tied down. So, again, we’re just
friends
.”