Gable (5 page)
______________________________________
From:
9543254
Subject:
You there?
Date:
October 1, 9:54 p.m.
To:
9565876
Six,
You okay?
xx
~*~*~*~
At the beginning of the week, Chris had informed me that my pen pal was indeed one Gable Stephen Powers, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do—go to Dr. Horner and ask to be switched, or ride it out. I’d talked to Amy about it (not telling her about the lovely revelation I’d had about how I’d wished he’d been making out with me instead of Alyssa, of course) and she’d advised me to give it a week, telling me that if he was rude either in person or through email, then I should ask to be changed. So even though I was giving it another chance, that still didn’t mean I was gung-ho to write to him, having not sent anything since the night I’d seen him and Alyssa behind the bar.
~*~*~*~~
On Wednesday morning I got out some paper and a pen to take notes in psychology as Dr. Horner began her lecture.
“Everyone knows Freud is the founding father of psychoanalysis,” she began and that was when Gable came in late, walked up the steps, stopped at my row, crossed in front of me and had a seat right next to me.
“Mornin’, Priss,” he said with a grin as he got out his own paper and pen. He arranged his paper on his desktop then sat there all studiously paying attention to the lecture as if I wasn’t there, and all I could do the whole while was sit and fume, wanting to smack his stupid face.
Wow. What an ass.
I finally turned my attention back to the lecture and immediately regretted showing up for class. Jesus, why hadn’t I just stayed home in bed?
“Freud believed that our lives consisted of two realms: tension and pleasure. He felt that all tension was grounded in the libido and if it was repressed, depression ensued, meaning, when we deny ourselves sexual pleasure, we can never truly be happy. That’s one thing on which my husband agrees with Freud,” Dr. Horner said and got a smattering of laughter from the class.
Gable leaned over and whispered, “See, Priss? Let it happen. I’ll make you so happy you won’t stop smiling for days.”
I batted him away and heard him chuckling at me. Douche bag.
“The psychosexual stages of development coincide with our ages, according to Freud. The first stage, ages zero to one, is oral: licking, sucking, swallowing, anything to do with the mouth.”
Gable’s knee knocked into mine and I gritted my teeth but didn’t dare look at him because I knew he’d be donning his nipple-hardening half grin.
Again, why the hell did I show up today?
“Ages one to three years is the anal stage…”
Dear God. I steadfastly focused on my notes and not the idiot who I knew was now grinning from ear-to-ear at my side.
“The phallic stage is where masturbation becomes a new source of pleasure and the Superego develops…”
Gable’s hand came over and he started writing on my paper. When he moved it away, my eyes drifted down to see what he’d written.
Would love to watch you masturbate some time, Priss.
I sucked in a breath upon seeing that, my face flushing as I felt a dip in my freakin’ womb which immediately made my panties soaked, fully aware that my nipples had hardened despite my mental protest, as my entire body reacted to his words. Good lord, he was even unsettling using a damned pen.
After forcing myself to relax, underneath what he wrote I penned,
Never gonna happen.
He reached back and wrote,
It will. You can’t resist me.
I wrote back,
Watch me.
I heard him chuckling quietly beside me as if resistance were futile or something, like we were living in a
Star Trek
movie or some shit. I just shook my head and kept taking notes, putting him on ignore as best I could, regardless of how many knee knocks he gave me the rest of the time.
When class was dismissed, I turned and glared at him.
“What?” he asked, his lips tipping up.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” I hissed under my breath, so tired of him keeping me off balance with his stupid, sexy self.
“I’ll be doing you soon,” he responded.
Oh, my God.
“You’re a huge jerk,” I snapped, shoving my notebook into my bag.
“You’re right about me being huge, Priss.”
“God, why’d I even come today?” and I knew my mistake the minute I said this.
“I just seem to have that effect on women,” he answered, grinning.
I huffed out a laugh. God, he was annoying. “You’re too much.” I stood and started down the steps.
“That’s definitely what she said,” he replied from behind me.
This all just pissed me off because, God help me, I was totally into him and I knew he was just messing with me, so once outside, I spun around to face him. “This has to stop now, Gable. You can’t talk to me like that.”
His eyes danced with amusement then he leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Apparently, I can and you love it. You think I can’t see how you respond to me?”
I pulled my face away from him as I took a step back. “That’s called disgust.”
“It’s called lust. You know you want me.” His honey eyes burned into mine. I shook my head, throwing in an eye roll, and walked away only to hear him call after me, “As soon as you admit it, things’ll be a lot more fun.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
~*~*~*~
Thursday night I sat at the kitchen table staring at my phone knowing I should just reply to Gable’s email and ignore my dumbass feelings for him when Amy came in with a bag of hamburgers and fries from work.
“Hey, thought you might be hungry,” she said, setting the bag on the table. A bag whose contents assaulted my nose with all things delicious, that is.
“Just when I think you can’t get any better…” I said, reaching a hand in and pulling out a paper-wrapped burger and a carton of fries. “I haven’t eaten all day. This smells amazing.” I tore open the paper and stuffed my mouth full of glorious, juicy beef. Yum.
Amy laughed. “Calm down, Hoover. You’re practically inhaling it.”
“I can’t help it. So… good…” I answered, mouth full. When I swallowed, I asked, “You’re not eating?”
“Already did. And, once again, I smell like a giant French fry and need a shower.” She started down the hallway then turned and informed me, “There are two more burgers and fries in there if that one doesn’t do the trick.”
“’Kay,” I mumbled as I chewed, knowing that since the burgers were huge, I wasn’t even sure I could finish the one I was munching on. When my phone rang, I saw it was Bodhi calling. “’Lo,” I answered as I stuffed some fries into my mouth.
“What’s up? Did I interrupt dinner?” He chuckled at hearing my garbled voice.
“Yeah, but it’s okay. Amy brought some burgers and fries home from work.”
“Some?” he asked, his interest piqued.
I snorted. I’d eaten lunch several more times with him and it was safe to say the guy could seriously throw down some chow. “Got two of everything left. You’re more than welcome to them.”
“Be there in ten,” and he hung up.
I walked down the hallway and knocked on the bathroom door.
“Yeah?” Amy yelled over the shower.
I opened the door and stuck my head inside. “Bodhi’s coming over to eat the other burgers. That okay?”
“That’s fine. Just make sure to tell his gay ass to stop and get some beer. I’ve fed him twice already this week.”
“Gotcha,” I said with a snort, closing the door and going back to the table to get my phone and text him.
Text Message—Thurs, Oct 3, 9:34 p.m.
Me: Amy says to bring beer because she’s already fed you twice this week. And she also won’t give you her brother’s # if you don’t.
I threw that last part in just to mess with him.
Text Message—Thurs, Oct 3, 9:34 p.m.
Bodhi: Damn. Tell her to stop being so bossy. And who says I want to meet her brother anyway?
Text Message—Thurs, Oct 3, 9:35 p.m.
Me: Long eye lashes. Hazel eyes. Muscles. Cute butt.
Text Message—Thurs, Oct 3, 9:35 p.m.
Bodhi: Shit. I’ll get a case…
This made me laugh out loud.
Bodhi and Amy had met two weeks ago when I’d invited him over to help me with my first movie review and they’d absolutely hit it off by instantly throwing insults at each other. When she’d told him that her older brother who attended UDub was gay and single and that Bodhi was totally his type then shown him some pictures, we both could tell he was interested. I think it may have been the way his mouth had hung open when he’d seen the pictures. Or maybe that he’d grabbed her phone and sent them to his own phone which made Amy warn him that he’d better not be adding them to his spank bank. Bodhi had blushed profusely at that which had made us crack up at him.
While I waited for him to get here, I sat at the table researching a couple movies on my laptop, hoping he’d be willing to help me again. I also once more contemplated emailing Gable but decided to wait until later.
Amy had dressed and come out of her bedroom just in time to answer the door when Bodhi knocked.
“What’s up, loser?” she stated upon letting him in.
“Not much, loserette,” he countered. He walked into the kitchen, setting the beer he’d bought on the counter then tossed each of us a bottle before putting the rest in the fridge.
“What kinda beer is this?” Amy asked examining the label. “Never heard of it.”
“The good kind. Just drink,” Bodhi answered shaking his head. “Burger me, gorgeous,” he said to me when he came to the table and sat down.
As I dug a burger out of the bag, Amy said indignantly, “She gets ‘gorgeous’ and I get ‘loserette’?”
Bodhi took the burger, immediately unwrapping it and jamming it into his mouth for a huge bite as he nodded at her. When he swallowed, he said, “You’da greeted me with ‘hey, handsome,’ maybe you’d get something nicer.”
“Duly noted,” she replied with a raise of her eyebrows as she took a drink of her beer.
I set both boxes of fries and the other burger in front of him and as he devoured his meal, Amy sat down across from him then getting a wicked gleam in her eyes continued the talk they’d started the last time he’d been over which made me groan and roll my eyes. “So, I still say Batman is way better than Superman.” She looked smugly at him.
“You’re crazy,” he said between bites totally taking her bait. “Superman is practically immortal unless he’s exposed to Kryptonite. That’s the only thing that can kill him. Batman’s human. He’s killable.”
“Killable?” She snorted. “Is that even a word, Buddha Boy?”
“At least I believe in a higher power, Shabby Douglas,” Bodhi shot back making me raise my eyebrows impressed with his name calling ingenuity.
Ignoring his gymnastic barb, Amy retorted, “Oh, my God! Are we going
there
again? Have you ever
seen
a higher power? No! Therefore, it doesn’t exist.”
“Have you ever seen a thought? Does that mean they don’t exist? Jeez, examine every religion and you’ll see that each worships a god-like creator.”
“Which are made-up beings just like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny,” she shot back.
“Just like you said zombies are made up.”
“They are. Have you ever seen a zombie other than in the movies or on TV?”
After a beat Bodhi said, “Well, one thing’s for sure,” with a sarcastic smile as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.
Amy narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s that?”
“If one day we do have a zombie apocalypse, and we know zombies are scavenging for brains, don’t worry. You’ll be safe.”
Just as Amy bowed up, eyes narrowed, ready to spew a shit ton of vitriol right back at him, I shouted, “Guys, stop!”
They stared at each other in silence before Amy muttered, “You’d better be glad I like this beer…”
“And you’d better be glad I like the burgers you bring home,” Bodhi mumbled back.
“Can you believe he thinks Superman’s better, Scout?” Amy asked me, starting up again. Jeez.
“And can you believe she doesn’t believe in a god?” Bodhi threw out.
I held my hands up in surrender. “Don’t even try putting me in the middle of your ridiculous arguments.”
They looked at me then Amy muttered, “Wimp.” They both snickered then she and Bodhi bumped fists, bonding in an unlikely united front against me. Lord.
I shook my head at them, not understanding how their arguing had suddenly cemented their friendship but glad they’d stopped. “Okay, I need help with my movie review. I’m going for comedy this week and was thinking
Anchorman
,” I told them.
“I’m in a glass case of emotion,” Bodhi quoted.